Christmas Gingerbread Biscuits

This has recipe has been a festive favourite of mine for a few years now. I originally found it on Phoodie, and have loved it ever since. In my family, shortbread has always been the biscuit of choice for Christmas, so I never really had a go to Gingerbread recipe. I do recall making some from a DK Kid’s Cookbook, but I was never much into the taste of ginger so I generally preferred shortbread. The process of resting the dough in the fridge also put me off I think, as when it comes to biscuits, I have always been after quick and instantly gratifying recipes. None of this resting the dough, and waiting around. 

Now I’m older, I understand the importance of refrigerating biscuit dough and allowing it to rest. I’m sure I’m slightly more patient now too! It also makes more sense to give your biscuit dough a chance to firm up a bit, if you like me, are making these during a warm Southern Hemisphere Christmas. 

I sometimes ice these with a royal icing, like this one, or one from a packet mix. One time I made batches and batches of these over Christmas for a cafe I worked at, and iced and decorated them all. If I can give you any advice, if you are making lots of these, don’t worry about the icing. They taste great on their own, and it often ends up being rather a stressful exercise, during what can already be a busy and stressful time of year. I haven’t iced mine in years, and I don’t miss it at all!

I find I can make a few batches of these during December, as they are enjoyed by all and make great gifts. They are also really useful for decorating other festive desserts like this pavlova I made a few years ago. 

My Christmas Biscuit Cutter Collection

Christmas Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter, softened

120g light brown sugar

170ml golden syrup

1 egg yolk

390g plain flour

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp all spice

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground cardamom 

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 

Method:

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Line three large baking trays with baking paper.

In medium bowl whisk together the flour and spices. Sift in the bicarb soda, whisk to combine then set aside.

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until it is pale and creamy. Add the golden syrup and egg yolk and beat until combined.

Add the flour and spice mixture and combine on very low speed for a few seconds. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and finish the remaining mixing using a large wooden spoon or spatula. 

Turn onto a lightly floured surface and briefly knead until smooth. Press dough into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest. If making double quantities separate the dough into two discs. 

Once the dough has rested, you can freeze the dough to use at a later date. Defrost in the fridge overnight before using. If making double, I usually pop one lot of dough in the freezer now, and continue baking the other.

Dust your work surface with more flour, then roll the dough out to around 2 mm thickness and cut biscuits out using festive biscuit cutters. Place each biscuit on to the prepared trays. Make sure you leave space in between each biscuit as they will expand as they bake. Re-roll excess dough and cut out more biscuits until it is all used up.

Bake for around 10-12 mins, rotating the trays in the oven to ensure everything cooks evenly. When the biscuits are done the edges will begin to turn golden. Allow to cool on wire racks or on the their trays.

Makes about 70 small biscuits or 36 medium (yield will depend in the size and shape of your biscuit cutters). 

Off The Shelf Christmas Edition - 'Nigella Christmas' by Nigella Lawson

Bought at: The Cookery Book, Northbridge (Sydney), many years ago.

Recipes Made: Cranberry and White Chocolate Cookies p.208 and Spruced Up Vanilla Cake p.198. 

The Cranberry and White Chocolate Cookies (or biscuits as us Aussies usually call them), have been quite a Christmas baking staple at our house since we got this book. They are quick to make, very satisfying and lend themselves to lots of adaptations. This recipe also uses pecans, which we usually leave out as we never have any. 

I made a version of the Spruced Up Vanilla Cake a few years ago, and posted it here on the blog. I added fresh raspberries to the cake, and served it with a rose syrup. I do however very much like the idea of a good vanilla cake, and this one is one of those. Its quite easy to make, and when cooked in a bundt tin, looks immediately spectacular despite the little effort the cake takes to make!

Raspberry and Rose Bundt Cake

Favourite Things About the Book: Cookbooks that are dedicated to Christmas are always a joy to read and cook from, even if our hot Australian Christmas doesn’t lend itself to all the recipes. I especially like the way Nigella has organised this book, with chapters dedicated to ‘manageable mass catering’, ‘serve later sides’ and ‘stress free suppers’. Christmas can feel like quite a stressful time of year, but with the calmness of Nigella on your side, the Christmas food preparation can be made much more manageable. 

This is also one of those books that needs to be perused during the year as well, not just at Christmas. As some of the more English Christmas fare doesn’t suit our warm climate, it would be great to go back to some of these recipes mid-year when we are enjoying Winter. 

Bookmarked Recipes (to make later!): Pumpkin and Goat’s Cheese Lasagne p.34-6, Chargrilled Peppers with Pomegranate p.58-9, Festive Couscous p.97, Beetroot Orzotto and Scarlet-Speckled Loaf Cake p.202. 

