• 175 g butter
• 12 teaspoons honey
• 150 g pistachios, chopped
• 3 eggs
• 150 g caster sugar
• 100 g soft brown sugar
• 5fresh figs, chopped into eighths
• 150 g ground almonds
• 150 g self-raising flour
• 12 mini loaf tins (or a 2lb loaf tin)

Preheat the oven to 165°C. Melt your butter in a small pan and leave it to cool down but not solidify again. This tip from Ella adds moisture to the cake and stops the almonds from making it heavy.

Grease and flour your loaf tins well. Drizzle a teaspoon of honey into the base of each and then scatter with about a teaspoon of the chopped pistachios. (Put all the honey and nuts into the base of a large loaf tin if using.)

Put the eggs in a large bowl with both sugars and, using an electric hand whisk, beat until they come together in a thick, billowy, custardy texture. This will take 4–5 minutes and adds air instead of using extra raising agents.

Add the chopped figs, including the skins, and keep beating the eggs and sugar together. The figs will break up to further thicken the mixture. Fold the ground almonds in with a metal spoon using a chopping motion to keep the air in. Fold the flour in the same way, bit by bit.

When the flour is fully incorporated, swiftly stir the cooled melted butter and any remaining chopped pistachios into the batter. Use an ice cream scoop to ladle equal amounts of batter into the mini loaf tins, allowing room for the batter to rise, or pour it into a 2 lb loaf tin.

Bake for 25–30 minutes for mini loaf tins or 45 minutes for the larger loaf: the cake is ready when the texture is springy and a toothpick comes out clean. Leave the loaves in the tins for no longer than 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

Either eat hot to enjoy the soft sticky honey, or allow to cool completely to get the contrast in textures. The cakes will keep for up to 4 days in a tin.