My birthday cake recipe

And 20% off subscriptions to celebrate 🎂

Sunday marked my 38th dance around the sun and I’m oh so grateful, hoping for another 38 dances. Happy birthday to all fellow Virgos out there!

This also means it’s been a year of Things That Make My Heart Sing. I kicked off this Substack newsletter with “Life so far: 37 things I’ve learnt by my 37th birthday” and while I could attempt to write 38 things I’ve learnt by my 38th birthday, I thought I’d offer you a birthday cake recipe (scroll down for that) and an exciting birthday present instead. Thank you to each and every one of you for opening, reading, liking, commenting and cooking from these newsletters. I love chatting with you each week and have linked to some of YOUR favourite newsletters over the last year below if you’re interested (scroll down to the bottom of this email, after the cake recipe).

To show my appreciation, for just 72 hours, I’m offering 20% off paid subscriptions. If you subscribe within the next 72 hours, for just £3.20 a month or £32 a year (that averages out at 62p a week) you’ll get:

• At least one brand new, exclusive recipe a month. Often more than one a month (as is the case this month, and next month actually!) because I can’t contain my excitement when I have a great recipe to share with you all.

• Two other pieces of content such as giveaways (there are some GREAT ones in the pipeline), beauty recommendations, playlists, peaks into my kitchen and my life more generally, travel recommendations and lots more.

• Access to the full archive of newsletters, of which there are over 50 already, meaning there are lots of recipes and posts ready and waiting for you to dive into.

If you’ve been considering a paid subscription, or are already a paid subscriber and would like to gift a paid subscription to a loved one (perhaps as a birthday present?!), now is the time. Your support means the world to me and allows me to keep bringing these newsletters to you each week so THANK YOU!

---

As part of the birthday celebrations, this week I’m sharing my recipe for citrus cake with pistachios. Mum puts in a special request for this for her birthday every year and I can’t imagine my birthday without it either. We always serve it with lots of double cream, I like mine to be practically drowning in the stuff, but it’s also delicious as is, perhaps with a big mug of tea or coffee, or something stronger and sparkling if you’re celebrating an occasion! I hope you love it as much as we do.

Citrus cake with pistachios

4 tbsp coconut oil or butter 
250g ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder 
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Tiny pinch of salt 
Zest of 3 oranges and 2 lemons, juice of 1 orange and 1 lemon (approx 100ml) 
5 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 medium eggs

For the glaze:
Zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
Juice of 1 orange
2 tbsp maple syrup

Toppings ideas:
Pomegranate seeds
Large handful of pistachios (or your favourite nuts), finely chopped
Caramelised figs
Fresh blackberries
Toasted coconut chips or dessicated coconut
Passion fruit

1. Preheat the oven to 165C. Line a 20cm round tin with baking parchment.

2. Melt the coconut oil/ butter in a small saucepan, then remove from the heat and leave it to cool for a few minutes so it doesn’t scramble the eggs.

3. Meanwhile, combine the ground almonds, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and a tiny pinch of salt in a large bowl.

4. Add the citrus juice and zest, maple syrup, vanilla extract and melted coconut oil and mix together well. Make a hole in the centre, crack in the eggs and mix everything together.

5. Spoon the mixture into the lined tin and use a spatula to lightly smooth over the top. Bake for 30 minutes then turn the heat up to 170C and bake for a further 10 minutes until golden on top and a skewer comes out clean in the middle. 

6. For the glaze, mix the ingredients in a bowl then taste and adjust with a little more maple or a little more citrus juice depending on how sharp your fruit is.

7. When the cake comes out of the oven, transfer to a wire rack to cool. Use a skewer to poke holes all over the cake then drizzle over the glaze. Leave for 15 minutes so the cake soaks up the glaze then remove from the tin, finish with your chosen toppings and slice to serve. 

---

Your favourite newsletters over the last year