Monday, November 19, 2012

Lemon-frosted pistachio cake

Lemon-frosted pistachio cake / Bolo de pistache com cobertura de limão siciliano

Hollywood is dominated by men, or better, by white men, so I am always glad to watch women deliver great work. Not many directors are women - some of them are really, really talented and responsible for masterpieces, like Jane Campion and Susanne Bier. Now Vera Farmiga, an actress I'm very fond of, has stepped into directing shoes and brings the beautiful and so sensitive "Higher Ground" - a movie that discusses religion and faith very openly and honestly; even though I don't believe in anything, I felt touched by Farmiga's movie because I was once the girl who sought answers for so many questions, the girl who thought that everything in life happened because a certain being wanted it that way. I liked the movie a lot and hope that Vera Farmiga continues to work behind the camera.

***

This cake is not the super tender type of cake I usually bake, but it's so delicious I cannot wait to buy more pistachios to make it again.

Lemon-frosted pistachio cake
from the always delicious Delicious - Australia

Cake:
¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 ½ cups (195g) pistachio kernels, ground*
1 cup (100g) almond meal
1 ¼ cups (250g) granulated sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup (120ml) extra virgin olive oil
finely grated zest of 1 orange
100g unsalted butter, melted, cooled
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon rosewater

Icing:
1 cup (140g) icing sugar
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
1-2 teaspoons hot water, if necessary

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
Butter and line the base of a 23cm (9in) springform cake pan with baking paper**.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and stir in the pistachio and almond. Place sugar and whole eggs in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 4-5 minutes until thick and pale. Beat in the olive oil, zest, butter, vanilla and rosewater, then fold in the flour mixture. Spread into the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly, then remove from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Icing: sift the icing sugar into a medium bowl and gradually add the lemon juice and enough hot water to make a smooth dropping consistency.
When the cake is cool, pour the icing over the cake, allowing some to drip down the sides. Set aside until firm, about 20 minutes.

* if you’re grinding the pistachios at home, add part of the flour to the food processor to avoid turning the nuts into a paste

** I used a regular 23cm (9in) cake pan (no removable bottom); I cooled the cake in the pan over a wire rack for 25 minutes, then carefully inverted in onto a plate, removed the paper, then inverted it again (top side up) onto the rack to cool completely

Serves 6-8

7 comments:

pam said...

the movie sounds good and the cake is beautiful!

Sara said...

What a gorgeous cake! Sounds really delicious. :)

Aicha Dalgic said...

Whooaaaa this sounds insanely

delicious! Great recipe!

i love your blog !


you are welcome in my blog !!

kisses from belguim

bisous bisous

www.fraise-framboise.blogspot.com

Luv'n Spoonfuls said...

I just bookmarked this to try for the holidays...LOVE pistachios and can't wait to try them in this cake. Do you use plain pistachios, or are they already lightly roasted and salted?

Laura (Tutti Dolci) said...

I love the lemon icing!

Patricia Scarpin said...

Hey, there - I use regular pistachios (unsalted, not toasted) and grind them at home.

Anonymous said...

Hi Patricia,

I made this cake yesterday and it came out wonderful. Pistachios and oranges play so nicely together. The moist, chewy texture is delightful. The acidity of the lemon icing provides a perfect contrast to the warm toastiness of the nutty cake. It holds up nicely as it is as good today as it was yesterday. As always thank you for finding and sharing such deliciousness.

Thank you also for your comments on Hollywood being a white mens' club. It will be a better and far more interesting world when everyone's story gets heard.

You're the best!

Yours,

Ellen

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