Sri Lankan Love Cake by George Squire

'This is a favourite of Julia, our PR director at The Department Store, and something I picked up after a family trip to Sri Lanka. It is a light Sri-Lankan brownie with a syrup to drizzle over the top and will always be delicious, even if you skip a step!'
 
Ingredients
115g Cashew nuts
125g Salted butter plus extra for greasing
135g Ground almonds or almond flour
270g Dark brown sugar
4 Eggs separated
35g Plain flour
150g Honey
1tsp salt
45ml rose water

Method:
Preheat oven to 160 degrees or 140 fan/ gas mark 3 and butter a baking tray. A 20cm tray works best. Roast your cashews for 5 minutes and leave to cool. Bash them once cooled.
 
Cream together the almonds and the butter. You can use an electric whisk or by hand.

In a separate bowl cream together 135g of the brown sugar with the egg yokes and the flour. When light and fluffy add in the honey, salt, rose water round spices and the bashed up cashews and the lime zest and juice. Then mix in with the almonds and butter until thoroughly combined.
 
In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites and the remaining brown sugar until you get stiff peaks. Fold into the batter. Pour the mixture evenly into the baking tin and bake for 50 minutes or until the top of the cake is golden brown and the cake is slightly firm to touch.
 
While the cake is in the oven, make the syrup. Add all the ingredients into a sauce pan and gently bring to the boil until go it it becomes syrupy. Take it off the heat and let it stand.
 
When the cake is ready take it out of the oven and cut it into portions in the baking tray, then drizzle the syrup over the cake whilst still in the tray and still warm. Leave it to soak in.

Add  a small dollop of honey yogurt and sprinkle them all with rose petals and a little lime zest to serve!