With nuts and fragrant spices this cake is an afternon tea delight

The high fat content of the pistachios provides incredible moisture and makes it almost impossible to overbake this cake.

Pistachios give great flavour in this luxe cake. Images by Rochelle Eagle

Michale and Pippa James

less than 2 min read

3:37PMSeptember 17, 2024

The Weekend Australian Magazine

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Pistachios are super tasty, vibrantly colourful and chock-full of healthy fats. In addition to being nutritious, they’re also forgiving to the baker – the high fat content provides incredible moisture and makes it almost impossible to overbake this cake. We tend to use whole pistachios and grind them fresh, as they oxidise quickly once ground. A tip is to freeze the pistachios prior to blitzing – they will hold their shape better and resist getting smooshed in the food processor. 

Try too our choc chip and walnut cookies and our miso and tahini brownies.

This pistachio and cardamom loaf is wholesome and fragrant.

This is an edited extrac from Sweet Seasons by Michael and Pippa James. Images by Rochelle Eagle

Pistachio & cardamom cake

Ingredients

For the cake

• 140g unsalted butter, softened
• 250g raw sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped (or 1 teaspoon real vanilla paste)
• Grated zest of 1 orange
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 150g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 150g pistachios, roughly ground
• 2 teaspoons ground cardamom seeds
• 140g sour cream or crème fraiche

For the icing

• 110g icing sugar
• 20g lemon juice

To finish

• 30g pistachios, roughly chopped

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160C. Grease a 25cm × 10cm loaf tin and line it with baking paper. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, vanilla and orange zest for about 10 minutes, until the mixture is pale and creamy. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs. In several stages, add the eggs to the creamed butter mixture, mixing well between each addition to ensure the eggs are fully incorporated.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together into a large mixing bowl. Add the ground pistachios and cardamom and mix well. Use a spatula to gently fold the flour mixture into the creamed butter mixture, in two or three batches.
3. Finally, add the sour cream and gently fold it in until just incorporated. 
4. Pour the mixture into your tin and use a spatula to gently smooth out the top, then bake for 40 minutes. Rotate the tin in the oven and bake for another 10 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool your cake in the tin for about 10 minutes before turning it out onto a cooling rack to cool completely. 
5. Once cool, ice the cake. To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a medium bowl and whisk in the lemon juice until the icing is a thick pouring consistency. Adjust by adding more juice or icing sugar as required. Spoon over the cooled cake to cover the top, allowing a little to drizzle over the sides. Sprinkle the pistachios over the top, so they set into the icing as it cools. Serves 10-12