Pistachio Loaf with Rose Icing

I think my love of pistachio is fairly widely know by now. Sometimes people even send me messages or tag me in things on Instagram about pistachio related things or products they think I should know about. I love it. 

I genuinely crave pistachio flavoured things, and this cake is no exception. 

It is a slight adaptation of a loaf cake from my Cosy Winter Bakes eBook, and closely related to this Rose Petal and Pistachio Cake. The recipe in its original form came from Skye McApline, and like any really good recipe, it has lent itself to many adaptations and variations. It’s been the recipe that keeps on giving. 

This version uses a subtly scented rose glaze icing to complement the pistachio cake, and is my new favourite version of this recipe.

Pistachio Loaf with Rose Icing

Ingredients: 

200g unsalted butter, softened

190g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

120g pistachio butter*

60g white chocolate, melted

3 eggs

120g yoghurt

200g self raising flour 

Ingredients for the Icing: 

170g icing mixture

1.5-2 tbsp rosewater

dried edible rose petals, to decorate

slivered or roughly chopped pistachios, to decorate

Method: 

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius and line a 22 x 10 x 8.5 cm (approx.) loaf tin.

In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. Mix together the pistachio butter and melted white chocolate, then add to the butter mixture and mix until combined. 

Add in the eggs one at a time, then add the yoghurt and mix until well combined. Add the flour and mix on low speed until combined and the batter is smooth.

Transfer the batter to the prepared cake tin and bake for 50 minutes. Then cover the cake with foil and bake for a further 20-25 minutes, or until the cake is cooked through. 

Allow the cake to cool in its tin for a few minutes, then turn out on a wire rack to cool further.

Once the cake has almost completely cooled down make the icing by, mixing together the icing sugar and 1 tbsp of the rosewater, adding more a little at a time until you have a smooth spreadable icing (it shouldn’t be really runny or it will run off the cake). 

Spread the icing over the cake, allowing it to fall over the sides a little. Sprinkle with some dried edible rose petals and slivered pistachios to decorate. 

*or the same quantity of lightly toasted pistachios blitzed in a food processor until it forms a butter (10-20 minutes). 

Reference: ‘A Table for Friends’ by Skye McAlpine (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020) p.232.

Rose Petal and Pistachio Cake

The idea for this cake came about as my lovely Instagram friend Lauren (@foldgently)had an idea for a week of floral inspired cakes to mark the beginning of Spring - check out #fgfloralweek on Instagram for more gorgeous floral cakes.

As I’m sure is quite obvious, I jumped at the chance to create a floral inspired cake - it doesn't take much (or any) persuading for me to add rose to just about everything! I had an idea to use a pistachio cake recipe I’ve been using a lot over the past year or so, then ice it in rose icing then completely cover the cake in edible rose petals (I used some from Simply Rose Petals).

I think this could be the ultimate celebration cake, though while I am celebrating absolutely nothing (except maybe finishing a new series on Netflix), it was still a joyous cake to eat. I don’t think there are any small problems or bad moods that can’t be helped with a slice of cake like this one (and a cup of tea).

I have added links to some of the ingredients I have used in case you have trouble finding them. You can also make your own pistachio butter by lighting roasting 120g raw unsalted or blanched pistachios then blitzing them in a food processor until it becomes a nice nut butter consistency.

A light pink food colouring can also be used instead of the rose powder to add some colour to the icing.

Rose Petal and Pistachio Cake

Ingredients: 

200g unsalted butter, softened

200g caster sugar

1 tsp rose water (I use this one)

120g pistachio butter (I use this one)

60g white chocolate, melted

3 eggs

120ml buttermilk or 120g plain Greek style yoghurt

200g self raising flour

Ingredients for the Icing: 

200g icing sugar (confectioners)

125g unsalted butter, at room temp

120g cream cheese, at room temp

2 tsp rose powder (I use this one)

1 tsp rose water 

Fresh, dried or freeze dried rose petals for decoration

Method: 

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius and line a 20cm round cake tin. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter, sugar and rose water until pale and creamy. Mix together the pistachio butter and melted white chocolate, then add to the butter mixture and mix until combined. 

