Pistachio Lemon Syrup Cake, eat it straight from the oven

This cake is quite versatile. A Pistachio Lemon Syrup cake is always moist and great to eat straight from the oven. Add a little rose syrup it is amazing.

I first saw this Pistachio Lemon Syrup Cake on a wonderful English blog   thelittleloaf.wordpress.com . I have made it now innumerable times since then with varying ingredients and it is always lovely. It’s a basic creamed butter and sugar based cake, but lets face it anything with Pistachios is bound to be good.  I made it the first time with some Bronte Pistachio Paste, but in case this is hard to get, this cake will work just as well without. Skip the paste and use a combination of almond flour ( meal ) and pistachio flour, made by crushing some toasted pistachios. (pistachio paste below)

You can make this cake gluten free too!

Make the cake gluten free by replacing the plain flour with a good quality gluten free blend. It’s very forgiving as long as you follow the basic rule. Beat the butter and sugar till light and creamy, and white. This provides and strong structure for the eggs and creates a nice cake that is moist but not too heavy.

One of these cakes was made with Bronte pistachio paste. The pistachios are from Bronte in Sicily where some of the greenest Pistachios in the world are harvested bi- annually on the perilous slopes of Mt Etna. The flavour is as brilliant as the colour and the elongated bodies and tiny flush of pink make them a very beautiful garnish. Use any pistachios for a delicious version of this cake.  

What other flavours can I add to my Pistachio cake?

You can add extra flavour to your cake too. Add some Rose water to the syrup and alternately some orange zest to the cake for a decidedly Middle Eastern flavour exchange.

Make it in 1 tin or small loaf or round tins.

Pistachio Lemon Syrup Cake

This cake is quite versatile. A Pistachio Lemon Syrup cake is always moist and great to eat straight from the oven. Add a little rose syrup it is amazing.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Servings: 12

Course: birthday cake, Cake, Dessert

Cuisine: cake

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 375 gm butter unsalted butter, room temperature
• 375 gm caster sugar
• 6 whole eggs whisked
• 1 whole lemon Zest
• 1 whole vanilla pod or extract, Seeds scraped from one
• 240 gm almond meal
• 100 gm pistachios ground -use a food processor
• 30 gm plain flour (all purpose) or 60 gm gluten free flour
• 100 gm pistachio paste optional – this improves the colour and taste but is not essential

For the syrup topping

• 60 ml lemon Juice approx 1/4 cup, or orange juice
• 1 whole lemon zest or orange
• 50 gm caster sugar
• 40 ml Rose Water optional(2 tablespoons, if using)
• 60 gm pistachios coarsely chopped and roasted or left whole if you prefer
• edible roses and icing sugar to garnish

Method

 

1. Set the oven to 150 C or 300 F fan forced or 160C (320F) conventional and use 2 small loaf tins or 1 x 26 cm round tin (11 inch)
2. Grease and the cake tin and use baking paper that comes all the way up the sides of the tin. If using a loaf or square tin this will help with lifting the cake up and out of the tin.
3. Beat the butter and sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
4. Gradually beat the eggs into the mixture until incorporated, then add the vanilla and lemon zest. ( and the pistachio paste if using)
5. Fold in the ground nuts and flour.
6. Divide the batter between your two tins ( or 1 x 26cm round ) and bake for between 40 – 50 mins, testing to see if the cakes are done by inserting a skewer into the middle. Cover with foil if the cake starts to brown too much
7. When baked, remove from the oven and leave in the tins for about five minutes before running a knife around the outside to loosen. Leave the cake in the tin and dot with holes using a skewer or a fork.

For the syrup topping

1. Mix together the lemon juice and sugar. Bring to the boil, then simmer a couple of minutes without reducing too much. Spoon over the cake covering every inch. It may not need all of the syrup. Sprinkle with roasted Pistachios. They will stick to the syrup a little and this will help them stay on.
2. If you prefer a cake with less syrup just paint the top with a brush and syrup or just use a few spoonfuls before adding your toasted pistachios to the top

Notes

This would be great with orange zest too rosewater flavours . Serve it with yoghurt or cream or even chocolate, ice cream, cream or custard.