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Orange, pistachio and pomegranate cakes

Combining fruits with nuts in baking is a timeless, tried-and-tested combination that you can rarely go wrong with. I’ve added citrus to the mix in the form of partially caramelised juicy orange, which adds another dimension to the cakes. Glossy, colourful fruit sits proudly on top of a moist pistachio cake, and the syrup created from the fruit and sugar soaks into the sponge, making these cakes incredibly moreish.

MAKES 9 CAKES

PREP TIME: 20 MINS

COOKING TIME: 30–35 MINS

170g caster sugar

2 medium oranges

Seeds from ¹/₂ pomegranate

75g unshelled pistachio nuts, shelled

125g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

2 eggs

50g plain flour

¹/₂ tsp baking powder

You will also need a 12-hole muffin tin.

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4 and grease the muffin tin with butter. Divide 45g of the caster sugar between 9 of the holes (a teaspoon/5g in each).

2 Use a sharp knife to cut the top and bottom off each orange, then slice off the skin, keeping as much of the flesh intact as possible. Slice the oranges into cross sections, then quarter each section and place two segments into each hole of the tin opposite each other, with the curved edge sitting against the sides. Fill the remaining quarters of each hole with a layer of pomegranate seeds. Bake the fruit in the oven for 10 minutes so they start to caramelise.

3 Blitz the pistachio nuts in a food processor until they resemble a fine powder. Cream together the butter and remaining sugar in a separate bowl until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the flour, baking powder and ground pistachios to the bowl and continue to beat until the mixture is smooth.

4 When the fruit has baked for 10 minutes, remove the tin from the oven. Divide the cake batter among each hole, spreading it right to the edges, and bake for 20–25 minutes or until the cakes are risen and a skewer inserted into the centre of one of the cakes comes out clean.

5 Leave the cakes to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then run a knife or palette knife around the edge of each cake to make them easier to remove, then turn the whole tray out upside down over a board. A bit of hot syrup might escape as you turn the tray, so be very careful. Serve the cakes hot, with a big scoop of ice-cream, or cold with a cup of hot coffee.