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Orange, pistachio and polenta drizzle cakes
Makes: Makes 12
Prep time: 20 mins Total time: 
Recipe photograph by Mike English
Orange, pistachio and polenta drizzle cakes
Recipe by Lucy Jessop
Inspired by Middle Eastern-style citrus cakes, these are made with a whole orange whizzed into the mixture to keep them moist, and use a moderate amount of honey instead of sugar. They're gluten free, too
Makes: Makes 12
Prep time: 20 mins Total time:
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
280Kcal
Fat
19gr
Saturates
6gr
Carbs
19gr
Sugars
13gr
Fibre
0gr
Protein
8gr
Salt
0.5gr
Lucy Jessop
Lucy, our former Food Editor creates lots of delicious meals each month. Her recipes are always packed with flavour and they're super easy too!
See more of Lucy Jessop’s recipes
Lucy Jessop
Lucy, our former Food Editor creates lots of delicious meals each month. Her recipes are always packed with flavour and they're super easy too!
See more of Lucy Jessop’s recipes
Ingredients
- 1 medium orange (about 200g)
- 125g pistachio kernels
- 100g ground almonds
- 100g fine polenta
- 1 ½ tsp gluten-free baking powder
- 1⁄4 tsp fine sea salt
- 100g soft butter
- 150g clear honey
- 4 large eggs, beaten
For the drizzle
- 2 tbsp clear honey
- 1 orange, juiced and zested
Step by step
Get ahead
Cook the orange ahead of time. The cakes will keep for up to a couple of days in an airtight container, and can be frozen
- Put the whole orange in a small saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, then cover with the lid and simmer for 1 hour or until completely soft. Drain, discard the liquid and set the orange aside to cool. Halve it and discard any pips, then blitz the whole fruit (including the skin) in a food processor until smooth.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with muffin cases.
- Spread out the pistachios on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 5 minutes. Cool, then blitz 75g of the nuts until nely ground – be careful to avoid them becoming oily. Tip into a large bowl. Finely chop the rest.
- Add the ground almonds, polenta, baking powder and salt to the ground pistachios and mix well. In another large bowl, cream the butter with the honey until smooth. Add a spoonful of the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, followed by a quarter of the beaten eggs. Beat to combine, then continue, adding alternate spoonfuls until fully combined. Fold in the blitzed orange mixture, and finally fold in half of the remaining chopped pistachios.
- Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases and bake for about 25 minutes until risen, firm and golden – the cakes are done when a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Meanwhile, make the drizzle: put the honey, the zest of the orange and 2 tablespoons of orange juice into a small pan. Gently heat through until runny.
- While the cakes are still warm, use a cocktail stick to pierce small holes all over the surface of them. Use a pastry brush to brush the honey and orange mixture on top.
- Leave to cool completely in the tins, then sprinkle with the remaining chopped pistachios just before serving.