Pistachio Loaf Cake

Pistachio Cake




I used 2 6 X 4.5 X 2.5 aluminum meatloaf tins. Seemed to work fine.
Inspired by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers
from Italian Easy: Recipes from the London River Cafe.

The first set of ingredients is what I found worked best for me. The second set and instructions are from Grey and Rogers's original version.

Serves: 12


6 ounces unsalted butter
1 lemon
1 vanilla bean
2/3 cup blanched almonds
3/4 cup pistachio nuts
3/4 cups superfine sugar
1/2 cup splenda
4 eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
Topping:
1/2 cup pistachio nuts
1/8 cup superfine sugar
1/8cup splenda
1 lemon
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Kitchen Notes: (1) The recipe requires a 12 x 4 1/2 x 2 3/4-inch loaf pan, a somewhat unusual size that I did not own. This gave me an excuse to go shop for one at Bridge Kitchenware. All the better, since it produces the long, narrow shape you see in the picture above. (2) The recipe indicates "beating" the butter into the sugar and then the eggs. I actually tried to accomplish this by hand using a whisk, which was pretty challenging. Next time, I would try using an electric mixer to cream the sugar and butter together and combine the eggs.

Pistachio Cake
by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers
from Italian Easy: Recipes from the London River Cafe


2 1/4 sticks Unsalted butter
1 Lemon
1 Vanilla bean
2/3 cup Blanched almonds
3/4 cup Pistachios
1 1/4 cups Superfine sugar
4 Eggs, organic
1/2 cup All-purpose flour

Topping
1 Lemon
1/2 cup Pistachios
1/4 cup Superfine sugar


Heat the oven to 300 degrees.

Grease a 12 x 4 1/2 x 2 3/4-inch loaf pan with 4 tsp of the butter and line with baking parchment.
(Steve’s note… 4 tsp to grease a pan seems like a lot to me but a typo from ¼ appears too little)

Soften the remaining butter. Finely grate the lemon peel. Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. Finely grind the almonds and pistachios together.
( Steve’s note…read this as "grind to flour consistency")

Beat the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the lemon peel and vanilla seeds, then fold in the nuts and sift in the flour.

Spoon the batter into the pan and bake for 45-60 minutes. The cake is ready when a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pan, then turn out.

For the topping, grate the lemon peel and squeeze the juice. Halve the pistachios. Mix the lemon juice with the sugar, boil until reduced to a syrup, then add the peel. Stir in the pistachios and pour over the cake.

Recipe reprinted with permission. Copyright 2004 Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers.

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NUTRITION FACTS
Amount Per Serving
Calories 200 Calories from Fat 98
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 10g 17%
Saturated Fat 1g 3%
Cholesterol 64mg 21%
Sodium 65mg 3%
Total Carbohydrate 25g 10%
Dietary Fiber 1g 4%
Sugars 21g
Protein 3g
Vitamin A 6% Vitamin C 8%
Calcium 3% Iron 4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.