Ingredients
- 150g butter, softened
- 200g caster sugar
- zest and juice 1 orange
- 4 large eggs, beaten
- 150g self-raising flour
- 125g ground almonds
- 1tsp baking powder
- 4tbsp orange curd
- For the orange syrup
- :
- 85g caster sugar
- juice 3 oranges
- 1½tsp orange flower water
- For the decoration
- :
- 100g caster sugar
- 6-8 cardamom pods
- 1 large orange, sliced very thinly
- 50g shelled unsalted pistachios
- You will need
- :
- 20cm (8in) round springform cake tin, greased and lined
Method
Heat the oven to 170 C, gas 3. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the orange to the eggs, then beat into the butter mixture. Fold in the flour, almonds and baking powder until you have a smooth mixture.
Transfer to the cake tin, drizzle the orange curd over and drag it into the mixture using a knife. Make sure the orange curd is covered by cake mix, or it will burn. Bake on the middle shelf for about 50 minutes, covering with foil after the first 20 minutes or when the cake is golden.
For the syrup, heat the sugar, orange juice and flower water until the sugar has dissolved. When the cake is cooked, spear it with a skewer and pour the syrup over. Cool completely in the tin, run a knife round the edges, release the cake tin and transfer to a plate.
For the decoration, place the sugar in a pan with the cardamom pods and 100ml boiling water. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves, add the orange slices and pistachios, and cook without simmering for 10-15 minutes. When the cake is cool, remove the orange, cardamom and pistachios from the syrup and arrange in the centre of the cake.
