I recently moved to a country house that is in great need of being brought up to date, in particular my kitchen! The oven is somewhat aged and temperamental and if you are a baker like me this can lead to one baking disaster after another. Over the holidays my eldest daughter convinced me to bake a cake from her new Jamie Oliver “Comfort Food” cookbook! After reading through the recipe, realising it used the grill rather than the unreliable oven, I thought it might work. I was pleasantly surprised with the result and it was a thumbs up from the whole family.
Spurred on by my success I started to consider how I could change the flavour combinations using the same method of grilling rather than baking. Lesley and I started talking and throwing about flavour combinations, we wanted a grown up cake, I settled on lemon, pistachio and rosewater. I should point out that I am not a fan of rosewater, however Lesley loves it. I also knew that lemon & pistachio alone needed something else to tie it all together. I will admit there were disasters with the first cake, namely forgetting to add the rosewater to the icing, perhaps my subconscious at work here repelling the rosewater! The finished product was delicious, rosewater and all. The cake layers showed through (all 14 of them!), the lemon marmalade gave a slight acidity and the rosewater was the perfect balance to bring it all together and leave a fragrant but not pungent taste in my mouth.
fourteen layer lemon, pistachio & rose cake
Print recipe
Ingredients
cake
- 175g unsalted butter
- 300g pistachio paste (see notes below to make)
- 225g caster sugar
- 80ml double cream
- 10 medium eggs (separated)
- 175g self raising flour
- 80g cornflour
filling one
- 150g white chocolate
- 25g unsalted butter
- 4-6 Drops rose water (to your taste)
filling two
- 150g lemon marmalade
icing
- 50g white chocolate (melted)
- 2 tsp natural yogurt
- 2-3 Drops rosewater (to your taste)
- 100g crushed unsalted pistachios
Directions
| In a stand mixer, add the pistachio paste, butter and sugar. Blend until combined then add the double cream and continue to mix well until light and fluffy. Slowly add the egg yolks a few at a time and mix between additions until all well incorporated. | |
| Sift the flour and cornflour into the mixture and fold in with a metal spoon until combined. Set aside. | |
| In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the egg whites to the cake mixture and fold in with the metal spoon until incorporated trying to keep as much air in as possible. | |
| In a small pan melt the lemon marmalade over a low heat and keep warm. In the glass bowl over simmering water add 150g of the white chocolate with 25g butter and melt over low heat, add the drops of rose water (you can adjust this amount to your taste but do be careful as rosewater can be a delicate flavour if used lightly but overpowering if too much used) again keep warm. | |
| To make up the cake, preheat the grill to 190C. Butter and line a 23cm springform pan. Start by adding a thin layer of the batter in the pan, making sure it spreads all over the pan. Place under the grill for 3-4 minutes until golden and set on top. Remove from the oven. Using a pastry brush, brush a layer of the melted marmalade over the top of the first cake layer. Add another thin layer of batter and spread evenly and then place under the grill again for 3-4 minutes until golden. Brush a layer of the melted white chocolate, taking care not to tear the cake layer. Continue this way with layering with batter, lemon, batter, white chocolate, finishing with a layer of melted marmalade. When the batter is used up and all layers grilled, run a sharp knife around the edges as the marmalade will get sticky once cooled. Leave the cake to cool completely on a wire rack. | |
| Once the cake is cooled, remove from the pan and place on a cake plate. To make the icing, in a small bowl, melt the white chocolate in the microwave slowly so as not to burn. Mix well and add the yogurt to loosen the chocolate. Add the suggested amount of rose water to your taste and mix. To decorate the cake, spread the melted chocolate around the edges of the cake and immediately press the crushed pistachios onto it. You can finish by adding a few more pistachios to the top. | |
Note
If you can't find pistachio paste, make up your own by blitzing in a food processor 200g shelled, unsalted pistachios with 100g caster sugar until a paste forms. You can add a few drops of water if mixture seems too dry.
You can use a shop bought marmalade if you choose not to make the recipe attached.
quick lemon rindless marmalade
Ingredients
- 800g lemons
- 1.6kg sugar
- muslin cloth
Directions
| Put a small plate into the freezer and chill to use later for testing the set of the marmalade. Add the whole lemons to the water and bring to the boil. Allow to simmer until the lemons are soft and can be pierced easily, about 2.5 - 3 hours. | |
| Remove from the heat and take the lemons out, cut in half and allow to drain into a colander through a muslin cloth to collect all the juice but not the pith. You want about 1.2L of the cooking liquid remaining. If you have too much then continue to boil it until its reduced down to 1.2L, alternatively if not enough then add a bit more water to top it up to the 1.2L mark. | |
| To the cooking liquid, add the additional drained juice, the sugar and the lemons tied into the muslin cloth (you need the piths and skin for the pectin to set the marmalade). Bring to the boil and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Continue to boil until setting point has reached. You can tell when its set by adding a drop to the cold plate, allow it to sit for a minute then push with your finger, if it makes a crinkle then its set. I find the temperature is about 104.5C if your using a thermometer. | |
| Once set, remove from heat, allow to sit for about 15 minutes before pouring into sterilised jars and sealing. | |
What a romantic cake and also a fabulous recipe for shredless marmalade jelly too! Karen
It was truly a lovely fragrant cake, very grown up flavours and such fun to plan and make something that swirls about in your head for awhile.
Thanks Kirsti, really enjoyed making this one, the flavours are lovely and subtle, a nice change from a classic sponge.
Mmh…looks lovely Michelle. X