PISTACHIO, LEMON & ROSEMARY CAKE

The pistachio is the king of Persian nuts, and using naturally bright green Persian pistachio slivers helps create the electric green colour of this cake. Fragrant with lemon zest and aromatic rosemary, it’s also gluten free.

SERVES 8-10

PREPARATION TIME 25 minutes, plus cooling

COOKING TIME about 50 minutes

● 150g unsalted butter

● 4 x 10cm sprigs of rosemary, leaves very finely chopped

● 3 medium eggs

● 100g golden caster sugar

● 1tsp vanilla extract

1tsp lemon extract (alcohol-free)

● 2 heaped tbsp Greek yogurt

● Finely grated zest 3 large unwaxed lemons

● 100g ground almonds

● 300g pistachio slivers

(or whole nuts), very finely blitzed in a food processor, plus extra to decorate

FOR THE ICING

● 150g icing sugar, very finely blitzed in a food processor

● 25ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4. Take a large square of baking parchment, scrunch it up, then smooth it out and use to line a 22-24cm round cake tin or ovenproof dish.

2 Warm butter in a saucepan over a gentle heat until just melted, then remove from heat, stir in rosemary and leave to infuse.

3 Put eggs, caster sugar and vanilla and lemon extracts into a mixing bowl; beat together until well combined. Mix in yogurt, followed by most of the lemon zest (reserving a little for decorating the cake), ground almonds and pistachios. Pour in infused melted butter and mix again until evenly combined.

4 Pour batter into prepared cake tin or ovenproof dish and shake to level the surface, then bake for about 45min until golden brown on top and springy to touch. Remove from oven and leave the cake to cool completely in tin or dish.

5 Mix icing ingredients together in a small bowl until smooth.

6 Carefully remove cake from tin or dish and set it on a serving plate. Pour icing on top and leave to set, then scatter with pistachios and reserved lemon zest before serving.