Add in the eggs one at a time, then add the buttermilk/yoghurt and mix until well combined. Add the flour and mix on low speed until combined and the batter is smooth.

Transfer the batter to the prepared cake tin and bake for 50 minutes. Then cover the cake with foil and bake for a further 20-25 minutes, or until the cake is cooked through. 

Allow the cake to cool in its tin for a few minutes, then turn out on a wire rack to cool further. I like to keep the bottom side of the cake at the top as it is nice and flat to put the icing on a little later. 

Once the cake has cooled completely, make the icing by mixing together all the ingredients (except the rose petals) in a stand mixer or with a hand held mixer, until the icing is smooth. 

Spread over the top and sides of the cake, and decorate with the rose petals if using.

Serves about 8, store in fridge if using the cream cheese icing.

Reference: ‘A Table for Friends’ by Skye McAlpine (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020) p.232.

Beatrix Inspired Pistachio + Lemon Layer Cake

Attempting to make this cake has been on my mind since I visited Beatrix, a bakery in North Melbourne in late August. When I put the call out on social media for any tips on where to eat in Melbourne, this bakery was mentioned again and again. And for good reason! 

The cakes not only look amazing, but they taste great too. The shop itself is small and cute, with a wall of old egg beaters hanging behind the retro style wooden cake cabinet. Small white paper doilies are used to label each cake on the outside of the counter, and there seemed to be a steady steam of people coming visit even on a weekday. 

As soon as I saw the Pistachio and Lemon cake in the counter I knew that was the cake for me. I ordered it with a pot of peppermint tea, and my friend Sally ordered Apple Pie Cake with a coffee. Both cakes were delicious, and we sat and chatted for a while in the lovely calm cake-filled space. 

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As I walked to my next stop of the day, I had already began thinking about recreating the Pistachio and Lemon Cake once I got home. Once I was home, I started researching through lots of my cookbooks and finally found recipes I could begin to recreate the Beatrix cake with. 

Even though I posted a recipe for Yuzu Curd not that long ago, and I could have easily made that recipe again but with lemon, I have had my eye on an easy lemon curd recipe I saw on Instagram from Jordan of Thistle + Whey. Jordan posted this recipe back in July as part of her Slow Saturday series. It immediately got my attention, and I screen shotted the recipe and the tips she posted on Stories too. 

Since this cake has a few steps to make it, I decided an easy option for the lemon curd would be most welcome! And not only is this recipe for lemon curd super easy, it produces the thickest tangiest lemon curd I have ever made! I am always hoping the lemon curds I make will be thicker than they end up, and the only time I achieved this before was when I used a recipe that contained gelatine. 

The taste and consistency of this lemon curd was just perfect for this layer cake, as it held its shape and didn’t drip everywhere, and the super tangy lemon flavour goes really well with the buttery sweet icing. So it’s win win all around, and Jordan’s Super Easy Lemon Curd is now my go to recipe! Thanks Jordan!

And a note on the meringue buttercream - if you like me, aren’t a big fan of the stock standard buttercream icing, this one is not like that! When I ate the Pistachio and Lemon Cake at Beatrix, I knew they had used a type of meringue buttercream as, not only did I actually enjoy eating it, but it had that slightly more white colour that comes from the meringue element. This recipe replicates theirs pretty well, and it is lighter and less buttery and dense than its regular buttercream counterpart, and well worth the effort in making it.

Jordan’s Super Easy Lemon Curd

Jordan’s Super Easy Lemon Curd 

Ingredients: 

2-3 lemons (medium to large sized, I used 4 very small lemons) 

160g caster sugar 

110g unsalted butter

5 egg yolks (save the whites for the meringue buttercream icing below)

Method: 

Slice the lemons into quarters, and place in the bowl of a food processor. Process the lemons until they have become pulpy and almost smooth. 

Cut the butter into cubes, add to the food processor along with the caster sugar and egg yolks. Process until everything is well combined and as smooth as possible. 

Transfer this lemon mixture into a medium saucepan, and stir over a low heat. The curd will look curdled at first but it will thin out as the butter melts, then thicken up again as the eggs cook. Once the curd has thickened and coats the back of your spoon or spatula it is done (this should take around 5 minutes). 

