Bake It Like Daisy Lowe

This recipe is my mum’s absolute favourite. It is an unusual and memorable cake, with Moroccan spicing and a ginger twist. It can be served at a dinner party or as a birthday cake, and it is really worth trying to get hold of a selection of edible flowers or rose petals to use on top; fresh flowers make a simple but absolutely stunning decoration.

Serves 8-10

INGREDIENTS

110ml coconut oil

250g ground almonds

200g xylitol

2 tsp gluten-free baking powder

30g cardamom seeds, plus 6 split pods

5 eggs

4 tbsp organic agave syrup

3 tsp rose water

finely grated zest and juice of 2 large organic oranges

2.5cm piece of root ginger

fresh edible flowers, to decorate (optional)

coconut milk yoghurt, to serve

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180?C/gas mark 4. Gently melt the coconut oil in a saucepan. Brush about 10ml of it all over the inside of a 20cm springform tin. Set the rest aside to let cool to room temperature.

Stir together the ground almonds, xylitol, baking powder and cardamom seeds in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, 1 tbsp of the agave syrup, 2 tsp of the rose water, the orange zest and cooled coconut oil. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 35-45 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. If the top starts to brown before it is cooked, cover with foil for the remaining cooking time.

Peel and finely grate the ginger and, using your hands, squeeze out the juice from the resulting pulp into a bowl. Strain the orange juice into a small saucepan over a medium heat and add the remaining 3 tbsp of agave syrup, 1 tsp of rose water and 6 split cardamom pods. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat, add 1 tbsp of the ginger juice and simmer for two minutes until syrup-like.

Let the cake cool for five minutes, then pierce all over the top with a skewer and pour the syrup over evenly. Leave the cake to cool and absorb the syrup. Remove from the tin, leaving the split cardamom pods on top. Decorate with edible flowers, if you like.? Spoon coconut milk yoghurt on each slice before serving.

Extracted from Sweetness & Light by Daisy Lowe (Quadrille Publishing, €18), out July 3. Food photography by Ali Allen; portraits by Guy Aroch.