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Celebratory bakes from The Great British Bake Off quarter-finalist Manon Lagrève’s debut cookbook prove elegant French baking is quite easy to create at home

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‘If you want your cake to have extra green colour, you can add 1 tsp of matcha powder or green food colouring for a more vibrant shade’

GATEAU A LA PISTACHE ET ROSE (PISTACHIO & ROSE CAKE)

Serves 8-10 Preparation time 1 hour 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 225g/8oz salted butter, at room temperature, plus 2 tsp for greasing

• 120g/4¼oz self-raising flour, plus 2 tsp for dusting

• 200g/7oz golden caster sugar

• 4 eggs

• 100g/4oz ground pistachios

• 100g/4oz ground almonds

• 2 tsp rose water

• 3 tbsp crème fraîche (or soured cream)

• 1 tsp baking powder

For the icing

• 200g/7oz icing sugar

• 1 egg white

• Extra pistachios

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C, fan 170°C, gas 5. Grease a 23cm/9in bundt or cake tin with butter and dust it with flour.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugar on medium speed for a few minutes until it gets a little bit fluffy. Add the eggs one by one, using a spatula to scrape the sides if needed. Add the ground pistachios and almonds, the rose water and the crème fraîche or soured cream, and mix again for 30 seconds to combine. Finish by folding in the flour and baking powder into the batter.

3. Fill the tin with the batter and use the spatula to smooth the top. Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes. The cake is ready when a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Quickly turn it upside down onto a cooling rack, remove the tin and leave to cool completely.