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Pistachio-Cardamom Cake

Pistachio-Cardamom Cake

  • Makes
    Makes one 9-inch loaf
  • Cook Time
    1 hour 10 minutes
  • Active time plus cooling
    15 minutes active, plus cooling
  • Rating

Baking a cake can be daunting. Enter the loaf cake, as easy as a quick bread but with more polish. Rose Bakery in Paris, created by Briton Rose Carrarini and her French husband, Jean-Charles, has elevated the style to an art form, producing tempting loaf cakes in all manner of flavors. We were particularly taken by a green-tinged, nut-topped pistachio cake. For our version, we paired toasted pistachios with cardamom and ground orange zest, giving it a distinctly Middle Eastern flavor. Combining ground nuts with rich Greek-style yogurt, olive oil and plenty of eggs ensured a moist, appealingly coarse crumb. We got the best results from grinding the nuts until they were nearly as fine as flour, but still had some texture. If you can’t find unsalted pistachios, reduce the salt in the recipe by half. Cooling the cake was essential to maintain the thick consistency of the glaze.

Tip

Don’t skip toasting the pistachios. The differences in flavor and texture were significant between raw and toasted. Toast the nuts at 300°F until they’re quite fragrant and begin to darken, 10 to 15 minutes.

Ingredients
  • ¼

    cup olive oil, plus more for the pan

  • 130

    grams (1 cup) all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan

  • 214

    grams (1 cup) white sugar

  • 2

    teaspoons grated orange zest, plus ¼ cup orange juice

  • 193

    grams (1⅓ cups) shelled, unsalted pistachios, toasted and cooled

  • 2

    teaspoons baking powder

  • 1½

    teaspoons ground cardamom

  • ½

    teaspoon table salt

  • 4

    large eggs

  • 120

    grams (½ cup) plus 2 tablespoons plain whole-milk Greek yogurt, divided

  • 2

    teaspoons vanilla extract

  • 93

    grams (¾ cup) powdered sugar

Step 1

Heat the oven to 325ºF with a rack in the middle position. Lightly coat a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with oil and flour. In a food processor, combine the white sugar and orange zest; process until the sugar is damp and fragrant, 5 to 10 seconds. Transfer to a large bowl.

Step 2

Add the pistachios to the processor and pulse until coarse, 8 to 10 pulses. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the nuts for topping. Add the flour, baking powder, cardamom and salt to the processor with the nuts. Process until the nuts are finely ground, about 45 seconds.

Step 3

To the sugar mixture, whisk in the eggs, ½ cup of yogurt, the oil, orange juice and vanilla. Add the nut-flour mixture and fold until mixed.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake until golden brown, firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted at the center comes out with moist crumbs, 50 to 55 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

Remove from pan and let cool completely, about 2 hours.

Step 4

In a bowl, whisk the remaining yogurt with the powdered sugar until thick and smooth. Spread over the cake. Sprinkle with the reserved nuts. Let set for 10 minutes before serving.

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