Cardamom Pistachio Cake with Coffee Glaze

Well firstly, Happy New Year!! 2014! I am so truly excited for this new year. New goals, new experiences, new memories, and new recipes. This year I did not make a New Year's resolution, but instead made a list of very achievable goals to complete throughout the year. Goals that I have been meaning to work on or complete for some time, and what better time than a New Year. One goal of course is more blog posts. And to enhance this blog further, another goal is to invest in a very nice quality camera. So expect some beautiful pictures very soon, wink wink. I want to use the camera for this blog, but also to invest some time into photography. Snapping photos of things that I find most beautiful, intriguing, inspiring and then using these photos as inspiration for my pastries and cake designs. This photo above was taken simply. A rustic photo of a rustic cake on a rustic table, no background scene, icing drizzles and pistachio crumbs on the cake board. But with this new year and a new camera, the photography will be so much more in depth. New backgrounds, new scenes, new inspiration.



Another goal is to of course explore food and flavors, to yet again enhance my ideas and creativity, which will thus enhance my desserts. To be inspired by the different cultures and different flavors and learning along the way. This goal is quite wonderful really, because it is also an excuse to go out to eat frequently and indulge in my foodie fantasies.

I am not going to list all of my goals of course; I do not want to bore you. But I do however want to inspire you. Do not take this New Year as meaning you need to change something about yourself or in your life (unless of course something does indeed need changing), but more as a new opportunity to fulfill your goals and dreams. Not to change yourself, but to improve upon what is already there. To find happiness wherever that may be. To live each day to the fullest, with a smile. To do what truly makes you happy and be with the ones who make you happiest.

"Life is what you make it, always has been, always will be." -Grandma Moses

So why not make it grand.

So yesterday was, well, very cold. With negative temperatures and a wind chill of -52, you can only imagine that I indeed stayed inside all day long. Stores were closed, school was cancelled, and the snow that had fallen the night before was even colder.

 I stayed in my PJ's until late afternoon, caught up on some reading and worked out. I had a movie and game night with my brother and sister and cuddled with my pets. And I of course decided to bake something warm and comforting. I had this recipe in my collection and have been wanting to try it for quite a long time. As I have stated before I love Indian flavors and spices, so this cardamom cake intrigued me. What intrigued me even more, was that it was paired with a coffee glaze. I adapted this recipe a little, with the addition of a little rum and some chopped dates. I decided to cover the cake with a pistachio sugar crumb mixture, and gave the glaze a little more coffee oomph. The resulting product was moist, tender and flavorful. The combination of pistachios, dates, and cardamom was really quite lovely. And on a cold night such as last night, this cake was the perfect accompaniment to a hot cup of tea.

Cardamom Pistachio Cake with Coffee Glaze

1 cup of butter (2 sticks), softened
2 1/3 cups cake flour, sifted
1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup of shelled pistachios
1 1/2 cups plus four tablespoons of sugar
4 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp. light rum
1 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup chopped dates 

1) Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a ten inch cake pan. Dust the pan with bread crumbs.
2) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cardamom, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a food processer, pulse 1/2 cup of pistachios with two tablespoons of sugar. Set aside. Repeat this process with the remaining 1/2 cup pistachios and 2 tbsp. sugar (for the topping).
3) In a mixer bowl, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and remaining sugar together until light and fluffy. In a small bowl, whish together the eggs, vanilla and rum.
4) Very gradually add the egg mixture to the butter mixture and beat until pale yellow. Beat in one of the pistachio mixtures. Reduce the speed to low. Alternately add the dry mixture with the sour cream, starting and ending with the dry. Fold in the dates. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean.
5) Cool cake completely. Invert onto a cake circle.

Coffee Glaze

2/3 cup confectioners sugar
1 tsp espresso powder
1/4 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp coffee extract
1 tbsp. of milk or water, plus more if needed

In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, espresso powder, and cocoa powder. Add milk, or water, and coffee extract. Stir until combined. Add more milk, or water, if needed. The consistency should be just thin enough to drizzle.

Drizzle glaze all over cake and sprinkle the remaining pistachio sugar mixture all over the top. Serve at room temperature.


Recipe adapted from Country Living.

Enjoy!