April 20, 2024

Pistachio Rose Cake

I am obsessed with rose - both in flavors and scents. It's light and floral and, when done correctly, not soapy. It's one of those flavors that can transform a dish from "cool, you made a cake" to "omg" with just a tablespoon. Enter, this pistachio rose cake.

A nutty, zesty and floral cake that comes together in mere minutes with the use of just a blender (or food processor) and a bowl. It's endlessly adaptable. Don't like pistachios? Try hazelnuts. Don't love rose like I do? Swap it for citrus? Don't want citrus? Try coffee. You get the idea.

In making this cake I had actually run out of butter so I substituted our west~bourne 100% Pure Avocado Oil instead as a 1:1 swap and it was perfect - maybe even better than the original?

Cake:

*recipe adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi's Sweet*

¼ tsp cardamom

1 cup/150 g shelled pistachio kernels, roughly chopped

1 cup/100 g almond flour

¾ cup plus 3 tbsp/170 g fine semolina flour

1¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 cup west~bourne 100% Pure Avocado Oil

1½ cup/300 g granulated sugar

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon (1 tsp), plus 1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp rose water (not rose essence)*

½ tsp vanilla extract

*A quick side note on rose water here: you want to make sure you are using rose water (ingredients should say "rose water" or "rose oil and water" ONLY). Rose essence is made with alcohol and is MUCH more potent that traditional rose water. Confusingly, some extracts are labeled as rose water so please please check the ingredients before using. I like the Cortas brand and you can find it online or at any Persian or Lebanese market.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line a 8 or 9 inch cake pan. Set aside.

In a food processor or blender, quickly pulse the pistachio kernels until chopped but not "powdery". Add Almond Flour, Semolina, Baking Powder, Salt, and Cardamom to the processor or blender. Pulse until just combined - we are not trying to make nut butter here, just mixing! Set aside.

In a bowl, whisk Avocado Oil and Sugar together. Add eggs one at a time, whisking until combined. Add Lemon Juice and Zest, Rose Water, and Vanilla Extract and give it a final whisk.

Switch to a spatula and fold the dry ingredients from the food processor/blender in the wet ingredients.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 55-65 minutes.

To Soak (eyeball this):

1:1:1 Ratio of Rose Water, Lemon Juice and Granulated Sugar. You want ½ - ¾ of syrup.

Just before your cake comes out of the oven, bring all the above ingredients to a boil on the stove. As soon as your cake comes out of the oven, brush the syrup generously all over it and set it aside to cool.

Before serving, pop the cake out of the tin and sprinkle it with more chopped pistachios and rose petals. Serve with rose cream (below) and a drizzle of Extra Virgin Avocado Oil.