This is an interesting cake: no leavener (beyon whipped egg whites), not too sweet, and with lots of pistachios in! It actually contains twice as much pistachio by volume as flour. The use of whipped egg whites/French meringue in the batter along with fat (in the form of melted butter) puts me in mind of a chiffon cake. But I feel like this has more flour than I'd normally expect in a chiffon. That said, I don't have enough experience with chiffon cakes to know for sure. Anyway, as noted, it's a nice, nutty cake that doesn't come out overly sweet.

Along with the pistachios, the batter incorporates a bit of vanilla and some orange zest for flavour. These were both very nice with it (although I didn't feel that the orange came through particularly strongly), but I think it would be interesting to try swapping out the vanilla for some rosewater next time. Not that I wasn't excellent the way it was, but pistachio and rose are such a classic combo that I'd really like to give it a try here. I actually ended up sprinkling a few rose petals on top before serving. Not enough to noticeably affect the flavour though; I just thought it needed a bit of decoration.

Pistachio-Orange Cake

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 2 c. (~250g) pistachios
• 1 1/4 c. sugar, divided
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. orange zest
• 6 large egg whites (~3/4 c.)
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (or rosewater)
• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar and/or dried rose petals

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F) and spread the pistachios out on a baking sheet.
2. Bake at 160°C (325°F) until toasted and fragrant (6-8 minutes), shaking the pan every 2 minutes. Transfer to plate to cool.
3. Increase oven temperature to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 23cm (9") springform pan.
4. Coarsely chop half of the pistachios. (A few quick pulses in a food processor works well for this.)
5. Transfer the chopped nuts to a bowl and set aside.
6. Add the remaining nuts to a food processor or blender along with 1/2 c. of the sugar and pulse until finely ground.
7. Add the flour and orange zest and pulse until mixed.
8. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until foamy.
9. Add the vanilla and the remaining 3/4 c. of sugar 1 Tbsp. at a time while continuing to beat until stiff peaks form.
10. Quickly but gently fold the flour mixture into the meringue.
11. Add the butter and chopped pistachios and quickly fold those in as well.
12. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
13. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 35-40 minutes.
14. Transfer to wire rack to cool for ~10 minutes.
15. Remove sides from springform pan and allow to cool for another few minutes.
16. Carefully remove cake from pan bottom and place on wire rack to finish cooling.
17. Dust with icing sugar and sprinkle with rose petals before serving.

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Variations

No Refined Sugar Pistachio-Rose Cake

I haven't had a chance to test this yet, but I think it would be interesting to try making this cake with powdered dates in place of granulated sugar. I'm not sure how well it would work for making the meringue, but I think it would be worth a try. I'd also be tempted to replace 1-2 Tbsp. of the butter with orange juice, just to amp up the orange flavour a bit (while also slightly reducing the fat). I know this wouldn't exactly turn this cake into health food, but it would hopefully make it a bit healier and maybe a little more diabetic-friendly. So, here we go!

Ingredients

• 2 c. (~250g) pistachios
• 1 1/4 c. powdered dates, divided
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. orange zest
• 6 large egg whites (~3/4 c.)
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. orange juice, divided
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (or rosewater)
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
• icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar and/or dried rose petals

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F) and spread the pistachios out on a baking sheet.
2. Bake at 160°C (325°F) until toasted and fragrant (6-8 minutes), shaking the pan every 2 minutes. Transfer to plate to cool.
3. Increase oven temperature to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 23cm (9") springform pan.
4. Coarsely chop half of the pistachios. (A few quick pulses in a food processor works well for this.)
5. Transfer the chopped nuts to a bowl and set aside.
6. Add the remaining nuts to a food processor or blender along with 1/2 c. of the date powder and pulse until finely ground.
7. Add the flour and orange zest and pulse until mixed.
8. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt and 1 tsp. of the orange juice until foamy.
9. Add the vanilla and the remaining 3/4 c. of date powder 1 Tbsp. at a time while continuing to beat until stiff peaks form.
10. Quickly but gently fold the flour mixture into the meringue.
11. Add the butter, remaining orange 5 tsp. of juice, and chopped pistachios and quickly fold those in as well.
12. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
13. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 35-40 minutes.
14. Transfer to wire rack to cool for ~10 minutes.
15. Remove sides from springform pan and allow to cool for another few minutes.
16. Carefully remove cake from pan bottom and place on wire rack to finish cooling.
17. Dust with icing sugar and sprinkle with rose petals before serving.