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Walnut Cake with Orange and Brandy Syrup

The Gourmet Doctor is moving house and going on holiday. A new recipe will be up in 3 weeks. (18-8-06)

Oranges are one of the few fruits I always have in the house. A slosh of freshly squeezed juice goes well in an oriental salad dressing and segments served with greek yoghurt and a drizzle of honey or a few pistacios make a great instant dessert. In fact, oranges feature large in quite a few greek recipes. I was moved to try the following recently when my husbands greek work colleage presented us with a bottle of excellent metaxa. Use the best you can get your hands on.

A brief word about baking. It’s really important to know your oven is at the correct temperature – many failures are due to too slow or too rapid cooking. Invest in an oven thermometer.

Serves 8 – 12 (Greek cakes are so sweet, you’ll only need a small slice)

* 175g melted butter * 50g dry breadcrubs * 175g ground walnuts * pinch of salt * 150g caster sugar * 2 tsps baking powder * 1 1/2 tsps ground cinnamon * 1/4 tsp ground cloves * finely grated zest of an orange * 5 eggs

Syrup

* juice of 2 oranges * 150mls water * 275g caster sugar * 2 tbsp metaxa or other brandy (or more if you like!)

Grease and bottom line a 23cm springform cake tin. Make the syrup first to allow it to cool. Put all the syrup ingredients into a pan and heat up slowly to dissolve the sugar. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes before allowing it to cool.

Mix together the dry cake ingredients and make a well in the centre. Pour the melted butter and break the eggs into the well then beat all the ingredients together until well mixed. Pour into the tin then bake at 190degrees C/Gas mark 5 for about 45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

While the cake is still hot, pierce the surface all over with a skewer, then pour over the cooled syrup a bit at a time. Leave to cool in the tin – if some of the syrup oozed out, spoon it back over. Unmould the cake when you are ready to serve – I presented it with greek yoghurt, very strong coffee and the bottle of metaxa. Slices of orange would be good too.

Regards
The Gourmet Doctor