Mark Moriarty: Cook Like a Chef airs Wednesdays at 8pm on RTÉ One.
Ingredients
Serves 6
For the cake:
- 120g caster sugar
- 120g light brown sugar
- 210ml olive oil
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 270g ground almonds
- 65g polenta
- 85g plain flour
- 100g pistachio nuts, chopped finely
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 4 large eggs
For the syrup:
- 100g caster sugar
- 100ml water
- 100ml lemon juice
- Zest of 2 lemons
For the topping:
- 300g plain yoghurt
- 100g icing sugar
For garnish:
- Lemon zest
- Pistachio nuts
- Soft green herbs
Method
- Preheat the oven to 160 C.
- Line 6 x 4 inch loose bottomed cake tins with parchment and set aside.
- In a bowl, add the caster sugar, brown sugar, olive oil and lemon zest and mix until emulsified. In a separate bowl, mix the ground almonds, polenta, pistachio and baking powder until evenly distributed. Add the wet ingredients to this, along with the eggs and mix to a wet cake batter. Spoon the mix into the mini cake tins and bake in the oven for 50 minutes until set.
- While the cakes are baking, add the sugar, water, lemon juice and zest into a pot and bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and, using a skewer, poke holes all across the top of the cakes. Spoon the syrup evenly across the cakes and leave to soak in the fridge overnight.
- For the yoghurt, mix the yoghurt and icing sugar together. Place a sieve lined in a cloth over a bowl and spoon the yoghurt mix in. Leave in the fridge overnight to remove excess liquid.
- Next day, Turn the cakes out onto a wire rack. Spread the yoghurt on top of each and garnish with lemon zest, chopped pistachio and soft green herbs.
To hang the yoghurt:
- Place a yellow j-cloth or piece of muslin over a sieve and set the sieve over a small bowl.
- Spoon the yoghurt into the j-cloth and tie the corners together. Place into the fridge for at least 2 hours or until it is thick like cream cheese and has released its whey.
- Remove from the j-cloth and store in an airtight container to use whenever you need.