Easy Christmas Fruit Loaf Cake

I am going to preface this recipe with, this is not a traditional Christmas fruit cake. 

That is the exact reason however, that I love this cake. 

I have always severely disliked heavy alcohol laden Christmas cakes, and this is my much lighter take on the traditional. This cake uses delicious dried fruit, but the cake is more cake-y than fruit heavy. 

This cake is not alcohol free (but could easily be made so), but by using a large quantity of good quality vanilla extract (which contains alcohol) to soak the dried fruit you get an intense vanilla, only slightly alcoholic taste to the cake. All in all a much lighter flavour and texture than a traditional Christmas fruit cake. 

I have cooked it in a particularly skinny loaf tin as this creates the perfect serve when cutting slices of the cake (unfortunately the shape of the cake makes it much harder to photograph!). You could use something similar in size, just keep in mind a different shaped tin may change the cooking time for this cake.

I have used making this Christmas cake as a great opportunity to bake with some really great ingredients from some Australian businesses I really love. 

Riverland Melange and Sticky Quince Syrup from Singing Magpie Produce

The mixed dried fruit is from Singing Magpie Produce and is called their Riverland Melange. It is a combination of sun dried quince, pears, apricots, peaches, black figs and white figs. While I highly recommend using a dried fruit mix like this, you can of course use any kind of mixed dried fruit for this cake. I also used Singing Magpie Produce’s soon to be released sticky quince syrup. As a lover of quince I bought this as soon as I could, when Sue at Singing Magpie Produce put together a limited run of a ‘Christmas Bakers Box’ containing this syrup, dried citrus and the Riverland Melange. It is delicious in both sweet and savoury recipes, and can be substituted with honey or date syrup. 

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I am a big fan of the Ballarat business, Grounded Pleasures and use their panela sugar at every opportunity. So this cake was no exception. Light brown or muscovado sugar could be substituted for the panela however. I also used some of their vanilla extract to soak my dried fruit in. This vanilla has a strong flavour, with the PNG sourced vanilla beans being paired with PNG white rum to create the extract. Any good quality vanilla extract can be used. Alcohol free vanilla extracts could also be used, to make this cake alcohol free.

Finally I used the Gewurzhaus St Nicolas Spekulaas spice for this cake, to give it a lovely festive edge. However you could also substitute with 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp mixed spice.

Easy Christmas Fruit Cake

Easy Christmas Fruit Loaf Cake

Ingredients: 

260g mixed dried fruit (I used Singing Magpie Produce Riverland Melange) 

50ml good quality vanilla extract (I used Grounded Pleasures Vanilla Extract)

75ml boiling water

300g plain flour

1.5 tsp baking powder

1 tsp Spekulaas Spice (I used Gewurzhaus St Nicolas Spekulaas ground spice); alternatively use 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp mixed spice

250g unsalted butter, softened

240g panela sugar (I used Grounded Pleasures Panela), or brown sugar

3 eggs

1 tbsp sticky quince syrup (I used Singing Magpie Produce) or honey

50g mixed nuts such as almonds, pistachios or macadamias

35g (approx.) natural almonds, for decoration

10g blanched pistachios, roughly chopped, for decoration 

Method: 

Chop the dried fruit, and place into a bowl. Cover with the vanilla extract and boiling water and leave to soak for about half an hour. 

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius, and line a 31 x 7.5 x 8cm loaf tin with baking paper. 

Combine the flour, baking powder and spice in a medium sized bowl and briefly whisk to combine and remove any lumps. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until well combined and fluffy. 

Add the eggs one at a time, ensuring they are well combined after each addition.

Add the sticky quince syrup and the flour mix and mix until combined. 

Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, add the soaked fruit along with any liquid left in the bowl and mix into the batter using a large wooden spoon or a spatula. Then add the nuts. 

Transfer the mixture to the prepared loaf tin and arrange the almonds around the outside. Sprinkle over the chopped pistachios, and bake for about 1 hour 15min. Check the cake at around 45min-1hour, and cover with foil if necessary. The cake will be ready when the top is golden and a skewer comes out clean. 

Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 20-30mins, then remove onto a wire rack.

Easy Christmas Fruit Loaf Cake

Reference: ‘Piri Piri Starfish - Portugal Found’ by Tessa Kiros (Murdoch Books, 2008), pp.191-2.

Easy Christmas Fruit Loaf Cake

Raspberry White Chocolate Biscuits (Cookies)

I have been making these biscuits (or cookies), for about three years now. I had all good intentions of posting the recipe on the blog a long time ago, I even took some photos of them back in January 2017, but for some reason the recipe never made it here. Until now!

