It’s a perfect combination of nuttiness and creaminess with a touch of coffee. The coffee cream is very subtle and works like magic in this cake. It’s a coffee lover’s dream cake. Happy Father’s Day to everyone around! Happy father’s day to my pops who has the biggest sweet tooth!
I remember the first time I made this cake. After a night of fun, games, and lots of wine, the in-house girls party was ready to wind down. I got this stunning dessert all decorated with stained glass made out of sugar. It was a show stopper, and got my friends attention. Slices were passed and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it, so I thought. After a while I realized that a lot of the plates had more than half the cake left. What happened? I tasted the cake before I assembled. What could have gone wrong?
I served myself a slice and then realized it was like taking a bite of bitter coffee, and then the cake. The nutty sweetness of the cake did not cover up the bitter coffee. I added a whole lot of very strongly brewed coffee a little over enthusiastically and dusted it generously with cocoa powder. Everyone, at least most of them in the room were wide awake and were jittery enough to go for another round of karaoke after a few bites. I guess the coffee I used was way too bitter, and the amount was a bit too much.
I’ve adjusted and made this cake many times after, and it has impressed every coffee lover and a non coffee lover. It’s definitely one of those desserts with great textures and flavors. A slightly denser cake with less butter makes a good base for the coffee cream. I get impressed every time I make it. A perfect naked cake to impress anyone :).
- ¾ cups pistachios, toasted/skinned
- ⅓ cup cake flour
- 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
- 3 large egg yolks
- ½ cup sugar, divided (2Tb & 6 Tb)
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- ½ tsp. grated lemon rind
- 2 large egg whites
- 2 tbsp melted butter, cooled
- ⅓ - ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom(reduce it to ⅓ of a teaspoon if you want it less strong)
- ¼ cup espresso or strong coffee
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tsp powdered unflavored gelatin, softened in 1 tablespoon cold water
- 1 cup heavy cream, cold
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Position the rack a little lower than middle.
- Using a food processor, powder the pistachios along with the cake flour and cornstarch. Pulse it till it's a powdery form. Do NOT over process it. Set aside.
- Beat the egg yolks with a whipping attachment with a tbsp of sugar at a time. Whip for about 4-5 minutes or until it is pale and forms ribbons. Add the vanilla extract, grated lemon rind. Set aside.
- In a very clean bowl, whip the egg whites on low speed for a minute and then increase the speed and whip till stiff peaks with 2 tbsp of sugar. It will take 2-3 minutes.
- With a plastic spatula, mix the yolk with the beaten egg white mixture carefully. Alternate the nut and flour mixture with the yolk mixture. When you are almost done mixing add the melted butter. Everything has to be well incorporated.
- Butter and prepare the pan with parchment paper. Pour in a 8 by 4 inch pan and tap to remove air bubbles. Bake in the lower part of the oven for 30 -35 minutes or until it is firm to touch or a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven when done, leave it on a cooling rack and let cool completely. Then invert on a serving platter. You can slice the cake in half and keep it ready for assembly.
- In a sauce pan, add the espresso, sugar and cardamom. Bring it to a boil, add the the unflavored gelatin and turn off the heat. Mix well so that the gelatin dissolves completely.
- In the meanwhile, whip the heavy cream in a clean bowl to stiff peaks. Mix a little bit of the coffee mixture and mix with a rubber spatula. Then add all the coffee mixture and incorporate well.
- Slice the cake in half. Use half of the whipping cream mixture to one layer and spread evenly. Then top another slice of cake and top with the remaining mixture. Level it well. Leave it to set in the refrigerator for about 3 hours or overnight. You could garnish with some dusted cocoa powder, powdered pistachios or some sliced strawberries, or in this case a Pistachio brittle.
The pistachio brittle is a simple, sugar boiled to amber color, mix in nuts, I added some kewra essence and ½ tsp of lemon juice. Spread on a non stick baking sheet, let cool. Break it and garnish.
What a photography. I loved it. I liked the writeup.
So pretty… and delicious too! The dream of any coffee lover!
Save me a slice, please! It looks fantastic.
If my father was still alive, he would beg for this cake. What a beauty this is!
I know you’ve perfected this cake because it looks so amazing! When I was first looking at it, I was thinking “how does she get the cream to be to thick and tall like that?!” Come to find out you have genius-ly made a mousse. I just love not only the way it looks but the pistachio cake itself is enough to fall in love with! Top that with a spiced coffee mousse makes it pretty much unforgettable. I hope you all have fun celebrating Father’s Day tomorrow. My husband has a big sweet tooth, too – I think they make the best husbands/dads! : )
Wow, what a gorgeous cake and what a lucky father you have Ash! I can practically taste it from your pics! 😀
OMG Ash, you outdid yourself once again. The cake looks incredible!
The more coffee the better — I love coffee in desserts! This cake really is a show-stopper — I love the pistachio brittle on top. Beautiful job, Ash! Pinned.
Everytime I visit your blog, you never cease to amaze me. This cake looks so damn good. I want to eat the whole thing. And then lick the plate clean 😉
xx Yasmin
http://banglesandbungalows.com
Beautiful cake! Reminds me of a deconstructed tiramisu. Gorgeous photos as well!
OMG this is like pista kulfi in form of a cake!! Absolutely love the flavors!
Love how you infused pista into this cake. This looks like a work of art. Your talent always inspires me. Thank you for sharing.
xoxo,
Kamana
http://www.socialandstyle.com
Such a lovely combination of flavors and a beautiful cake to boot. The pistachio topping is a really elegant touch.
That coffee cardamon mousse looks fantastic! The cake does too, but the mousse? Wow! Really good recipe — thanks.
Looks phenomenal.
Only 2 tbsp of butter in the entire cake.. that’s awesome.
I need to start baking Asha… soon, very soon!!! 🙂
Oh yea, only that much. It’s a bit of a dense cake, the coffee cream compensates for the cake itself;). You ‘ll love baking, I promise.
That is such a beautiful cake! Love the snaps. And the cake stand…!
I’m so impressed by this cake…sounds amazing!