Hello! It is nice to be able to post a recipe that was planned for the last days of winter. I made this yesterday. Although it is a pistachio loaf cake, the color of it is not green, as one would imagine. Actually, it looks like your average cake with small bits in it- and exactly that was the point.
Let’s talk more about what you can find inside this loaf cake: pistachios, lemon zest, and love. Before this, I couldn’t imagine the power of the salty, crunchy pistachio combined with the citrus hint of the lemon; together they make perfect sense, like Yin and Yang or Gordon Ramsay and an idiot sandwich. I was overwhelmed by the avalanche of tastes and I couldn’t stop tasting this when it was only a batter, so if you get a bigger cake with this recipe, you will know why.
I preferred chunky bits of pistachio instead of finely ground ones in order to give the cake some texture and to create a whole with the top part of it. This is balanced by the discreet and aromatic taste of lemon, a surprise in the composition. If you think you added enough, you’re wrong. Keep the lemon zest coming!
Now, about the glaze; to keep things on the fruity side, but not on the my-teeth-are-falling-sweet one, I opted for a pomegranate glaze. You can achieve this the easy way by mixing three (or four) teaspoons of pomegranate juice with caster sugar until it has a lava like consistency, then pour it over your cake. I won’t lie, the pink tint of it is one of the reasons why I chose the pomegranate over any other fruit. And it works so good with the green hue of the pistachio, since they are complementary colors!
What is left to say? In case you’re not already making a grocery list with these ingredients on, please do. You will be amazed by the unique tangle of pistachios and lemon, and the contrast between the crunchiness and the softness of the different elements in this cake.
Romana:
Buna! E placut sa pot posta o reteta planuita pentru ultimele zile de iarna. Am copt asta ieri (acum imi dau seama ca The lazy bakes este un nume extrem de potrivit pentru blog). Cu toate ca este un chec cu fistic, culoarea sa nu este verde, asa cum oricine s-ar astepta, ci arata ca o simpla prajitura cu mici bucati in ea- exact asta e ideea.
Sa vorbim despre ce se regaseste in chec: fistic, coaja de lamaie si dragoste. Inainte de reteta aceasta nu imi puteam imagina puterea fisticului, usor sarat si crocant, combinata cu aroma citrica a lamaii; impreuna sunt ca Yin si Yang sau ca Gordon Ramsay si “an idiot sandwich”. Am fost coplesita de avalansa de gusturi si nu m-am putut opri din gustat aluatul cat inca era necopt, asa ca daca iti va iesi un chec mai mare din reteta, vei stii de ce.
Am preferat bucatele mai mari de fistic in loc de a-l macina fin pentru a oferi prajiturii textura si pentru a crea un tot unitar cu decoratia de sus. Acestea sunt balansate de aroma discreta a lamaii, o surpriza in compozitie. Daca ai impresia ca ai adaugat destula coaja de lamaie, te inseli cumplit.
Acum, cateva cuvinte despre glazura: pentru a conferi un iz fructat, dar nu dulce-de-sa-iti-cada-dintii, am optat pentru o glazura de rodie. Se poate face amestecand 3-4 lingurite de suc de rodie cu zahar pudra pana capata o consistenta ca de lava, apoi se toarna peste chec. Nu voi minti, nuanta de roz a acesteia este unul din motivele pentru care am ales rodia dintre toate fructele. In plus, se armonizeaza perfect cu verdele fisticului, din moment ce sunt culori complementare.
Ce mai e de zis? In caz ca nu faci deja o lista de cumparaturi cu aceste ingrediente, te rog, acum e momentul sa te apuci. Vei fi uimit de amestecul unic de gusturi si de contrastul dintre bucatelele crocante de fistic si delicatetea diferitelor elemente din chec.
The lazy bakes 