Pistachio Cake Recipe

I discovered a love of nuts quite late in life.

As a little girl I detested marzipan, so always assumed that I hated almonds.  Walnuts made me wrinkle my nose when they appeared atop an otherwise perfectly good cake and if I got a nut at the centre of a Christmas chocolate, I’d be very disappointed indeed.  Once a child ‘knows’ that they don’t like something, they tend to avoid it like the plague.

As a young adult I rejected all nuts as I felt they were too high in fat, but then a couple of years ago, I decided to try them again.

I better understood that some fats are actually good and I was tired of hearing how delicious they were from other people.

It turns out, nuts ARE delicious.  Almonds, brazil nuts, walnuts, pistachios.  Oh my gosh pistachios are amazing!!!

I can’t believe I’ve been missing out on these little morsels my whole life.

Since then pistachios have become my healthier snack of choice.  The shells are a great indicator of how many you’ve eaten , they’re full of good fats and because you have to peel them, you can’t absent-mindedly pop them in your mouth.

This love heart cake showcases the favour, crunch and colour of my most favourite nut.  It’s a bit of a faff, but it tastes as lovely as it looks and would make a great centrepiece for a party or a Valentine’s dinner.

You will need:

200g unsalted, shelled pistachios

100g Ground almonds

6 whole almonds

250g Butter or Margarine

4 eggs

140 g light brown sugar

60g caster sugar

50g plain flour

Method:

  • Preheat your oven to 160, gas mark 3
  • Combine the sugar and margarine and beat until the mixture begins to pale.
  • Add the eggs and mix well.  The mix may start to look like it’s curdling but don’t panic!
  • Blend 120g of pistachios, until finely ground.
  • Add the ground pistachios and ground almonds to the mix.
  • Stir until combined and then add the flour.

  • Marvel for a moment at the colour of your cake mix!
  • Spoon into a prepared tin or mould.  For heart shaped cakes, use a silicone mould as I find it easier to turn the cake out.
  • Bake for around 30 minutes or until the mixture is set and you can poke a skewer in and it comes out clean.
  • Now this is the part that makes me question whether the recipe is good for sharing – the top burns.  There doesn’t seem to be any way of avoiding this – I’ve tried tweaking just about everything!  I simply slice the top off.  If anything, this is the perfect base for the nut topping!

  • So slice the top off and spread with a thin layer of lemon curd.
  • Roughly chop the almonds and the remaining pistachios and sprinkle on the top of the cake.

Serve with more lemon curd or a little cream.

Love Rachel ❤️

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