280g / 2 cups unsalted pistachios chopped coarsely

185g butter softened

1 tablespoon finely grated orange rind

165g / 3/4 cup caster sugar

3 eggs

60ml / 1/4 cup buttermilk

225g / 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

110g / 3/4 cup plain flour

ORANGE HONEY SYRUP

220g / 1 cup caster sugar

250ml / 1 cup water

1 tablespoon honey

1 cinnamon stick

1 teaspoon cardamon pods

3 star anise

3 strips orange rind

Preparation time 20 minutes, cooking time 50 minutes

1. Make orange honey syrup and cool - Stir ingredients in small saucepan over low heat with out boiling until sugar dissolves, bring to a boil.  Remove from heat, cool 15 minutes then strain.

2. Preheat oven to moderate (180 degrees C - 160 degrees C for fan oven).  Grease 23cm square cake pan, line base and sides with baking paper, extending paper 2cm over the sides.  Sprinkle nuts evenly over base of pan.

3. Beat butter, rind and sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating util just combined between additions, transfer mixture to large bowl.  Stir in combined buttermilk and 1/3 cup of the orange honey syrup and sifted flours in two batches.

4. Spread mixture into pan, bake about 40 minutes.  Stand cake 5 minutes, turn, top-side up, onto baking-paper-covered wire rack.  Brush surface of hot cake with half of the remaining heated syrup.

5. Cut cake into squares, serve warm drizzled with remaining heated syrup.

TIP -  Unless a recipe instructs you to do otherwise use roasted unsalted nuts when making a cake since the butter you use has probably already had salt added to it.  But the freshest nuts you can, they should taste slightly sweet.  And be sure to tanst any nuts you've had around for a while before using them to make certain they haven't gone rancid.