Blood Orange, Pistachio and Polenta Cake

Juice one blood orange into a large frying pan. Add the water and sugar and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Thinly slice the other 2 oranges, skin and all. Add them to the sugar syrup and simmer for 10-12 minutes. Remove the orange slices and simmer the liquid for another 5 minutes or so, until starting to look syrupy.

Grease and line a deep 20cm cake tin. Lay the orange slices in the bottom of the cake tin in an overlapping pattern. Pour the syrup over the top.

Turn your oven to 180°C/Gas 4. Put the pistachios in a processor and blitz until finely ground. Tip into a mixing bowl with the polenta, baking powder, cardamom, zest of one blood orange, and a pinch of salt. Mix well.

In a separate bowl, whisk the butter and sugar until light, pale and fluffy. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, with a spoonful of the pistachio mix to help stabilize it, until well incorporated.

Gently fold the wet and dry ingredients together, taking care not to overmix; stop as soon as you stop seeing any dry parts. Mix in a little orange juice until you get a dropping consistency.

Spoon the mixture on top of the oranges and level it with the back of a spoon. Bake for 40-50 minutes until golden on top and a skewer comes out clean.

Cool the cake in the tin for at least 30 minutes.

Flip the cake upside down onto a plate and unclip the tin, so the oranges are at the top. Serve in generous slices. Perfect served with curd cheese, mascarpone or thick yoghurt. Garnish with some extra zest and chopped pistachios if you like.