Lemon and pistachio cake

• By Matty Cremona

You will need:

250g of butter, 250g of caster sugar, four eggs, the grated rind of one lemon, 200g of shelled pistachios , 50g of ground almonds, two heaped tablespoonfuls of cornflour, one teaspoonful of baking-powder, one teaspoonful of nutmeg. To finish: 100g of shelled pistachios (roughly chopped), 100g of sugar, the juice of one lemon.

Preheat the oven to gas mark 3/170C. Blanch the pistachios in boiling water and when they are cool enough to handle comfortably, remove the brown skins. Dry the nuts well – on an airy window sill or in a cool oven - and grind them finely with the corn flour and ground almonds. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, and then carefully beat the eggs into it one at a time. Gently fold in the ground nuts, grated lemon peel, nutmeg and flour and make sure all is smooth. Pour the batter into a well-greased loaf-tin (26cm x 8cm x 6cm), lining the base with baking-paper. Bake it for about 45 minutes to an hour or until a skewer comes out clean. Turn it out when cool.

To finish off the cake, put 100g of sugar, the lemon juice, and a little water into a heavy pot and bring it to the boil. Add the chopped nuts, stir them in, bring the pot back to the boil for a minute or two and pour this mixture over the cake.