Sticky citrus and almond cake

However old you might be, when you're the youngest of 5, you always remain the baby in the eyes of your family.

Worse, whether you do it unconsciously or not, you tend to play up that role. You might behave like a kid for a little bit longer than your other siblings, you might chose a different lifestyle to them,...I call it  "The youngest child syndrome"

Crucially, it means that you might have loads of responsibility at work or that you have finally moved in with your partner but you're never seen as a real adult until you've hosted a family dinner, let alone the full Christmas celebrations.

Now I'm 31 and I've kind of been leading that 'adult-with-responsibilities' life for a while, but in a couple of weeks I will become a real adult: I'm hosting Christmas at my place.

Needless to say, I'm in complete panic mode. I've started to pull together a list of things I need to prepare but scarily I don't have much time now, as my family rocks up in less than a week.

And of course, like any kid, as much as it thrills me to be hosting Christmas, I procrastinate as much as possible when it comes to the actual preparations. There's all that other exiting Christmas stuff to enjoy first!

Sticky citrus cake

That's the way I like fruity cakes: sticky with caramel!
This cake is a divine matching between tangy orange, and sticky golden syrup. It's moist, fresh, absolutely scrumptious. I've made it so many times, it's one of my all time favourites.

Ingredients

4 medium oranges

6 tbsp golden syrup, plus extra to serve, optional

200g butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing

200g soft brown sugar

200g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

100g ground almonds

4 large eggs

Make the sticky citrus cake 

1.    Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Finely grate the zest from 2 oranges into a large bowl. Cut the peel and pith from all the oranges with a serrated knife, and slice quite thickly.

2.    Drizzle the golden syrup evenly over the base of a greased 23cm round cake tin or a silicone cake mould. There is no need to line the tin and it shouldn’t have a loose bottom otherwise the syrup will bubble through. Arrange the best orange slices on top of the syrup and finely chop any that don’t fit.

3.    Put all the remaining ingredients in the bowl with the zest and chopped orange. Beat with an electric hand mixer until smooth. Spoon on top of the oranges, spread lightly and make a deep hollow in the centre of the mix with the back of a spoon – this will ensure that the cake rises evenly.

4.    Bake for 35-45 mins until firm when pressed. Allow to cool down before turning out. Drizzle with golden syrup if you like.