Chocolate, Blood Orange and Hazelnut Cake

Step 01

Put the 2 blood oranges in a large pan, cover with water, bring to the boil, then simmer for 2 hours, topping up the water as necessary. When they're nearly done, heat the oven to 180C fan/gas 6. Put the hazelnuts on a roasting tray and toast in the oven for 10 minutes, shaking the tray halfway through, until evenly golden and shining with their natural oils.

Step 02

Transfer the nuts to a food processor and whizz in pulses until as fine as possible but before they turn into nut butter. Drain and roughly chop the oranges, remove any pips, then add to the processor (skins and all) and whizz again until smooth. Add the rest of the cake ingredients (except the crème fraîche) and whizz once more until you have a smooth, dark batter flecked with orange.

Step 03

Turn the oven down to 160C fan/gas 4 and line a 20cm springform cake tin with baking paper. Pour in the batter and bake for 50-60 minutes, covering with foil if it starts to darken too much on top. A skewer pushed into the centre should come out clean when it's ready.

Step 04

While the cake bakes, make the topping. Slice the peel off the orange, avoiding as much white pith as you can, and cut into thin strips. Put the peel in a small saucepan with 60g of the sugar and 60ml water. Bring to the boil, simmer for 10 minutes, then drain, keeping the syrup for a cocktail, and leave the peel to steam-dry. Toss with the remaining sugar.

Step 05

Leave the cake to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then carefully remove it and scatter the candied orange peel on top. Serve as is or with a dollop of crème fraîche.