Ingredients

• 180ml/6fl oz mild olive oil
• 220g/8oz caster sugar
• 300g/10½oz ground almonds
• 3 large free-range eggs
• lightly beaten
• 4 mandarins
• finely grated zest only
• 3 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 3 tsp orange blossom water
• 150g/5½oz polenta
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 4 mandarins
• juice only
• 4 tbsp orange blossom honey
• 5 sprigs lemon thyme
• 50g/1¾oz icing sugar
• sifted
• 7–8 tbsp pistachio or walnut oil
• chopped pistachios
• for decoration

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Grease and line a 20cm/8in round
• loose-bottomed cake tin.
• To make the cake
• whisk the oil and sugar together with a handheld electric whisk for a few minutes
• until well combined. Add a little of the ground almonds and mix well
• then add an egg and mix again. Repeat
• adding a little more of the ground almonds
• mixing
• then an egg and mixing again
• until all the ingredients are used up. Mix in the mandarin zest
• rosemary and orange blossom water.
• In a separate bowl
• mix together the polenta and baking powder
• add them to the wet ingredients and fold through. Spoon the batter into the prepared tin
• spread to the edges and level off the top. Bake for 30 minutes
• then reduce the heat to 160C/140C Fan/Gas 3 and bake for 25–30 minutes. The cake will be a deep golden-brown and a skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean.
• Meanwhile
• to make the syrup
• put the mandarin juice
• honey and thyme sprigs in a small saucepan. Warm through gently
• but do not let it boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool
• leaving the thyme to infuse.
• Poke holes all over the cake with a skewer
• then leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes. While the syrup is still warm
• remove the thyme
• then drizzle the syrup over the cake. Leave it to cool in the tin for a further 30 minutes
• then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• To decorate
• whisk together the icing sugar and pistachio oil until you reach a drizzling consistency. Drizzle over the cooled cake and sprinkle with the chopped pistachios.