Happiness just swirls through this cake. The buttery sponge studded with nuttiness and a gorgeous pistachio hue and is topped off with a glossy wild bramble blackberry and cassis icing. This is my favourite kind of cake – perfect for both a joyful al fresco dinner or celebration – and for breakfast the next day.
Ingredients
- Pistachio Cake
Pistachio Cake
- 150 g pistachios de-shelled weight about 300g shelled
- 250 g plain flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 150 g butter
- 300 g castor sugar
- 4 egg whites
- 100 mls sour cream
- 100 mls milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract
Wild Bramble Blackberry & Cassis Butter Icing
- 200 g full fat cream cheese
- 120 g butter
- 600 g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 120 g blackberries washed and dried
- 2 tbsp cassis optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180℃ fan. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- De-shell the pistachio nuts and blitz to a fine crumb.
- Cream the butter and the sugar for 5 minutes until soft, pale and velvety.
- Add in the vanilla essence, almond essence, egg whites, sour cream and a drop of green food colouring. Beat for a minute until all combined.
- Combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda together and sieve. Then stir in the pistachio crumb.
- Pour into the lined tin and bake for 25 minutes, until golden brown and springy to touch.
- When baked allow to cool in the tin and then transfer to a serving platter.
- To make the icing, blitz the blackberries until it forms a puree. Pass through a sieve to remove the seeds and set aside the juice. Beat the butter until whipped and smooth. Beat in the cream cheese until smooth. Add in the vanilla. Gradually add in the icing sugar and beat until it forms a thick, piping consistency. Pour the icing into the piping bag.Allow to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- To decorate, pipe long lines or swirls of icing over the top of the cake. Garnish with fresh blackberries, blueberries, pistachios and some rosemary sprigs.
- Serve and enjoy.
