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1
Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease well with unsalted butter a tube cake pan. Have all of your ingredients at room temperature.
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2
Sift the baking soda and flour. Sift again, three times.
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3
If you are using orange and/or lemon zest, see the instructions in Step 12, below.
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4
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar (and zest, if using) well, for a good 4-5 minutes.
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5
Add the flavorings and beat until incorporated. (If using orange or lemon zest, consider adding some organic extract, as well. Orange and lemon are delicious together, by the way.)
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6
Add the yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
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7
To the butter and sugar mixture, add half the flour mixture alternately with half of the sour cream, using a large flexible spatula to combine after each addition. Do this again with the remaining flour and sour cream.
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8
Beat the egg whites until just stiff, then fold them gently into the batter, using a large flexible spatula.
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9
Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake in the center of the oven for 1 1/2 hours. A straw or thin skewer will come clean when done.
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10
Allow the cake to cool thoroughly in the pan before removing. This cake holds very well, for several days at least, when wrapped tightly.
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11
Enjoy!! ;o)
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12
If you are using zest in this cake, I suggest taking the few extra minutes required to use a traditional zester and not a microplane. You leave on the microplane too much of the flavorful liquid from the zest. If you chop larger pieces of zest with sugar, you can better capture the oils and juice from the zest. To do this, take a tablespoon or so of the white sugar you've measured, and put it on your cutting surface. Zest your citrus over the sugar, sprinkle a bit more sugar on top, then chop the zest with the sugar. This makes it easier to chop, too, as the zest doesn't cling as tightly to the knife blade. Using bench scraper, scrape all of the sugar, chopped zest and juice into the mixing bowl when you add the rest of the sugar.
