Sticky Orange and Pistachio Cake

This cake is a little time consuming - mainly because you need to simmer whole oranges for a few hours, but it's definitely worth the reward you'll get at the end. Serve with a drizzling of cream.

Ingredients
• 2 medium oranges
• Oil, to grease
• 200g pistachio kernels, plus extra to decorate
• 175g caster sugar, plus 1tbsp
• 6 large eggs
• 50g runny honey
• 100g coarse polenta
• 1 tsp. gluten-free baking powder

For the topping –
• 100g caster sugar
• 75g clear honey
• 2 oranges - slice off the ends, then cut into thin

Method
Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add the oranges and turn down the heat, cover pan and simmer oranges for 2hr.

Carefully remove oranges from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain. Allow to cool. Halve the oranges and remove any pips. Put the oranges (skin included) into a food processor or blender and whiz until smooth. 

Make the sticky orange topping: In a large frying pan, gently melt the sugar and honey in 100ml water over a low heat. Add the orange slices in roughly a single layer, turn up the heat and simmer for 10min (turning once), or until soft and sticky – but don’t allow them to caramelise. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4. Grease and line a 23cm springform tin. Put the pistachios on to a baking sheet and toast for 5min. Add to a food processor with 1tbsp sugar and whiz until very finely chopped.

In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, eggs and honey until thick and pale, then fold in the pistachios, polenta and baking powder, followed by the orange. Purée until well combined.

With a slotted spoon, arrange the orange slices, overlapping them in the bottom of the tin. Reserve the syrup in the pan for later. Spoon the cake batter over the oranges and bake for about 45-50min, or until a skewer inserted only has a few moist crumbs. Cool in the tin.

Release the cake from the tin, then carefully invert on to a plate and remove the baking parchment. Gently reheat the syrup and boil for 1min if it needs to be thickened. Allow to cool a little. Drizzle over the syrup and scatter with the extra chopped pistachios.