Pistachio Cake with Coffee Cardamom Mousse
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
It's a coffee lovers dream cake. Perfect combination of a nutty cake with coffee cream
Author:
Recipe type: Cake
Serves: 10
Ingredients
For the Pistachio Cake:
  • 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
Coffee Cardamom Mousse:
  • 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
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Position the rack a little lower than middle.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
For the Coffee Cardamom Mousse:(Prepare once the cake is completely cooled)
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
Assembly:
  1. 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.
ENJOY!
Notes
Chill the cake a little before serving. The cake can be wrapped in well and left in the refrigerator over night. When ready to serve, make the cream couple of hours, top it and serve chilled.
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.
Recipe by Food Fashion Party at https://www.foodfashionparty.com/2015/06/19/pistachio-cake-with-coffee-cardamom-mousse/