Almond and blood orange cake

Ingredients

• 150g butter, melted, plus a little extra for the tin
• 3 small sticks spring rhubarb (about 300g)
• Finely grated zest and juice of 2 small blood oranges (or use other
  oranges if not available)
• 200g soft brown sugar, plus a little extra for topping
• 1tbsp soured cream
• 2 large eggs
• 180g plain flour
• 2 level tsp baking powder
• 1 level tsp cinnamon
• 75g ground almonds
• 2tbsp icing sugar

Instruction

1. Use a little melted butter to brush a 23cm round cake tin and line it with a disc of greaseproof or silicone paper.
2. Wash the rhubarb and slice two thirds of it into hazelnut-sized pieces. The shape does not matter, but they should be evenly sized. Mix with the orange zest and most of the juice. Set aside.
3. For the topping, slice the remaining rhubarb into 5cm-long sticks and finely shred. Place in a small bowl and sprinkle with a little sugar.
4. In a large bowl, whisk the melted butter, sugar, soured cream and eggs until foamy. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, almonds and a pinch of salt, and pass through a sieve.
5. Heat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/mark 4. Pour the liquids into the flour and mix together, quickly but carefully. Finally add the chopped rhubarb, folding all together quickly and gently until blended. Do not over-stir, as this will make the cake heavy.
6. Scoop the mixture into the cake tin and use a large knife or a spatula to smooth the top. Sprinkle the shredded rhubarb on top in one layer. Bake for 45-50 minutes until puffed and golden. Test with a skewer – it should be clean when removed from the centre. Cool a little, then remove from the tin and peel away the paper.
7. To make the icing, stir a little of the remaining blood-orange juice into the icing sugar until smooth. Drizzle the icing over the top of the cake, allow to dry a little and then dust with extra icing sugar.
8. Serve with coffee or tea, or as a dessert with slices of blood orange and a scoop of vanilla ice cream or clotted cream