Michelle Darmody: How to make a blood orange and almond cake

You flip the cake upside down after it is baked and then pour on some more syrup to help get a nice glassy finish.

Blood oranges are a wonderful colour, both inside and out. The orange and purple mottled skin gives way to deep red to pink coloured flesh within. Blood oranges were first recorded in Sicily and chances are if you are buying blood oranges here in Ireland that they still come from Sicilian farms.

The volcanic soils help the fruit form their distinctive characteristics. Blood oranges are picked from December to April, so this is a good time of year to seek them out.