Pour through a sieve and discard any bits the sieve catches. Transfer to a large glass jar and allow too cool to room temperature before storing in the fridge. 

Makes about 400g, and will keep in the fridge for about 5 days. 

Pistachio and Lemon Cake

Beatrix Inspired Pistachio and Lemon Cake

Ingredients for the Cake: 

200g unsalted butter, softened

200g caster sugar

30g pistachio paste (see here for homemade version)

4 eggs

100g raw shelled pistachios

200g self raising flour

Ingredients for the Meringue Buttercream Icing + Assembly: 

270g caster sugar

67ml water

135g egg whites (3-4 egg whites approx. (but do measure specifically), use leftovers from making the lemon curd)

330g unsalted butter, softened 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

130g (approx.) Jordan’s Super Easy Lemon Curd

50g blanched pistachios 

Method: 

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius and grease and line two 20cm round baking tins. 

Place the pistachios on a small tray and lightly toast in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove, and allow to cool a little, then blitz into fine crumbs (similar to the consistency of almond meal) using a food processor. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, place the butter, sugar and pistachio paste. Beat on medium speed until well combined and fluffy. 

Gently whisk the eggs in a jug, and add to the butter mixture with the mixer running on a low/medium speed. Add the ground pistachios and continue to beat on medium speed until combined. 

Measure out the self raising flour into a separate bowl and briefly whisk to remove any lumps. Add the flour to the batter, and mix on the lowest speed. Finnish mixing by hand to avoid over working the batter. 

Evenly transfer the cake batter between the two prepared tins, and bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through and golden in colour. 

Leave the cakes too cool in their tins for a few minutes, then remove from the tins and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. 

To make the icing, place the water and sugar in a small saucepan over high heat and allow to come to a rapid boil. Using a candy thermometer keep an eye on the temperature of the sugar syrup - it will be ready once it reaches 121 degrees Celsius. 

Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer, and gently whisk until foamy (start this once the sugar syrup is at around 100 degrees Celsius). 

Once the sugar syrup has reached 121 degrees Celsius, remove from the heat, and with the mixer running on low pour it over the whisked egg whites (avoiding the whisk itself as much as possible). 

Increase the speed of the mixer to medium, and continue to whisk until the meringue has cooled right down - this will take at least 5-10 minutes. 

Cut the butter into cubes, and add a cube or two at a time with the mixer still running. Allow each cube to incorporate into the mixture before adding more. Continue to beat until the meringue buttercream is completely smooth. Briefly beat in the vanilla extract. 

Place one of the cooled cakes on to a plate or cake stand (or a cake turntable if you have one) top side up. Spread a thin layer of the buttercream over the cake, then using a piping bag pipe a rim of icing around the edge - this will contain the lemon curd and create a more even surface for the second cake layer to sit on. Pipe a second rim inside the first if you think the cake needs more height around the edges to make it even.  

Spoon the lemon curd into the centre of the cake, pushing to the edge of the buttercream rim you have piped. Pipe over some more of the buttercream over the top of the lemon curd and gently smooth it out with a spatula. 

Trim the top of the second cake if necessary (so it will sit as flat as possible), and place top side down, over the curd and buttercream layer. 

Cover the top of the cake with more meringue buttercream, then spread down the sides and around the entirety of the cake. Try to make the buttercream as smooth and even as possible, using a spatula or palette knife. It doesn’t need to be perfect, as you will now cover the icing with some pistachios. 

Briefly blitz the blanched pistachios in a food processor so you get large crumbs (alternately you could chop them up with a knife). Cover the entire cake in the pistachio crumbs, sprinkling them over the top and pressing them into the sides of the cake. 

Place the cake into the fridge for about 30-60 minutes, to allow the icing the firm up - this will allow you to get some nice clean slices when you cut the cake. Any excess meringue buttercream icing can be stored for one week in an airtight container in the fridge. 

Store cake in the fridge, will keep for about 5 days. 

Serves 8-10.

References: Thistle + Whey Lemon Curd (posted 21/07/2019); ‘Love Layer Cakes’ by Peggy Porschen (Quadrille Publishing, 2015), pp.10 & 26-28.

