lemon and pistachio loaf cake

A delicious golden nutty cake perfect with a cup of afternoon tea or to go in a lunch box or picnic basket.

For the cake :

170 g butter , at room temperature

140 g caster sugar

3 eggs

140 g self raising flour

finely grated zest and juice of 1 1/2 to 2 lemons ( depending on its sourness)

60 g roughly chopped pistachio nuts

Preheat the oven to 180 deg Celsius . grease a 22x12cm loaf tin , and then line the bottom with wax paper .

Beat together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy . Beat in the eggs one at a time . Sift the flour over the top and fold in along with the chopped pistachio nuts , then stir in the lemon zest and juice . spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and spread out evenly , using the back of the spoon . Bake for 50 minutes until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean . Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 5 minutes , then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the syrup:

finely grated zest and juice of 1 or 2 lemons ( depending on the sourness)

60 g caster sugar

40 g roughly chopped pistachio nuts

Put the lemon zest and juice in a pan with the sugar , then heat gently stirring , until the sugar has dissolved completely . Bring to boil and cook for 1 minute . remove from heat and cool slightly until the syrup starts to thicken .Add the chopped pistachio nuts to the syrup just before pouring it over the warm cake . Leave it to stand for at least 30 minutes before serving .

Serves 8 approx