Michelle Darmody: How to bake pistachio and honey cake

Although it is a pain to de-shell large quantities of pistachios, it is best to buy them still in their shells as they stay fresher for longer

Michelle Darmody's Delicious Pistachio and Honey Cake 

Once they are prised from their cream-coloured outer shells the pistachio nuts within are a beautiful colour. They add a warm green hint to the sponge of this cake and a deep earthy flavour. Like all nuts, they also add oil and texture to the bake. The oil keeps the cake moist and the honey icing seals this moisture inside. Honey and pistachio work well together.

Pistachios have been used in baking for thousands of years and have found their way to our shores from Asia and the Middle East via the Romans.

As with some other culinary nuts, such as pecans and walnuts, pistachios are in fact a drupe rather than a nut. Botanically, they are a shell-covered stone from the centre of a fruit. The shell that we pull off when eating the pistachios naturally splits open at maturity, revealing the green and pink centre.

On visits to Sicily, I have marvelled at the many uses of pistachios; there are pastries stuffed to the brim with sweet, smooth pistachio butter.

They are also used in savoury dishes in ways that may seem a little more surprising yet taste delicious. The nuts grown and harvested in the Bronte region of Sicily hold such esteem that they have been awarded a DOP, which means they have a protected status.

The Protected Designation of Origin label indicates that the pistachios are of a very high quality and have been produced in strict adherence to local customs and methods.

Pistachio and Honey Cake

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

The pistachios in this cake add a nice green colour, while the honey compliments the flavour and seals the moistness inside

Servings

10

Preparation Time

 25 mins

Cooking Time

 45 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 10 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• For the cake

• 150g pistachios

• 210g golden caster sugar

• 50g honey

• 250g soft butter

• 3 eggs, lightly beaten

• 270g self-raising flour, sieved

• 75g natural yogurt

• To decorate

• 300g soft butter

• 100g honey

• 100g icing sugar

• 50g pistachios, finely chopped

Method

1. 1. Line an 8-inch square cake tin withparchment.

2. 2. Preheat your oven to 180 ºC/gas mark 4.

3. 3. Add the pistachios and sugar into a liquidiser and whizz them around until they are finely blitzed.

4. 4. Tip the nuts and sugar mix into the bowl of a mixer and add the butter and honey.

5. 5. Cream them together until light andfluffy.

6. 6. Add the eggs slowly until combined.

7. 7. Add the flour and combine.

8. 8. Mix the yogurt into the batter.

9. 9. Scoop the batter into the prepared tin.

10. 10. Bake for about 45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

11. 11. Allow to cool in the tin until cool enough to handle, then place onto a wire rack to cool completely.

12. 12. To make the icing, whisk the butter, honey and icing sugar until light and fluffy.

13. 13. Ice the cake and sprinkle the chopped pistachios over the top to add a beautiful green layer with a hint of pink.

Baker's Tips

I use a spatula to scrape the sides of the mixing bowl to ensure the eggs are well mixed with the rest of the ingredients before the flour is added to the batter. This prevents pockets of sugary butter forming in the cake that can lead to air pockets and also some cracking on the surface.

Although it is a pain to de-shell large quantities of pistachios, it is best to buy them still in their shells. They stay fresher much longer and are far less likely to go rancid. It is best to choose nuts that have shells that are wide open. The shell should be cream or beige in colour, not white.

It is always best to keep nuts away from light and stored in an airtight container.

Because of the natural oils in the ground nuts, this cake works very well with self-raising gluten-free flour in place of the regular self-raising flour.

Avoid over-blitzing the pistachio nuts into a paste. Keep an eye as you are liquidising them and stop once the particles are fine but not starting to stick together.

If you prefer a deeper nutty flavour you can lightly toast the pistachio nuts before blitzing them.

Lightly press the nuts into the icing to prevent them falling off when you slice the cake. You can add a few edible dried rose petals to the cake as well for some added glamour.

It is best to keep the cake in a cool place before serving. It does not freeze well once the cake has been iced.

Three delicious variations

Pistachio, strawberries and cream

Strawberries and cream enhance any situation and they work beautifully with the dense pale green sponge. You can top the cake generously with stiffly whipped cream that has a spoon of icing sugar added into it.

Dot the whipped cream with sweet juicy strawberries. You will need to eat the cake soon after decorating.

Dark chocolate and pistachio cake

In this version, I cover the cake in a rich dark chocolate ganache. It adds a very different flavour than the honey icing. I cover the cake in ganache and press the chopped nuts into it. To make the ganache, add 300g of dark chocolate chips to hot cream and stir until melted. I also stir in 10g of butter. Leave this set to room temperature and coat the cake.

Pistachio and lemon cake

Lemon and pistachio are two flavours that go well together. You can add zest into the sponge and also top the cake with a lemon icing. The pale icing goes nicely with the green of the cake.

Mix 150g of icing sugar with enough lemon juice to make it spreadable. Coat the top of the cake in this icing and sprinkle with chopped nuts and swirls of lemon zest.