Tuesday 15 May 2012

James Martin's Pistachio & Coffee cake

A few weeks ago I was browsing 'You' magazine that our neighbour drops off for me to peruse the cooking section and I came across a rather yummy looking offering by the chef James Martin.  Its for a Pistachio and Coffee Cake.  Rather handy that was, as I had a packet of pistachio's in the cupboard looking for a purpose, plus I wanted to try something new for OH's birthday cake.

Why is it sometimes that the same recipe can work brilliantly for you one time and then the next time you try.............a great big flop.  Thankfully on the occasion of his birthday, when I was rushing to make and finish it in a short time frame it worked.  Try it again for my birthday and I didn't cook it through in the middle. The outer parts were still very edible though!

The third attempt saw an improvement but not as great as the first.  I don't want to put you off, any which way its a lovely unusual cake.  I tend to always bake cakes in a static oven, but have a sneaky feeling that based on the timings for the first cake, I may have popped it on fan oven instead for that one.

I found its a good idea to whisk all the eggs before adding and then add gradually.

It;s quite a moist batter as you may be able to see.  Rather than grease and line cake tins, I like to cheat and use Lakeland's cake liners.  This way you don't waste loads of greaseproof paper when cutting it to size.




I popped it in a 190c static oven for 35 minutes (recipe says 30 minutes) and it was still quite wet in the centre.  You do leave it to stand in the tin for 30 minutes to continue cooking but it still needed a bit longer so popped it back for another 5-6 minutes.

The centre filling is a very simple mix of cream, a little icing sugar and more pistachios!




So here's my third attempt!  The photo makes it look darker than it is, but due to the extra cooking time its certainly got a crisper exterior.



Quite a nice slice and rather moist!



The next attempt will certainly see a go at the fan oven me thinks and perhaps a smidge more coffee.

On a totally different note I've finally got around to finishing my Katherine's, for the UK Sock Knitters February KAL.  The photo does them no justice as they are a much richer red.

Better late than never!


Now what to make next??
Happy baking

4 comments:

  1. I have just baked this cake at the temperature given for a fan oven and had to bake it for 60 minutes before the skewer came out clean. Have yet to cut it in half to put in filling but looks ok in the tin.

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    Replies
    1. Wow, that is a while! Did you cover the top to prevent it going too brown? Hope it works out for you, as it is a very tasty cake. :)

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    2. Hi, the cake did turn out okay but next time I make it I shall use two sandwich tins and cook for the 30 minutes and see what happens then, bye

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    3. I think that sounds like a very sensible idea. My OH loves this cake and I'd like to get it just right, so I'll give that a go too. Thanks for the tip!

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