“This is a lovely and moist flour-free cake with the delicious flavour combination of lemon and honey. The vibrant pistachios add a lovely crunch whilst the rich and creamy crème fraîche cut through the sharp lemon.”

Makes one cake

INGREDIENTS

330g butter, softened

330g unrefined caster sugar

330g ground almonds

1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped out

4 eggs, beaten

Zest and juice of 3 lemons

1 teaspoon of baking powder

150g dried polenta

1 tablespoon of pistachio nuts, not the salted ones

3 tablespoons of honey

Knob of butter for greasing

Sprinkle of polenta for cake tin (optional)

Lots of crème fraîche

METHOD

Heat the oven to 165°C.

Firstly, grease a 10-inch cake tin with butter and sprinkle with polenta to make it non-stick, or line a Pyrex dish with buttered greaseproof paper.

Cream the butter and sugar together using an electric whisk. Then add the ground almonds, vanilla, and the eggs a little at a time. Stir in the lemon juice and zest, reserving some juice for the syrup. Then fold in the baking powder and polenta and combine into a nice cake mix.

Spoon the mix into the prepared tin or dish and flatten the surface with a wet palette knife until smooth.

Place in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour until golden on top and it feels firm to the touch. Do the prick test by inserting a cocktail stick into the centre of the cake - if it comes out clean then the cake is ready. Leave the cake to cool.

Make a syrup by warming the pistachios, honey and lemon juice on a low heat.

Cut the cake into slices and drizzle with the syrup and serve with a huge dollop of crème fraîche.