Orange Butter Cake

Orange Butter Cake
MAKES ONE 9-BY-13-INCH CAKE

This is a delicate orange cake that has a syrup made of orange
juice and sugar poured over it as it comes from the oven. The cake
keeps well and seems to improve in flavor for up to three days.

THE ORANGE CAKE
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
Grated rind of 2 medium oranges
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
21/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped dates
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup buttermilk

THE ORANGE SYRUP
Juice of 2 oranges (about 1 cup)
1 cup sugar
Butter a 9-by-l3-inch cake pan or a 91/2- to 10-inch Bundt pan.

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cream 1 cup sugar with butter until smooth. Beat in the eggs,
until mixture is light and lemon-colored. Add grated orange rind. In
a bowl, stir together the baking soda, baking powder, and flour. Put
dates and walnuts into another bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of the flour
mixture to dates and nuts and mix until coated. Add the rest of the
flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with the buttermilk,
until a smooth batter forms. Add the flour-dusted dates and nuts. Turn
the batter into the prepared pan. Bake 35 minutes for a 9-by-l 3-inch
cake pan, or 55 minutes to 1 hour for a Bundt pan, or until cake tests
done.
While cake bakes, combine the orange juice and 1 cup sugar in
a saucepan. Stir and bring to a boil. Pour the hot glaze evenly over
the hot baked cake. Cool thoroughly in the pan. Invert cake baked in
Bundt pan onto a serving plate. Serve oblong cake from the pan, cut
into squares.