The original recipe comes from Claire Ptak’s book ‘ The Violet Bakery Cookbook’, which I have written more about here. I have adapted the recipe to suit my tastes, and inability to eat ‘normal’ chocolate as all good chocolate chip cookie recipes contain. I love the combination of raspberry and white chocolate, and I have found that using freeze dried raspberries work really well (I buy mine from Fresh As in New Zealand). I have also adapted this recipe to make Sesame and Pistachio Biscuits, you can find the recipe here. 

To add to the raspberry flavour, I also sometimes use a drop of Aftelier Perfumes Raspberry Chef’s Essence. I bought this online along with a couple of others in 2016, after hearing an interview with the owner of Aftelier on the podcast Radio Cherry Bombe. Unfortunately the product listing on Aftelier’s website now days for sale in the US only, which is a shame. If you don’t have anything like this, don’t worry just leave it out completely. I don’t use it every time I make these and the biscuits are delicious each time. And please don’t be tempted to use artificial raspberry extract or similar, you’re better off just using the freeze dried raspberries and leaving it at that. 

Raspberry White Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients: 

250g unsalted butter, softened or margarine (I use Proactiv Buttery)

200g brown sugar

100g white sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 drop natural raspberry extract (optional)

3 egg yolks

325g plain flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

25g whole freeze dried raspberries, plus extra for decoration

180g white chocolate, chopped

Method: 

Beat the butter or margarine and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until combined. Add the vanilla extract and raspberry extract if using, then add the egg yolks mixing until combined. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and the baking soda, then add to the butter mixture and mix on a low speed until almost combined. Then add the whole freeze dried raspberries and chopped white chocolate and mix until combined. The freeze dried raspberries will crush up as they are being mixed so there is no need to crush them up before. 

Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, cover and refrigerate for at least 30-40 minutes (the dough can also be shaped into two logs, covered with plastic wrap or baking paper and frozen to bake at a later date at this point too). 

Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees Celsius and line 3-4 trays with baking paper. Once the dough has been in the fridge for 30-40 minutes, scoop out heaped tablespoons of the mixture and place on the prepared baking trays leaving room for the biscuits to spread as they cook. Sprinkle the tops of each biscuit a little crushed freeze dried raspberry (save some for the end as well, as the raspberries will loose their colour when baked). 

Bake for about 18 minutes, rotating the trays halfway so the biscuits cook evenly. The biscuits will be golden once done.

Allow to cool on their trays. Whilst the biscuits are still warm, sprinkle over some more crushed freeze dried raspberries. 

Store in an airtight container, will keep for about 1 week.

Makes about 40 biscuits.

Reference: ‘The Violet Bakery Cookbook’ by Claire Ptak (Ten Speed Press, 2015), pp.140-1.

Off The Shelf - ‘Monday Morning Cooking Club - The Food, The Stories, The Sisterhood’

Bought at: a bookshop in Woolhara, Sydney. I don’t remember the name of it, but I remember vividly that I had drove over to the Eastern Suburbs to meet a friend, at the old Jones the Grocer (I think it was about 2012). There was a bookshop nearby and I had it in my mind that I wanted to buy this book. I remember hearing about it on the old day time show called The Circle. And whether or not they were actually talking about this book, or I got my wires crossed and found this one anyway, it doesn’t matter now. The fact is that this book has been such a well used addition to my cookbook collection that, I am so glad I did find it. 

Recipes Made: Custard Chiffon Cake p.35, Nice’s Date Slice p.55, Egg and Onion p.78, Talia’s Raspberry Tart p.93, Tomato Soup with Basil and Rocket Oil p.129, Hamantashen p.221, Couscous Roast Chicken p.233 and Challah from Heaven p.263. 

If you make only one thing from this book, make sure it’s the Custard Chiffon Cake. This cake is the lightest and fluffiest cake you will ever make or eat. I absolutely adore this cake, and it is well worth the effort of finding an angel food cake tin (that isn’t non stick). I first tried this cake at a baking demonstration/workshop with the Monday Morning Cooking Club at BakeClub in 2014 (for more see this blog post). The workshop coincided with the release of the Monday Morning Cooking Club’s second book, The Feast Goes On (which I also highly recommend), however a few things from the first book were made that day too. We saw how the cake is made, and then got to try some and take a little home. For me, the Chiffon cake stood out from all the rest and has been my go to chiffon cake recipe ever since. 

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Nice’s Date Slice is also a recipe is has often been on high rotation in our house. A few years ago, when I was still at uni and worked in a cafe, I made it often as it is super quick and simple and was great to take with me as a little snack. It is also a massive crowd pleaser, I don’t recall anyone ever not liking this slice! 

