Suzen and I first posted this recipe last year. We've returned to the recipe again, and gotten a better picture in the process. This is an elegant dessert for any time of the year but the combination of pistachios and lemon makes it very refreshing on a summer evening. Take this to the table before slicing up for dessert. Everyone needs to see the visual beauty of this cake before enjoying its lovely flavor. One piece and you'll be booking a Mediterranean cruise.
From the back of the book, you learn that Roger Pizey is a renowned baker and patissier. His experiences in Great Britain, in top restaurants and television food shows, have given him eminent skills.
But as you turn the pages of World Class Cakes, his latest book, none of that matters. All that you will care about is how quickly you can get to baking yourself.
Tomorrow, I’ll post an overview of this powerfully packed book with recipes that are, truly, from around the world. In a tribute to Turkish ingredients, Roger has created this cake filled with lemon flavor and pistachio crunch. The cake is spectacularly beautiful. As you turn pages of World Class Cakes, you’ll stop on many pages, but this one captured my attention and Suzen’s. She likes lemons, but pistachios are a passion for her.
Roger is British. So the temperature and dimensions you’ll see below may not match your oven settings or the cake rounds on your shelf. We did 325°F and a 7-inch round. No problem.
Pistachio and Lemon Cake
Yield: serves 8
Ingredients:
- ½ cup superfine sugar
- ½ cup water
- 1 lemon sliced
- 1 lime, sliced
- ½ cup [1 stick] utter, soft
- ¾ cup superfine sugar
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- Pinch of salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ cup good quality pistachios, chopped
- Juice and finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- Finely grated zest of 1 lime
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 310°F, and grease and line a 6 ¼ inch round and 2 1/ inch deep cake pan with parchment paper.
Make a sugar syrup by heat the ½ cup super fine sugar and ½ cup of water in a pan. Cook over low heat until clear, stirring continuously, then boil for a minute or so. Pass the liquid through a strainer. Removed from the heat and let cool.
Place lemon and the lime slices and sugar syrup in a pan and gently simmer for 10 minutes. Drain and let cool.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, and add the eggs on at a time.
Sift in the flour, salt, and baking powder, then add two-thirds of the pistachios, the lemon and lime zests, and the lemon juice. Mix well.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, place the fruit slices on top and sprinkle over the remaining pistachios. Bake in a preheated oven 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clear.
Removed from the oven and let cool for 15minutes in the pan. Then turn the cake out onto a wire rack and strip off the parchment.
Ideally, serve with a glass of aromatic Turkish tea.