Pistachio & Almond Cake

When I saw this Pistachio and Almond Cake from the Breakfast, Lunch, Tea cookbook by Rose Bakery, I knew I got to make it.

It is a buttery and moist cake, perfect for afternoon tea. It is also relatively easy and quick to make.

I have skipped the pistachio topping for the cake in the original recipe. I think it is not required as the cake tastes good on its own. I have also reduced the amount of sugar in the recipe (by 25g). The recipe calls for either rosewater or vanilla essence. I think rosewater taste/smell like potpourri, so I opted for vanilla essence. I find that the lemon zest seems to overwhelm the flavour of the cake which I will probably skip the lemon zest next time I make it. The cake seems to brown too quickly, so I used aluminium foil to loosely cover the cake when it starts to brown on the top.

Pistachio & Almond Cake
(recipe adapted from Breakfast, Lunch, Tea)

Ingredient
250g unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
grated zest of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
4 eggs
100g ground almonds
100g ground pistachios
50g plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. Line 28x13cm loaf tin with baking paper.

3. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and creamy.

4. Beat in lemon zest and vanilla essence.

5. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

6. Fold ground almonds, ground pistachios, plain flour, baking powder and salt into mixture.