Ingredients:

Cake:

• 250g butter
• ½ tsn almond essence
• 220g sugar
• 4 eggs
• 80ml cup milk
• 225g self-raising flour
• 60g ground almonds
• 120g slivered almonds
• 200g shelled pistachios

Syrup:

• 290g sugar
• 340ml water
• 4 tsn honey
• Lemon rind strip
• 3 tbsn lemon juice
• 3/4 tsn rosewater essence

Filling:

• 450g mascarpone cheese
• 1 tbsn honey
• 1 tsn ground cinnamon
• ½ ground cardomom

Filo Layers:

• 70g pistachios
• 2 tbsn sugar
• 1 tsn cinnamon
• ½ ground cardomom
• 7 sheets filo
• 80g butter

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180c degrees and line 2 x 25cm cake tins with baking paper.
2. With electric beaters beat the butter and sugar for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time beating in between each addition until well combined.
4. Add the milk, sift in the flour and ground almonds. Fold together until combine.
5. Spread the batter into the 2 prepared cake tins. 1 with 1/3^rd of the mix and the 2^nd tin with the remaining mix, flatten the tops with the back of a spoon.
6. Roughly chop up the nuts together and then sprinkle ontop of the cakes. Push the nuts softly with your hand to ensure they stick into the cake.
7. Bake cakes for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. The larger cake will take longer (around 50 minutes).
8. Leave the cooked cakes in the tins and reduce the oven temperature down to 160c degrees.
9. To make the syrup place the sugar, water, honey and lemon strip into a saucepan and stir on medium heat until the mix boils.
10. Continue boiling until the mix becomes thicker and syrupy.
11. Take the syrup off the heat, remove the rind and add in the rosewater and lemon juice, stir to combine. Place 4 tbsn aside in a small bowl for the filling.
12. With the cakes still in their tins use a skewer to poke holes in the top of the cakes.
13. Pour the syrup over the cakes evenly, leaving them in the tins to cool completely.
14. Meanwhile make the filling by beating the cheese, honey, cinnamon and cardamom with the 4 tbsn of the left-over syrup with electric beaters until combine. Set aside.
15. To make the filo layer place the pistachios, sugar and spices into a food processor and blitz until finely chopped.
16. Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
17. Melt the butter and using a pastry brush brush some of the butter to cover 1 filo sheet.
18. Using the cake tin as a guide place the tin on the buttered filo and cut around the tin, repeat with the leftover filo from your buttered sheets so you now have 2 circles from the 1 piece of filo.
19. Place the 2 filo pieces onto the lined baking tray.
20. Sprinkle 1 tsn of the nut mix over the buttered filo circles.
21. Brush the butter onto a 2nd piece of filo and repeat the cutting of 2 circles.
22. Add the 2 newly cut circle layers ontop of the filo circles on the tray and top with 1 tsn of nut mix.
23. Repeat the butter, nut, filo process until 7 sheets have been used and you have 2 filo stacks of 7 layers each.
24. Bake the stacks in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden in colour, leave the tray aside to cool the stacks completely.
25. Once the cakes have cooled place the smaller cake onto a plate (nut side up).
26. Spread with ½ the cheese filling then place a filo stack on top.
27. Cut the larger cake in half horizontally.
28. Add a 2nd cake layer (the layer with no nuts) ontop of the filo, spread with the remaining filling and the remaining filo stack.
29. Add the last (3rd) cake layer nut side up and enjoy.

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