Spring Cake

Method

• step 1

  Pre-heat the oven to 190C / fan 170C / gas 5.

• step 2

  Line a 20cm cake tin with baking parchment.

• step 3

  Beat the egg whites until very stiff.

• step 4

  Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla.

• step 5

  Gently fold in the beaten egg whites, then the ground almonds and flour taking care to keep as much of the air in the mix as possible.

• step 6

  Turn out the mix into the lined cake tin and level off the surface.

• step 7

  Bake for around 45min or until the cake becomes golden brown, and a skewer comes out clean.

• step 8

  Leave to cool completely.

• step 9

  Meanwhile roast the pistachio kernels in a saucepan, avoiding burning them. Turn them out into a plate to cool down completely.

• step 10

  Beat the egg yolks and then the icing sugar together, taking care if using an electric whisk to start off slowly to avoid creating clouds of icing sugar as you mix.

• step 11

  Beat together until the mix is thick, creamy and has turned much paler.

• step 12

  Place the cake onto a serving dish and pour the icing over the top. Ensure it is spread evenly over the top of the cake, but don't worry about the sides as the icing will flow down.

• step 13

  Leave a few minutes to flow over the cake, and once it has found its level sprinkle the roasted pistachios over the top of the cake.

• step 14

  Leave the icing to form a crust (this takes a few hours) and then serve.

• step 15

  TIP: you may want to put the serving dish over a baking tray in case the icing flows over the edges to avoid making any mess. Once the icing has "crusted", simply wipe around the edge of the plate to clean before serving.

• step 16

  ALTERNATIVE TOPPING: As this is a "Spring Cake" and our family have a lot of birthday's in spring, I sometimes use Cadbury's Mini Eggs as an alternative to the roasted pistachio nuts.