Nice’s Date Slice

I was introduced to Egg and Onion at last years Cornersmith workshop with the Monday Morning Cooking Club ladies. Isn’t it funny, that you can have a recipe sitting right under your nose for years, but not take notice until someone else makes it for you? Well, that’s what happened for me with this recipe. I really needed to taste it to know how good it was, especially as this dip/great accompaniment to bread, was quite a foreign concept to me having only been introduced to Jewish cooking in the last few years. After this workshop I made it so many times, it is super simple, yet so satisfying to eat. It is particularly good with challah and bagels, and I have a smaller quantity of the recipe on this blog post, if you like me, never have that many people to serve (the original recipe serves 12!). 

Egg and Onion with Challah

I think Talia’s Raspberry Tart was the first recipe I made from this book. I made it so many times in the first couple of years I had the book there is a labelled post it note for the recipe so it was very easy to find! It was also the first proper tart I ever made, and I always loved the story behind the recipe too. I think I was taken in by Talia’s desire to recreate the dishes she ate at restaurants at home, something that I often do too. The photo in the book of this tart is so inviting as well, with its perfect pastry and gorgeous raspberries. I have also made this tart with a combination of berries along with raspberries and it is just lovely. 

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Tomato Soup with Basil and Rocket Oil was made a couple of times by my Mum, who was looking for an alternative to our usual Tomato and Bacon Soup. This soup is made from fresh tomatoes rather than canned, and uses stale sourdough to thicken it. I absolutely loved it when Mum made it, and I think I will need to make it again very soon!

Earlier this year around the Jewish festival of Purim, I was doing research around Hamantashen recipes, and of course the Monday Morning Cooking Club was one of the first books I looked at. The image on the inside of the back cover of this book, is a striking picture of folded Hamantashen ready to go in the oven. This image always reminded me that this book had a recipe for Hamantashen, so I tried the dough recipe. I liked it except the recipe (in the edition I own at least), doesn’t say to the brush the cut dough with water or egg wash before folding the dough into the triangular Hamantashen. I found this meant the dough didn’t remain pinched together and didn’t keep that signature triangular shape during baking. I tried another recipe in the end (see blog post here), but I think if I used this recipe again in the future I would just brush the cut dough with an egg wash before shaping. 

Hamantashen using dough recipe from Monday Morning Cooking Club

The Couscous Roast Chicken is a dish we have made countless times over the years. As a family we have 3 or 4 roast chicken recipes we frequent often and this one has been a high rotation (another is the Pistachio Roast Chicken from MMCC’s third book, but that’s a story for another Off the Shelf post!). We always use pearl or Israeli couscous for this dish, and always dates rather than dried apricots. The combination of the coucous, dates, herbs, spices and nuts make a delicious chicken stuffing and side all in one. 

Simialar to the Egg and Onion I first tried the Challah from Heaven at the Cornersmith Workshop last year. I have certainly eaten challah before, but never a homemade one, and boy does it make a difference! The bread was soft and pillow like, and as I found when I made it at home, using the instructions given by the Monday Morning Cooking Club about how to do the six strand braid, isn’t too hard. I made many challah loaves in the months after that workshop, only stopping for a while as I was almost eating it for breakfast, lunch and dinner! 

Challah from Heaven

Favourite Things About The Book: Everything! I love the recipes, some of which have become very firm family favourites (the Custard Chiffon Cake, Date Slice and Couscous Roast Chicken most notably). I also absolutely love reading the stories behind the recipes and the people who contributed to them. This was the first cookbook that really got me thinking about food history and heirloom recipes, and how important it is to write them down and continue making them. This was also the first cookbook that really introduced me to the varied world of Jewish cooking, and I have to say I haven’t looked back since! I have found it immensely interesting to learn about another culture through food, and I think it has enriched my life and my families dinner table so much for the better. 

I also love the story behind how the Monday Morning Cooking Club came about, and how at it’s core it was about recording recipes and celebrating food. If you already have a copy of this book, or can get a hold of one, read the introduction, it explains the whole concept so well. Then grab a big cup of tea, as you will probably find yourself sat reading all the stories behind each recipe and contributors to the book for a good long while. 

Bookmarked Recipes (to make later!): Buba’s Eggplant p.71, Ginger Snaps p.72, Ginger Cake p.75, Bienenstich p.94, Israeli Couscous Soup, Almond Kifli p.150 and Chicken Persian Pilau p.203.

*NB: I own the original 2011 edition of this book which was published by Hardie Grant. Page numbers for recipes may differ in newer editions of this title.

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.