This is Diana Henry’s recipe for her Orange and Pomegranate Cake, shared with permission, from her latest book A Change of Appetite. The cake itself is wonderfully simple to make and extremely moist.

Incredibly easy. Not sugar-free I know but, as cakes go, not bad. And it is for dessert. Serve thin slices with Greek yogurt. It’s very, very moist (almost pudding-like) so be careful when you’re moving it off the base of the cake tin and on to a plate – Diana Henry
Orange and Pomegranate Cake
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 8
Ingredients
- For the cake
- 50g (13⁄4oz) wholemeal breadcrumbs
- 100g (31⁄2oz) ground almonds
- 175g (6oz) soft light brown sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- finely grated zest of 1½ oranges
- 215ml (71⁄2fl oz) olive oil, plus more for the tin
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- seeds from 1⁄2 pomegranate
- For the syrup
- juice of 1 orange
- 100ml (31⁄2fl oz) pomegranate juice (pure juice, not ‘pomegranate juice drink’)
- 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- 2 tbsp runny honey
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs, almonds, sugar and baking powder. Add the orange zest, olive oil and eggs and stir well until everything is amalgamated.
- Pour the batter into an oiled 20cm (8in) springform cake tin. Put it into a cold oven and set the heat to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5. Bake for 45–50 minutes, or until the cake is browned and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Meanwhile, make the syrup by gently heating all the ingredients together. Stir a little until the honey has dissolved, then increase the heat and simmer for five minutes. You should end up with about 100ml (31⁄2fl oz) of syrup.
- When the cake is cooked, pierce holes all over the surface and slowly pour the syrup all over it, allowing it to sink in. Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin. It will sink a little in the middle but don’t worry, this makes a lovely dip for the pomegranate seeds to lie in. Scatter the pomegranate seeds on top just before serving.
You can read more about my adventures cooking from the book on Monday and there are some equally stunning recipes by Diana Henry to be found on her column for Stella Magazine in The telegraph or on her own website.
With thanks to Mitchel Beazley/Octopus Publishing Group for my review copy and permission to share this recipe. A Change of Appetite was published on 3rd March 2014, RRP £25.