Off The Shelf - 'Molly on the Range' by Molly Yeh

Bought from: Booktopia. I preordered this one, as I had met Molly at a Local is Lovely Workshop in 2016 (not too long before the book was due to be released), and knew it would be a good addition to my cookbook shelf!

Recipes Made: Shakshuka Couscous p.25-27, Quinoa Carbonara p.110, Pistachio Loaf Cake p.220-21 and Brown Sugar Cookies p.229-30

For the Shakshuka Couscous I didn’t follow the recipe to the letter, but it gave me (along with seeing Molly make shakshuka at the Local is Lovely Workshop) the idea to add quinoa to shakshuka. I cooked the quinoa separately, and added it in before I added the eggs. It was great, and exactly what I wanted as at the time I wanted to take the leftovers to work for lunch the next day, and the criteria for leftovers for work lunches are that it needs to be tasty and something I will look forward to eating, and also something that is filling enough (no one likes being hungry at work do they?!). This recipe ticked both of those boxes, and I am happy to report that even the egg from the shakshuka was really nice reheated the next day! 

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Continuing with the quinoa theme, I decided to try the Quinoa Carbonara recipe. Again wanting leftovers for work lunch the next day, I made it and felt the flavour left me a little disappointed. It wasn’t as tasty as I had hoped, but took it for lunch the next day anyway. Well, that extra time seemed to do something as it was significantly more tasty the next day! So I can highly recommend this one to make ahead! 

The Pistachio Loaf Cake is definitely my favourite recipe from the whole book! I have never tried the cake Molly is recreating in this recipe, but I feel I probably don’t have to as this one is so good. I wrote a blog post a while back about this cake, and I have continued to make it since. I have also made it with a rosewater icing and decorated with freeze dried raspberries which was also realllllyyy nice. 

Pistachio Loaf Cake

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Brown Sugar Cookies (aka Chocolate Chip Cookies without the Chocolate Chips) - I definitely feel Molly on this recipe! I was always the kid who wanted a Chocolate chip cookie without the chocolate chips (thanks Mum for obliging on this for so many years!). I now know I can’t eat chocolate, but even as a kid I just didn’t really like it that much (controversial!!!). At friends birthday parties we would play that game where you had to cut the block of chocolate with a plastic knife and eat it (there was some time pressure to this whole thing but I really can’t remember the whole premise of the game now!), and I would always get another friend to eat the chocolate while I frantically tried to cut bits of a chocolate bar with a pathetic plastic knife. Same goes for cookies, I always appreciated them sans chocolate chips, or maybe with white chocolate.

When I made Molly’s recipe I didn’t refrigerate the dough - mostly because as far as I was concerned baking cookies should be a fairly instantly gratifying process and leaving the dough to rest for at least a day was just to much to handle. I probably would have had a better cookie if I had done so, but the instant gratification of a warm cookie was too hard to pass up. 

Favourite Things About the Book: The variety of recipes, and their uniqueness to Molly! Molly has such great and diverse recipes that really are a reflection of her Chinese and Jewish heritage and her life on the farm in the Upper Mid West of America. You really won’t find some of these recipes in other cookbooks, and it makes owning this book all the more special. 

I really like the snippets of Molly’s life and context around certain recipes or chapters as well. Through reading and cooking through this book, you really get to know Molly, how these recipes came about and why her style of cooking is so unique to her. Molly’s fun and bright personality shines through in her writing and recipes, and it’s like having a friend there with you in the kitchen.

Bookmarked Recipes (to make later!): Mum’s Matzo Brei p.13, Smoky Bacon Mac and Cheese p.99, Pizza Dough p.120, Cardamom Cupcakes with Lingonberry Filling and Cream Cheese Frosting p.262-3, Party Trick Peanut Butter Cake (thinking I could use another type of nut butter for this one!) and Funfetti Cake p.271-3.

Off The Shelf - ‘À La Mère de Famille - Artisanal Recipes’ by Julien Merceron

Bought at: Grosgrain Homewares - a gorgeous homewares store in Wahroonga (in Sydney, NSW). 

