Orange and Campari Cake (or substitute orange for pink grapefruit!)

This recipe is superb and can be played around with a bit – for example, by substituting the orange for pink grapefruit. It’s moist and deliciously moist. Pour into small moulds if you’d like individual cakes for a party.

8 oranges (blood oranges if available)

350g Greek yoghurt

600g caster sugar

4 medium free-range eggs, lightly beaten

250g butter, melted and cooled

350g fine semolina

100g ground almonds

100ml Campari

Pre-heat the oven to 170C

Finely grate the zest of 4 of the oranges and set the fruit to one side.  Get a large mixing bowl and put in the yoghurt, 300g of the sugar and the eggs.  Stir in the cooled butter and finally fold through all the dry ingredients including the orange zest. Scrape the mixture into a 23cm greased cake tin and put into the oven.

Check to see if the cake is ready after 15 minutes. Push a skewer into the centre; it should come out dry. Leave to cool in the tin.

While the cake is cooking, make the syrup.  Put the juice of 8 blood oranges, the remaining sugar and the Campari into a heavy-based saucepan. Slowly bring to the boil.  Allow the syrup to simmer and skim off any white froth.   When reduced to a medium-thick syrup remove from the heat.

Prick the top of the cake all over with a toothpick and spoon the syrup over the warm sponge in a couple of batches until everything has been absorbed.  Your cake is now ready. To serve, simply cut a slice with vanilla ice-cream.