A delicious cake full of Eastern promise. With a higher ratio of pistachios to flour, it's a moist and nutty bake. An orangey drizzle and optional mascarpone topping turn it into an outstanding creation, highly suitable for entertaining. It works as well served as a dessert as it does for afternoon tea.
Roast the pistachio nuts in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes. Leave to cool then grind them finely. I use a coffee grinder for this, but a food processor or blender will work.
100 g pistachios
Cream the butter together with the sugar and the finely grated orange zest until light and fluffy.
150 g unsalted butter - softened, 180 g golden caster sugar, 1 orange - zest
Beat in the eggs, one by one. If the mixture starts to curdle, stir in a little of the flour.
4 large eggs
Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt, adding any bran left in the sieve. Stir until just combined.
70 g wholemeal flour, 1 ½ tsp baking powder, 1 pinch fine sea or rock salt
Mix in the yoghurt.
2 tbsp Greek yoghurt
Next folded in the pistachios and ground almonds and finally stir in the orange flower water.
70 g ground almonds, 2 tsp orange flower water
Scrape the mixture into a 20 cm (8") round silicone mould or lined tin. Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out more or less clean.
Syrup
Meanwhile juice the orange, zested previously, into a small pan. Add the sugar and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 5 minutes until syrupy.
1 orange - juice, 20 g granulated sugar
Allow to cool a little then add the orange flower water.
1 tbsp orange flower water
As soon as the cake is out of the oven, prick it all over with a cocktail stick and pour the syrup over the top.
Leave to cool in the tin.
Topping
Beat the mascarpone, sugar, orange zest and orange flower water together until well combined.
250 g mascarpone cheese, 25 g golden caster sugar, ½ orange - zest, 1 tsp orange flower water
Turn the cake upside down onto a serving plate, so the top is now the bottom. Then spread the mascarpone topping over the cake.
Scatter a few coarsely ground pistachios over the top. Or decorate with crystallised rose petals if wished.
Notes
As an alternative to the mascarpone topping, drizzle with orange icing (frosting) instead. Mix 100g icing sugar with just enough orange juice to create a slightly runny icing.Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.