Pistachio Cake

Adapted from Italian Easy: Recipes from the London River Cafe

1 1/2 sticks Unsalted butter
3/4 cup milk or half n half
1 Lemon
1 tsp crushed cardamom seeds (6-8 pods)
2/3 cup Blanched almonds
3/4 cup Pistachios
1 1/4 cups raw sugar
4 Eggs
1/2 cup All-purpose flour

Topping
1 Lemon
1/2 cup Pistachios
1/4 cup honey

Heat the oven to 300 degrees.
Grease a loaf pan or a bundt pan with 4 tsp of the butter (for a 9 inch bundt pan, use 1.5x of the recipe).
Soften the remaining butter. Finely grate the lemon peel. Crush the cardamom seeds.
In a food processor, finely grind the almonds, add pistachios and pulse till pistachio is chopped but still chunky.
Beat the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the lemon peel and cardamom, then fold in the nuts and sift in the flour.
Spoon the batter into the pan and bake for 45-60 minutes. The cake is ready when a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pan, then turn out.

For the topping, grate the lemon peel and squeeze the juice. Halve the pistachios. Mix the lemon juice with the honey, warm for 15-20 seconds in a microwave, then add the peel. Stir in the pistachios and pour over the cake.

It's a dense rich cake that goes really well with tea or coffee... or as a dessert if you have space for it !!