Pistachio, Raspberry and Rose Cake
It’s almost mothers day, and I guess I’ll be making my own cake again this year (which I love to do). I may as well develop a new recipe, something that I really want to make and eat. How about a Rose Cake with Pistachio and Raspberry?
This cake is sometimes referred to as a Persian Love Cake that includes saffron. The cake comes with a legend, making it all the more mysterious and desireable to make for a loved one.
Ingredients in this recipe
Let me explain how to make the best pistachio, raspberry and rose cake. Read the whole recipe first and have everything ready to go before you start.
- First, the pistachios have to be fresh. Stale nuts lose flavour or go rancid. Either way, fresh is best, and whole nuts that you grind yourself will have much more flavour.
- I’ve mixed a touch of cornflour in with the crushed nuts to give the cake a better-textured cake, don’t leave it out. You can use plain flour if you don’t have cornflour.
- Frozen Raspberries are best for folding through a cake. Weigh them into a small bowl and pop them back in the freezer until you’re ready to add them to the cake. We will fold the frozen raspberries through the batter just before panning up. (popping in the cake tins for baking)
- You know I always use unsalted butter for cooking and baking. Then you are in control of the amount of salt you add.
- Caster sugar is better than plain white sugar. The granule size works better when making cakes.
- Vanilla – good quality is best. I don’t care if it’s paste or liquid, but I don’t grind the whole beans. We talk about that in Bake Club Online.
- I used two USA round 8″ (20.5cm) cake pans.
- When using rose petals, get the edible type.
This cake isn’t too hard to make, I’ve listed it as medium, but it’s easy if you read the whole recipe first so you know what’s coming up, and what outcome you’re trying to achieve. The idea of adding the eggs one at a time with a heaped spoon of flour in between is to help prevent your mix from splitting when using your Thermomix. By reading the recipe first, you’ll understand what needs to be done.
What about the icing?
Before you ask, what Icing did you use, I used Ermine and added a touch of vanilla and rosewater to mine. But that’s up to you, If you want some recipes, check out the links I’ve given you below.
Pistachio, Raspberry and Rose Cake
5 stars tells us you love the recipe
becs-table.com.auA somewhat grown-up cake that is perfect for mothers day. The flavours are sphisticated and absolutely delicious.
Equipment
- 1 Thermomix or Stand Mixer
Ingredients
- 160 g pistachios
- 40 g cornflour
- 420 g plain flour
- 28 g baking powder around 1 ½ tbsp
- 5 g salt
- 100 g frozen raspberries keep frozen until you pop them in the batter
- 270 g unsalted butter cold cubes for Thermomix or room temperature cubed for Stand Mixer
- 420 g caster sugar
- 10 g 2 tsp Vanilla
- 5 g 1 tsp Rose extract or 1 tablespoon rosewater (Optional for the cake, I only used it in the Icing)
- 3 large eggs
- 380 g full cream milk weighed into a small pouring jug
Instructions
Thermomix Method – Cake
- Preheat oven to 170C (fan-forced). Grease and line 2 x 20cm round cake tins.
- Weigh the pistachios and cornflour into the TM bowl with the MC in place. Mill for 8 seconds/speed 8, then set aside.
- Weigh the flour, baking powder and salt into the TM bowl with the MC in place. Mix for 4 seconds/speed 5, then set aside into a bowl.
- Add the cold cubes of butter to the TM bowl and mix for 10 seconds/speed 5.
- Weigh the caster sugar, vanilla and rose extract or rosewater (if using it in the cake) into the TM bowl and mix again for 10 seconds/speed 5.
- With all the eggs cracked into a small bowl or jug (ready to add to the TM), set the speed to 5, add one egg through the hole in the lid then add a heaped tablespoon of the flour mix you weighed earlier, repeat with another egg and another tablespoon of flour then the last egg. Turn off the TM and scrape down.
- Put the butterfly into the TM bowl and pop on the lid. Have your milk and your flour mix ready. Set the TM to speed 3.5. Add 1/3 of the flour mix through the hole in the lid, then 1/3rd of the milk repeat with the following addition 1/3 flour, 1/3 milk and last 1/3rd flour and 1/3rd milk.
- Now remove the lid, and using a spatula, scrape down the mix and release any air caught under the batter.
- Add the pistachio mix and the frozen raspberries to the bowl and mix for 5 seconds/speed 3.5
- Remove the lid. The mix shouldn’t look completely combined. That’s ok, we’re trying to keep as many raspberries whole as possible. Using your spatula, remove your mixture from the bowl (being careful not to break up the raspberries too much) but folding in any big clumps of pistachio powder, and place your batter evenly across two cake tins.
- Bake for around 40 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Conventional Method – Cake
- Preheat oven to 170C (fan-forced). Grease and line 2 x 20cm round cake tins.
- Weigh the pistachios into a food processor and mill until relatively fine (no significant bits); add the cornflour to the mixer and process until finely ground. Set aside.
- In a bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
- In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar, vanilla and rose extract or rosewater until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl down between additions.
- Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Start the mixer on low and pour in half of the milk and mix until just combined. Repeat with the remaining flour and milk. Do not overmix.
- Gently fold through ground pistachios and raspberries until just combined. Divide batter between prepared cake pans.
- Bake for around 40 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Read the recipe first, have all the items that you need at hand before you start so you can avoid over mixing the batter.
- Overmixing can make your cake heavy and have a greasy texture.
- Thermomix Tip – The method I’ve given you is to have all the dairy cold straight from the fridge.
- Conventional Tip – Use softened butter and dairy for a stand mixer at room temperature.
- Cakes on the centre shelf in the oven if you can.
- My cakes took 40 minutes to bake, although I rotated them at the 30-minute mark.