I've had a pack of pistachios lying around since the time I got an urge to make pistachio gelato (which came to nothing as I couldn't find a good recipe). Anyway, whilst flicking through Sally Schneider's "A New Way To Cook" yesterday, I came across a section on Nut Cakes. A pile of lovely, fragrant pistachio cakes suddenly seemed like a good idea.
Sally gives lots of potential variations for nut cakes in the recipe ranging from the obvious one of varying the nuts (she also recomments almonds, pecans, hazelnuts) to adding wet and dry flavour enhancements (liqueurs, essences, zests, cocoa powder, espresso powder etc etc). I'm thinking that an almond cake with some orange zest and a drop of orange oil would be really, really nice next time....
I chose to add some cocoa powder as I really like the combination of chocolate and pistachio. The cakelets turned out really well. Both flavours came through really well but I think they would have benefited from the addition of some chocolate extract. I rememebered about the bottle in the cupboard just as they went into the oven! Don't expect the cakelets to be fudgy though, they're fairly dry due to the low fat levels. Still yummy though!
Pistachio-Chocolate Tartlets, from "A New Way To Cook"
Makes 12
1 1/2 tsp unsalted butter
plain flour to dust
150g roasted pistachios
3 tbsp plain flour
� tsp baking powder
3 eggs, separated
2tsp vanilla extract
100g caster sugar, plus 2 tbsp (I used unrefined sugar for extra flavour)
� tsp salt
� tsp cream of tartar
12-hole muffin tin
Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4 / 180C.
Melt the butter over a low heat and carefully cook it until it turns brown and smells like roasted nuts. Use this to grease the holes of the muffin tin. Dust each hole with half a teaspoon of flour and tap out the excess flour. This is important to make sure that the cakelets look pretty once cooked.
In a food processor grind the nuts, flour, baking powder and cocoa together until the nuts have reduced to a fine powder.
In a bowl whisk together (an electric whisk would be best) the egg yolks, half of the salt, and 100g caster sugar until it holds a ribbon of mixture. Blend in the vanilla extract and set aside. Wash the beaters thoroughly.
In another bowl, whisk together the egg whites, remaining salt and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form.
Push the meringue to one side of the bowl and then scrape the yolk mixture into the space. Fold the mixture together three or four times then sprinkle the nut mixture on top. Continue folding until everything is just combined.
Spoon lightly into the holes and bake for 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out cleanly and the cakes begin to pull away from the sides of the tin.
Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before carefully removing the cakes from the tin. You'll need a small palette knife or butter knife to get them out.
LiveJournal feed
