Pistachio Rose Honey Cakes Recipes

PISTACHIO AND ROSE WATER SEMOLINA CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit/100 degrees Celsius. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and grease a 9-inch/23-centimeter round springform pan and line with parchment paper.
• Make the candied rose petals, if desired: Whisk egg white by hand until frothy. Then, using a small pastry brush or paintbrush, very lightly paint both sides of each petal with egg white; do this in a few small batches, brushing and then sprinkling the sugar lightly over both sides of each petal. Shake off excess sugar and lay petals on the lined baking sheet. Place in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes, until dry and crunchy, then set aside to cool.
• Make the cake: Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit/180 degrees Celsius.
• Combine pistachios and cardamom in a food processor. Process until the nuts are finely ground, then transfer to a bowl. Add almond meal, semolina, baking powder and salt. Mix together and set aside.
• Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until fully combined, but take care not to overwork it; you don't want to incorporate a lot of air into the mixture. With the machine still running, slowly add eggs, scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times and making sure that each batch is fully incorporated before adding the next. The mixture will curdle once the eggs are added, but don't worry; this will not affect the end result.
• Remove the bowl from the machine and add the dry ingredients, folding them in by hand and, again, taking care not to overmix. Next fold in lemon zest, lemon juice, rose water and vanilla extract and scrape the batter into the pan. Level with an offset spatula and bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean but oily.
• While the cake is in the oven, make the rose cream: Place all the ingredients for the cream in a bowl and whisk to beat everything together for about 2 minutes, until thick. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
• Make the rose syrup: About 10 minutes before the cake comes out of the oven (you want the syrup to be warm when the cake is ready), place all the ingredients for the syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring so that the sugar dissolves, then remove from the heat. Don't worry that the consistency is thinner than you might expect; this is how it should be.
• As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, drizzle all of the syrup over the top. It is a lot of syrup, but don't lose your nerve - the cake can take it! Sprinkle with finely chopped pistachios and set the cake aside in its pan to come to room temperature. Remove from pan and scatter rose petals over the cake. Serve immediately, with a generous spoonful of rose cream alongside. (The cake keeps well for up to 5 days in an airtight container. The rose petals should be sprinkled over just before serving.)

PISTACHIO, ROSE & HONEY CAKES

Steps:

• Tip the pistachios into a food processor and blitz to fine crumbs. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Generously butter the holes of a 12-hole muffin tin. If the tin doesn't have a non-stick surface, line it with paper cases.
• Weigh 25g of the pistachio crumbs into a small bowl and set aside. Tip the butter, caster sugar, eggs, flour and a pinch of salt into the food processor with the rest of the pistachio crumbs and blitz until smooth and creamy. Divide the mixture evenly between the holes of the tin and bake for 20 mins until golden and springy to the touch and a skewer inserted into the middles comes out clean. If any wet batter remains, return the cakes to the oven for 5 mins, then check again. Once cooked, run a knife around each cake to loosen from the tin (if not using paper cases), then leave to cool in the tin for 5 mins. Carefully turn out the cakes and transfer to a wire rack to cool until just warm. Once fully cooled, the cakes will keep in an airtight container for up to two days or frozen for up to two months.
• Pour the honey and 2 tbsp water into a small pan over a low heat and bubble for a few minutes until you have a loose syrup. Remove from the heat and stir in the rosewater. While the cakes are still warm, brush over the syrup, letting it soak in. Leave to cool completely.
• Mix the mascarpone with the icing sugar, then spoon a little of this over each cake, swirling it with the back of the spoon. Drizzle with a little extra honey, then scatter over the reserved pistachio crumbs and decorate with rose petals, if you like. Best eaten within a few hours, but will keep chilled for two days.