Rose, Pistachio & Orange Cake
Fragranced with rose and orange then decorated with petals and pistachios, this cake is picture perfect and sublimely moist. Serve with whipped cream and strawberries for a blissful summer treat. A sophisticated cake with a Middle Eastern heritage, it’s also the perfect accompaniment to a strong cup of coffee.
You will need a 20cm non-stick spring form tin
Serves: 10
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
Cake
- 100g pistachios
- 4 cardamom pods, seeds retained and husks discarded
- 300g unsalted butter
- 300g caster sugar
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 150g ground almonds
- 175g fine semolina (or plain flour if unavailable)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Orange zest and 1 tbsp orange juice
- 2 tsp rosewater
Orange and rosewater syrup
-
100ml freshly squeezed orange juice
-
5 tbsp orange blossom honey
-
1 tbsp rosewater
To decorate
- Dried edible rose petals
- A handful of chopped pistachios
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C Fan)
- Place the pistachios and cardamom seeds in a small food processor and whizz until finely ground.
- In a large bowl beat together the butter and sugar. Slowly add the beaten eggs, a tablespoon at a time.
- Place the semolina, baking powder, ground pistachios and almonds in a bowl and stir until combined.
- Add the semolina mixture to the creamed butter and eggs, folding in gently with a metal spoon until combined.
- Stir through the orange juice, orange zest and rosewater.
- Spoon the mixture into the cake tin, smoothing the surface with a knife.
- Bake for an hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- While the cake is baking, place the syrup ingredients in a small saucepan over a medium heat and cook for 5 minutes until slightly reduced and syrupy.
- Remove the cake from the oven and drizzle with the syrup. Leave the cake to cool in the tin.
- Remove the cake from the tin and decorate with dried edible rose petals and chopped pistachios.
