Method

To make the cake preheat oven to 180°C, grease a 24 cm Bundt cake tin and set aside.

Start by blanching the pistachio nuts – bring a small saucepan of water to the boil and add the shelled pistachio nuts. Boil for just 15 seconds, then strain and run under cold water. Once cooled, peel away the husks to reveal bright green pistachio nuts. Place the nuts into a food processor and pulse lightly to ensure that they are roughly chopped. Remove and set aside.

Cream together the butter, castor sugar and vanilla extract until well combined, creamy and pale in colour. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Sift together the flour and baking powder, fold into the egg mixture, alternating with the milk. Set aside.

Divide the cake batter into two bowls; adding sifted cocoa powder to the one batch and the chopped pistachio nuts to the other. Mix both batters lightly to ensure that each cake mixture is well combined.

Using two spoons, alternate dollops of chocolate cake mixture with pistachio cake mixture along the bottom of the pan. Repeat with a second layer, ensuring that you alternate, and dollop the pistachio nut cake mixture on top of the chocolate cake mixture, and vice versa. Level the top evenly using the back of a spoon and place in the over to bake for 45 minutes. Check the cake is ready by inserting a skewer in the middle – it should come out clean when removed.

Remove cake from oven and allow to cool completely before removing from the tin.

To make the chocolate ganache, melt butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Add the cocoa, castor sugar and cream and whisk until completely dissolved, and sauce is smooth and glossy. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely before icing the cake.

Note: As the mixture cools, it thickens slightly and should be a good pouring consistency. If too thick when it reaches room temperature, warm slightly before pouring.

Bakers Bite: A Bundt pan is a specialised baking tin – it has grooved/patterned sides and a centre tube or “chimney”, which creates a cylindrical hole through the centre of a cake. The design allows for more mixture to touch the surface of the pan – this helps with faster baking and even heat distribution.