Recipes Made: Marshmallows pp.108-112, Passionfruit Caramel p.142 & Galette au Beurre p.214. Pistachio Paste p.160, Pistachio Cake p.22.

À La Mère de Famille, Paris.

I have always been a big fan of marshmallow, and I bought a packet of mixed marshmallows at À La Mère de Famille when we were there in 2014. They were nice, albeit a little sticky. A little while later I decided I needed to try and make some of my own and used À La Mère de Famille’s recipe. They turned out exactly as I remembered them from the shop, however didn’t cope very well in the humidity of a Sydney Summer. I found I needed to keep tossing them in the icing sugar and potato flour mix to stop them going wet and sticky. They were definitely nice, however this recipe has not become my go to marshmallow recipe. 

À La Mère de Famille Marshmallows (Raspberry & Passionfruit)

À La Mère de Famille Passionfruit Caramels

After visiting À La Mère de Famille in Paris, I knew I had to make some of the Passionfruit Caramels. I had bought a handful of them when I was there, and they were just so good I couldn’t fathom not eating another until the next time I was in Paris. Luckily the recipe is in their book. You definitely need a candy thermometer for this recipe, however many of the recipes in this book do as well, so it well worth getting one anyway. I found the caramels didn’t work as well when I made them in the heat and humidity of Summer, but worked better in the cooler months. I even went to the effort of buying candy wrappers for them, and I found plastic wrap fairly useless the first time around! 

À La Mère de Famille Passionfruit Caramels

À La Mère de Famille Passionfruit Caramels

À La Mère de Famille Passionfruit Caramels

To me the Galette au Beurre are kind of like the French version of shortbread. Lots of butter, however using icing sugar instead of caster sugar. This recipe makes a lot (about 50 biscuits), but they are that good that it’s worth having that many. I posted the recipe for them years ago here on the blog (one of the very early posts!), and I mention there that when I made them I took some to my Grandpa who was in a nursing home at the time. He seemed to like them, telling me later he had gotten up in the night to eat one! 

I made the Pistachio Paste recently, as I have been on a mission to recreate a pistachio ice cream/gelato. While the book does have a Pistachio ice cream recipe (p.250), I just added some of the Pistachio Paste to my easy egg free ice cream recipe. The flavour was quite nice but the ice cream froze really solid so I think I will need to try another recipe next time. The pistachio paste was relatively easy to make, as long as you have some kind of food processor. I made a half quantity of the recipe and used a mini food processor. As the paste has a sugar syrup in it, the paste firms up quite a lot when it cools. I’m not sure how easy it would be to add to other recipes once it is like this, it would probably need to be pureed again or lightly warmed to get it to incorporate properly. Considering however how difficult bought pistachio paste is to find here in Sydney, making it using this recipe is a great substitute. 

À La Mère de Famille Pistachio Cake

The final thing I have made so far from this book is the Pistachio Cake. It is relatively easy to make (no mixer required), and is meant to use the Pistachio Paste (p.160) from the same book. As I didn’t have enough left after making the ice cream, I used some of the Pistachio Butter I bought from the Royal Nut Company online. The cake turned out well, despite not knowing what size loaf tin I should be using (this book doesn’t seem to mention sizes or dimensions of anything unfortunately - for this cake I used one  22 x 10 x 9cm loaf tin). The green colour of my cake was probably a little muted from using pistachio butter rather than paste, but I think it still made a good substitute (though I should probably test with pistachio paste next time to really compare). If you don’t have access to good quality pistachio paste or butter, or can’t be bothered making some, I would recommend using this Pistachio Cake recipe instead to get your pistachio cake fix! 

Favourite Things About The Book: This book has an amazing variety of recipes from cakes, biscuits, chocolates, confectionary and ice creams. It really gives a great representation of what À La Mère de Famille is all about and the types of products they sell. It also gives a history of the store (which was established in 1761) periodically throughout the book which is lovely. 

Bookmarked Recipes (to make later!): Pain d’Épice p.32, Praline Paste p.48, Pistachio Nougat p.154, Strawberry Pâte de Fruits p.168, Quince Paste p.176, Macaron de Nancy p.242, Pistachio Popsicle p.250.

À La Mère de Famille, Paris