Oh My Goodness! Rose Bakery Pistachio Cake



My newest cookbook was worth it's weight in gold, because I found my new favorite cake.

If you are a buttercream girl (or boy), a chocolate layer cake lover, or just an overly sweet cake person, then this may not be for you.

But if you love nuts, dense tortes, moist crumb cakes, and did I mention loving nuts? Then this is the cake for you. I think I may love this better than carrot cake!

I am in love.

Rose Bakery is an English bakery located in Paris. They have 2 shops and there are always crowds outside waiting in line for their tarts, salads and cakes. The French think it's overrated, and feel it's for New Yorkers and Londoners, blah blah blah.

Their book Breakfast Lunch Tea: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery is lovely and I can't wait to dig in to more of their recipes.



This was very simple to make and has a gorgeous aroma.

Since I am unfamiliar w/ rose water, I read somewhere to substitute vanilla in the recipe, because rose water is a love or hate thing.
Also, the original recipe calls for 2 sticks of butter (which I just don't like to do), so I cut the butter to 1 1/2 sticks, and it was moist as can be.

Rose Bakery Pistachio Cake:

1 cup of ground almonds
1 cup of ground pistachios
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks butter), softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
zest of a whole lemon
1 tsp rose water (or 1/2 tsp vanilla)
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup flour
pinch of salt

Icing: (optional)
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp milk
handful of chopped pistachios

You can make this cake in a loaf pan or 9" springform.

Grind your nuts in a food processor or coffee grinder.



Butter the pan you are using (I lined the bottom of my pan with parchment paper also for guaranteed lift out).

I rarely follow the rules of mixing the eggs separately and adding later, I do it all together, always with fine results.

Mix the ground nuts together with the flour, baking powder and salt.

I used one bowl (make life easier) and added the eggs, butter and sugar and lemon zest to the flour mixture. The batter came together easily and smoothly.

With a rubber spatula, spoon the batter into the pan and bake 40 minutes in a 350F oven.

Note: The top of my cake started to get too brown, so I covered the top with foil the last 10 minutes of baking.

Mix the icing with a fork and pour over while the cake is still warm. Sprinkle chopped pistachios on top to stick to the icing.



Leave the cake in the springform mold or loaf pan until totally cooled. I kept my cake in the cold garage for a few hours until the icing hardened.

This cake stayed moist and fresh for 4 days, covered.



Loved.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Absolutely gorgeous! FYI, rose water isn't that hard to find, I'm sure the middle eastern shop where you purchase preserved lemons sells it. Hope to see some coverage of the holiday appetizers that kept you busy day before yesterday.
kat said…
A cake that's better than carrot cake?!
Karen said…
I love a cake that isn't too sweet. This sounds good with the ground nuts in it.
Dana said…
Huh. I have that book and while I LOVE the look of it, nothing has every really caught my eye enough to make. I will have to give it another go.
Culinary Cory said…
Yummy! A nice balance of flavors.
If you're that excited about this cake, I know it's good!I'll remember this afte X-mas, I already over did it with cookies and biscotti!
Foodiewife said…
Look at Stacey bake! I love any kind of cake. Dense is good. Nuts are good. A glaze is good.
I'll bet this is perfect with a morning cup of Joe. How I wish I could...but I'm in sugar detox. Yeah, it's the holidays. But, that's the way it is.
tasteofbeirut said…
I love that cake! I was just reading a recipe for pistachio paste from a blog online and the idea to incorporate pistachios and almonds is a great one! Do you think the almonds should be toasted?
Love the ease of preparation of this cake.
Shelby said…
This looks absolutely delicious! I love the look of the texture - I'm sure right up my alley! I think I will try this one out! Thanks Stacey!
Anonymous said…
nice post. thanks.
The Food Hunter said…
I'm a nut lover...especially pistachios. This looks delicious.
Oui, Chef said…
WOW...what a gorgeous looking thing. I love nut meal of all kinds, and pistachios are a particular favorite. Thanks for sharing this one, it will be made soon! - S
lisa is cooking said…
This looks fantastic. I've been searching for pistachio cake recipes for dessert for Christmas dinner. I want to try them all! And, I need that book.
Jen_from_NJ said…
I always love your desserts - easy, delicious and not too sweet. You've never steered me wrong. Thanks!
Susan said…
This cake looks amazing! I'll have to give it a try.
So did you try the orange olive oil cake yet? If so..what did you think?
Greenderella said…
I was looking for a moist pistaccio cake recipe and now I found your wonderful blog (+an awesome looking cake)! I will try this recipe tomorrow, can't wait! And of course I bookmarked you :-)
Anonymous said…
I recently had a pistachio torted cake...but it was very moist and I think the bakery may have brushed the warm cake with rum or amaretto. Do you think that would work with this cake?
Renee said…
I have been wanting to make this for over a year and finally got around to it thanks to my 2 year old's love for pistachios. What a delicious, gorgeous and yet very simple cake! Thank you for the recipe! We are enjoying it for breakfast as we speak. :)