Orange & Date Cake

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup candied citrus peel, chopped
1/2 cup marzipan (store bought or homemade)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Grated zest of 2-3 oranges
4 eggs
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup pitted dates, chopped
3/4 cup orange juice
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted


Preheat the oven to 350 F
Grease a 9-inch springform pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper cut into a circle.
Place the sugar, marzipan, and orange zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle; beat to break up the marzipan until it is the texture of sand.
Replace the paddle with the whisk
Add the eggs to the marzipan mix­ture.
Whisk until light and fluffy
Sprinkle 2 TBSP of the flour over the dates and candied cit­rus peel in a small bowl. Stir gently to coat all sides. This will stop them from sinking to the bot­tom of the batter.
Sift the remaining flour, the baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl.
Replace the whisk with the paddle
Add the sifted dry ingredients, orange juice, and melted butter to the marzipan-egg mixture.
Mix on low speed only until everything is evenly distributed.
Gently fold in the dates and citrus peel.
Pour the batter into the pan and tap the sides to remove air bubbles
Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 40 minutes.