Hugo Guest, chef and owner of award-winning guest house and restaurant Glebe House, shares his favourite cake recipe perfect for an afternoon teas with a difference. Originally inspired by Anna Higham’s olive oil and ricotta cake from her extraordinary cookbook, The Last Bite, it is definitely a grown-up cake. The natural oils from the pistachios coupled with good quality, fruity, extra virgin olive oil and the crunch from the stone-ground polenta makes for a special eating experience. Serve sliced, along with a cup of tea. If you’re struggling to find nice pistachios, ground almonds will be a good substitute.
What you'll need
- 275ml extra virgin olive oil
- 4 eggs
- 250g caster sugar
- 150g Greek yoghurt
- 200g ground pistachios
- 100g stone-ground polenta
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt Butter or flavourless oil, for greasing
- 2 tbsp demerara sugar
What to do
- Preheat your oven to 170°C (150°C for fan ovens). In a large mixing bowl, combine the olive oil and eggs, whisking until they’re thoroughly mixed.
- In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and yoghurt together until the mixture is smooth, then add this to the egg and oil blend. Gradually incorporate the dry ingredients, excluding the demerara sugar, and mix until everything is evenly combined.
- Make as one large single-layer cake in a twenty-five centimetre springform tin. Be sure to grease the tin well and line the base with baking parchment. Pour in the batter, then sprinkle the top with the demerara sugar. Bake for fifty minutes to one hour.