Pistachio Cake with Lemon

It's time for a new recipe today and I'm very sure you guys will love this cake!

I can’t believe it’s the end of March and this is the first recipe I’m sharing with you. Things have been a little wild as Nora and I are planning to finish a renovation project this summer that has been in the works for years now and I really can’t wait to share it with you guys! We are just about to plan the last details and I will take you to the construction site very soon. But back to the recipe - every year in spring I’m craving pistachios for some reason. Maybe it’s the fresh green color, maybe it’s the taste, I have no idea but I just love them each spring! We had a few weeks with several client productions in the studio and it’s always nice to have a little treat in the afternoon, so Nora made this very delicious gluten-free pistachio cake. I love that it’s not too sweet and the lemon zests are such a great combination with the mascarpone topping. It’s quite easy to make, the only pain are the pricy pistachios. If you don’t want to spend so much money you can also exchange them for ground hazelnuts or almonds, in that case you obviously won’t get the beautiful green color but I promise it will be equally delicious :) I hope you guys enjoy the recipe, scroll down for all instructions.

Recipe - Pistachio Cake with Mascarpone Cream

Ingredients:

5 eggs (size medium or large)

1 pinch of salt

180g sugar

1 pinch of ground vanilla

120g olive oil (we use this one from Gridelli)

1 (organic) lemon

250g pistachios (ground the pistachios in a high-speed blender)

50g gluten-free flour mix

2 tsp baking powder

250g mascarpone

200g whipping cream

65g powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 180°C/360°F (top/bottom heat). Line the bottom of the springform pan with baking paper and butter the sides. Wash the lemon, grate the peel or zest it, and squeeze half a lemon. Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites for 30 seconds, then add 90g of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form for 1-2 minutes. Set aside briefly. In a second mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks together with the remaining sugar, salt and vanilla for 30 seconds until creamy. Then whisk in the olive oil and 1 tbsp lemon juice. Combine the ground pistachios, flour, and baking powder and stir into the egg yolk mixture in 2 batches using a silicone spatula (the batter will be quite firm; this will change with the addition of the beaten egg whites). Now fold in the beaten egg whites in 3 batches – don’t overmix, just until the beaten egg whites are no longer visible. Pour the batter into the springform pan and bake for 50 minutes. Then let cool down completely. Prepare the mascarpone cream. Place the mascarpone and whipping cream in the freezer for 20 minutes. Then, in a mixing bowl, beat the mascarpone and powdered sugar together for 1 minute on a hand mixer at low speed. Then, slowly add the whipping cream and increase the speed to high. Whip the cream for about 3-5 minutes until stiff. Then, depending on the consistency and whether the cake has cooled, use the cream immediately or refrigerate it for up to one 1 hour to firm up a bit. Spread the mascarpone cream over the cake and garnish chopped pistachios and lemon zest.