Pistachio cake
With my epic travels coming to a close and sporting a jet lagged brain I wanted to bring you one of my favourite recipes from my time at Leiths School of Food and Wine. It is one I’ve already replicated on a couple of occasions and each time it has met with rounds of ‘oohs and ahhs’ and polished off quick smart.
It featured as part of an afternoon demo showing a Middle Eastern themed buffet, which was an absolute delight from start to finish. The taste testing during these lectures was such a chore, let me tell you. From sumac chicken and fattoush salad, to spiced figs and this lovely cake, it was a beautiful, flavourful and colourful spread of food. Not a dried out sandwich or soggy sausage roll in sight.
I first replicated it for some of the family during my visit home, along with a couple more of the dishes from the demo. Despite some initial resistance from the male contingent that there appeared to be no meat on offer, all dishes met with a seal of approval and the greatest sign – empty plates. I was ably assisted by mini-Hedleys throughout, I say assisted, they of course did the bulk of the work. I have competition.
Recipe
5 eggs, separated
200g caster sugar
200g pistachios, ground finely
50g pistachios, coarsely chopped
Syrup
200g caster sugar
120ml water
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp rose water or orange flower water (use the best quality you can find)
You will need a non-stick cake tin 23-25 cm in diameter.
Method
Make the syrup first. Gently bring the sugar, water and lemon juice to a simmer, allowing the sugar to dissolve. Boil for 1 minute before removing from the heat and stirring in the rose water. Let the syrup cool, then chill in the fridge.
Grease and line the cake tin, giving a ‘collar’ of paper up the tin as the cake will soufflé. That or use a deeper tin. Preheat the oven to 170c/325f.
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar to a pale cream with a mousse-like texture. When you lift out the whisks they should leave a ‘ribbon’ of mixture that takes about 5 seconds to sink back into the mix. Add the ground pistachios and mix well.
In a separate and very clean bowl, beat the egg whites until medium stiff peaks. Sacrifice a spoonful of the egg whites and mix them vigorously through the pistachio mixture to loosen it up a little, then gently fold through the rest egg whites, a half at a time to preserve as much air as possible.
Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and sprinkling with the remaining coarsely chopped pistachios. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 40-45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. The cake will shrink away from the sides during cooking.
Cool for a few minutes before transferring to a plate with deep sides. Make small holes over the surface of the cake with a skewer and pour over your syrup, which should soak into the cake.
Serve warm with crème fraiche.
The cake will keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container or can be polished off the next morning for breakfast after bootcamp session (the guilty parties shall remain nameless).