Julie Goodwin’s orange almond cake

Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Grease a deep 20cm square cake pan; line the base with baking paper.

Process the pistachios until as finely ground as almond meal. Finely grate rind from oranges. Squeeze the juice from oranges – you will need 1 cup. Combine pistachio and almond meal, rind, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl with a balloon whisk.

Beat the eggs, vanilla and butter in a medium bowl until combined. Pour the egg mixture into the almond mixture; whisk until well combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 55 minutes or until golden and coming away from the sides of the pan, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. If top starts to brown too much, place a piece of foil loosely over cake in the last 15 minutes of cooking.

Meanwhile, stir orange juice, the water and extra sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, without boiling, until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil; boil, uncovered, without stirring, until reduced to about 1 cup. Skim any froth from the surface. Adjust the water content if syrup is too strong.

When the cake comes out of the oven, carefully pierce the top with a skewer and pour the hot syrup over the hot cake. Leave the cake in the pan to allow the syrup to soak in.

Serve cake warm or cooled with extra chopped pistachios, orange rind and thick yoghurt or double cream.