Recipe: Walnut cake

Total time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Servings: 12

3/4 pound walnuts, about 3 cups

1 tablespoon flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

8 eggs, separated

1 cup sugar, divided

Zest of 1 orange

1 cup whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks

2 teaspoons oloroso sherry

1 teaspoon powdered sugar

1. Lightly butter a 10-inch springform pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and lightly butter the paper. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grind the walnuts in a food processor until fine. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the nuts to sprinkle over the top of the cake. Combine the flour and baking powder and stir into the remaining walnuts until evenly mixed.

3. Beat the egg yolks until well-blended, then gradually beat in ½ cup of the sugar. Continue beating until the mixture is light and lemon-colored and the eggs form a ribbon when dropped from a spoon. Stir in the orange zest. Stir in the ground walnut mixture.

4. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining ½ cup sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold a large spoonful of the beaten egg whites into the walnut mixture to lighten it, then gently fold in the remaining egg whites.

5. Spoon the cake batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle the reserved 2 tablespoons walnuts over it. Bake 40 to 50 minutes, until puffed and golden. Remove to wire rack to cool to warm. As cake cools, it will settle.

6. Combine whipped cream and oloroso sherry. Sift the powdered sugar through a small strainer into the whipped cream and stir until blended.

7. Serve a slice of cake with a dollop of oloroso whipped cream.

Each serving: 372 calories; 9 grams protein; 22 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams fiber; 29 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 168 mg. cholesterol; 75 mg. sodium.