This recipe is made in a bundt tin, producing a cake resembling a crown. This is to celebrate the heroine of the Purim story, Queen Esther. I’ve included nuts and poppy seeds in this cake, as these were ingredients that Queen Esther enjoyed in order to keep kosher in King Achashverosh’s palace.
Although I have used ‘chocolate’ coated pistachio nuts, regular pistachio nuts would work as a substitute with the addition of 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder. It is a showstopper cake and tastes as good as it looks – perfect for a Purim feast!
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 35 minutes
Serves: 10-12
Ingredients:
For the sponge
220g margarine
200g caster sugar
4 large eggs
Zest and juice 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250g self-raising flour – sieved
50g pistachios - roughly chopped
3 tablespoons poppy seeds
Topping
100g dark chocolate – roughly chopped
100g double cream – non-dairy works well too!
20g chocolate pistachio nuts – roughly chopped
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
Method
For the sponge
Preheat your over to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.
Grease the inside of your bundt tin generously with vegetable oil – this is really important, to ensure your cake does not stick in the tin.
Using an electric mixer, whizz the margarine and sugar until creamy and smooth. Add the eggs, lemon, vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon flour and mix until smooth.
Fold in the remaining flour – do not overmix and knock the air out of your mixture. Finally pour in the pistachio nuts and poppy seeds and mix through.
Pour the mixture into your prepared bundt tin and smooth the top.
Bake the bundt cake for 35 – 40 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Once baked, place the cake tin upside down on a cooling rack. Leave to cool for 10 minutes and then remove the tin, it should just slide off the cake.
Once the cake has cooled, melt the white chocolate with the cream in a bain-marie. Stir from time to time until the chocolate has melted and is well-combined with the cream.
Drizzle the melted chocolate over the top of the bundt cake, allowing it to naturally flow down the sides of the cake. Sprinkle the chopped pistachio nuts and poppy seeds over the cake.
Leave the chocolate to set in the fridge and then your cake is ready to enjoy!
