The best thing about self-imposed rules is you can break them whenever you want to.  My general rule for what I put on this blog is that it is something I have made and enjoyed enough that I intend to make it again.  After all, if I made something that it was only "meh", why would I expect you to be interested in it?  

There are definitely things I've made and not blogged.  Some of them turned out to be odd. Some seemed all right, but not really worth it:  worth the trouble, worth the time, worth spending your dessert calories, you name it.  Some were just hard: I could never figure out how to make it come out just right, or get it out of the pan in one piece.  Why torture you with that?  

Today's dessert, however, is the exception to the rule.   It turned out just fine, but to me, did not seem worth the trouble.  I thought it was about like a nice coffee cake, only way more work.  I would have shrugged and written it off with a "don't bother with this one" note, except for one thing:  everyone else absolutely raved about it.  Raved.   Had second helpings.  Fought over the leftovers.  Licked the crumbs.  

So I don't know.  Maybe there's something wonderful here that I am not discerning enough to appreciate.  If you try it, please leave a comment - because I genuinely want to know what other people think of this one.

Notes

This is a gluten-free cake.  If you do not want a gluten-free cake, you can substitute all-purpose or cake flour for the gluten-free flour, and omit the xanthan gum.  

I thought the orange flavor of this cake was quite subtle.  I'll probably never make it again, but if I did, I might add 1 teaspoon of orange extract to help it along.  

Inspiration

This cake is a smaller, and gluten-free version of Martha Stewart's Orange Cardamom Bundt Cake.