The recipe: Six Orange Cake

Try to get the best quality, most fragrant oranges you can find for this recipe. Spanish if you can! It may be easier to locate better quality, but smaller oranges - in total, you need around 1.5kg.

Equipment: 1 x 8 inch cake tin

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Cake ingredients

Zest of four oranges

175g Caster sugar

200g Butter, softened

¼ tsp Flaky Salt

60g Ground Almonds

1-2 oranges peeled and blended to make 200g blended orange flesh

150g (about 3) Eggs

175g Plain flour

10g Baking powder

Syrup (this makes a bit more than you need,

3-4 x Oranges (around 200-225g per orange)

1 x Lemon

225g Caster sugar

Pinch of salt

To serve

1 x orange, segmented

Thick greek yoghurt

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1. Preheat oven to 160c fan.

2. Wash the oranges briefly, then dry. Zest four of the oranges (about 20g) directly into the caster sugar. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar to release the oils. Leave for 10 minutes for the sugar to fully draw out the oils; It will be very performed and turn a pleasant shade of orange.

3. Peel around 1.5 oranges and blend the flesh (you can leave some pith) - you need about 200g total. If you don’t have a blender, use 200g of freshly squeezed juice.

4. Whisk the eggs into the blended oranges and set aside. Sift the flour and baking powder together and set aside.

5. Cream the soft butter, almonds, salt, and zesty orange sugar together for 2 minutes until lightened. Scrape down the edge of the bowl, and then begin adding the orange/egg and flour/raising agents mixtures alternately in 3-4 additions. We are trying to combine a lot of water and fat, so it will likely split - the cake will still be perfect.

6. Pour into a lined 8-inch tin and bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes until deeply coloured and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Leave the cake to cool completely.

7. Make the syrup. Juice the oranges - you want about 250g of juice. Juice the lemon - you need about 50g. Pour 200g of the juice mixture into a saucepan and add the sugar. Bring to the boil, then boil for 3 minutes. Take off the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes before whisking in the remaining fresh juice and a pinch of salt. Leave it to cool completely, and then taste - it should taste fresh and sweet! If desired, you can add more citrus zest here.

8. Once both the cake and syrup are cooled to the touch, pour around 100g of syrup on top of the cake, allowing it to flow down the edges, too. Leave for 1 minute, then pour another 50g syrup on top. Leave for 5 minutes.

9. Pour 125g syrup on the plate you will serve the cake from. Carefully turn out the cake, use a spatula to help move the cake onto the syrup-laden plate. Lift the cake to let the syrup flow underneath for max absorption. Leave to soak for about 20 minutes at least before serving.

10. Keep about 50-75g of syrup to one side to additionally dose the cake when serving. You can also use it to ‘feed’ the cake as it dries in the coming days.

11. To finish, boil the remaining syrup until it reaches 118c or is very thick and syrupy. This will be the final glaze. Segment an orange, cutting each piece in half lengthways to make a beautiful thin segment. Lay on top of a pattern and brush with the thick glaze for extra shine.

Keep at room temp (will last longer without the segments!) for 1-2 days. To serve, spoon a little syrup onto the plate and place a slice on top. Top with more syrup, if desired. If desired, enjoy with yoghurt.