Honey & Nut Cake with Lemon Syrup Recipe

Ingredients

For the cake:
2 lemons, zest only
2 oranges, zest only
4 sprigs of thyme, leaves only
5 eggs
200ml olive oil
250g Greek style natural yogurt
200g raw cane sugar
125g ground almonds
150g plain flour
150g polenta
2 tsp baking powder
For the honey citrus syrup:
2 lemons, juice only
2 oranges, juice only
150g mixed nuts, such as walnuts and almonds
150g honey
2 oregano sprigs
1 cinnamon stick
To serve:
Greek style natural yogurt
Mixed berries, such as strawberries, raspberries or blueberries

Prep: 20 mins | Cook: 40 mins

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Method

1. Preheat your oven to 170°C/Fan 150°C/Gas 3. Line a 25cm round tin with baking paper.

2. Finely grate the zest from the lemons and oranges into a large bowl. Finely chop the thyme leaves and add those. Set the oranges and lemons to one side as you'll need them later for the syrup. Crack in the eggs. Add 200ml olive oil and 250g Greek style yogurt and whisk till smooth.

3. Add the remaining cake ingredients and mix till smooth. Pour the mixture into the lined cake tin and slide it into the oven for 40 mins. The top should be lightly golden and the cake firm when gently pressed. Check it's cooked all the way through by inserting a skewer into the centre of the cake. It should come out clean. Cook for a little longer if there's any wet batter clinging to the skewer.

4. While the cake is cooking, halve the zested oranges and lemons and squeeze their juice into a bowl. Lightly crush the walnuts with your hands and drop them into a large pan. Add the whole almonds. Place the pan on a medium heat and toast the nuts for 3-5 mins till lightly coloured and nutty smelling. Remove the pan from the heat.

5. Add the honey and freshly squeezed citrus juice to the pan. Drop in the oregano sprigs and cinnamon stick. Stir together and pop the pan back on a medium heat. Bring the mixture up to a bubble and cook for 2-3 mins, stirring regularly, till the mixture has thickened and is syrupy. Turn off the heat.

6. When the cake has cooked, remove it from the oven and, still in the tin, pierce it all over with a skewer. Spoon over the hot honeyed nuts and their syrup. Leave to soak in the tin for 30 mins.

7. Remove the cake from the tin. The syrup should have been absorbed into the cake. Cut the cake into slices while still warm and serve with a dollop of Greek style yogurt and a handful of fresh berries.