“Then just when I thought I was going to really break down for a good cry, I remembered a large bag of pistachio nuts in the back of the pantry.” –Jeanne Ray
Is there a connection between cold weather, being stranded indoors and craving desserts?
I think so.
Here is a stunning little Pistachio Cake garnished with bright red strawberries and topped off with whipped cream. It’s guaranteed to brighten your day or, at least, take the edge off the gloomy rain days we’re having.
The strawberries, by the way, are sauced in a lavender and vanilla sugar syrup. That takes things up a notch, for sure.
Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen. The original recipe appears in Yossy Arefi’s cookbook Sweeter Off the Vine. The cookbook is available at your local bookstore or on Amazon here
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Pistachio Cake With Strawberries
By: Blue Cayenne
Ingredients
- Cake
- 1 C. shelled roasted and unsalted pistachios
- 1 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
- 1/2 t. baking powder
- 3/4 t. salt
- 3/4 C. unsalted butter (softened)
- 1 1/4 C. granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs (room temperature)
- 1/2 t. vanilla
- 1/4 t. almond extract
- 1/2 C. milk (at room temperature)
- Strawberries
- 1 1/2 lb. strawberries
- 1/4 C. granulated sugar
- 1/2 t. organic lavender buds
- 1/2 t. vanilla paste
- Garnish
- Whipped Cream
Directions
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Step 1
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
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Step 2
For the Cake:
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Step 3
Prepare a 9 inch by 5 inch loaf pan by greasing it and lining it with parchment paper. Cut the parchment paper so that you have the long sides of the paper overhanging two of the sides. Use the long overhangs as handles to remove the cake from the pan after it is baked.
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Step 4
Grind pistachios in a food processor until they are of flour consistency. (Be careful not to over grind or you will have pistachio butter.)
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Step 5
Add all purpose flour, baking powder and salt to the ground pistachio flour. Pulse the ingredients together briefly to combine. Set aside.
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Step 6
Using the paddle attachment on your standing mixer, beat the butter at a medium-high speed until it becomes a smooth paste. Slowly add the sugar and continue beating to cream the two ingredients together. This will take about 5 minutes. You want the mixture to become light and fluffy.
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Step 7
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing each egg into the batter for about 30 seconds before you add the next egg. Scrape down the sides of the bowl from time to time as you do this.
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Step 8
Add vanilla paste and almond extract to the batter.
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Step 9
Turn your mixer to a low speed and gradually add the flour and milk to the batter. Alternate adding flour and then milk and do this in three additions. Mix only until just combined. Finish mixing the cake batter by hand with a spatula.
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Step 10
Scoop the batter into the prepared baking pan. Smooth the top of the batter. Bake for about 55 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean of crumbs. Cool cake in the pan for about 15-20 minutes and then turn the cake out of the pan and continue to cool on a rack.
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Step 11
For The Strawberries:
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Step 12
Slice strawberries. Combine lavender, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Use a processor or a motar and pestle to incorporate the lavender into the sugar until the sugar is fragrant with the spices. Add strawberries to the sugar/lavender mixture and let them sit on your counter for at least 15 minutes.
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Step 13
Serve cake sliced with strawberries and whipped cream.
