Ground pistachios star in the sponge as well as in the creamy filling, which also features candied peel and chunks of chocolate
Diana Henry The Telegraph's award-winning cookery writer
Diana Henry is the Telegraph’s much-loved cookery writer. She shares recipes each week, for everything from speedy family dinners to special menus that friends will remember for months. She is also a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio 4, and her journalism and recipe books, including Simple and How to Eat a Peach, are multi-award-winning. A mother of two sons, Diana can satisfy even the fussiest of eaters.
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This makes a two-tier cake. If you prefer to make a single one, halve the quantities for the cake itself and use the filling as the topping, sprinkled with the pistachios and rose petals. I always think a two-tier cake looks more sumptuous. You can add a little more chocolate if you want, but I like just the odd burst of its bitterness.
Overview
Prep time
20 mins
Cook time
45 mins
Serves
14
Ingredients
- 330g pistachio kernels
- 75g white breadcrumbs
- 350g caster sugar
- 4 tsp baking powder
- finely grated zest of 2 lemons
- 400ml olive oil, plus extra for the tin
- 8 medium eggs
For the filling
- 250g ricotta, fresh if possible
- 110g mascarpone
- 2½ tbsp icing sugar
- finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 70g candied peel
- 20g chopped pistachios
- 15g plain chocolate, chopped
- ½ tbsp orange flower water (optional)
To decorate
- icing sugar for dusting
- 25g chopped pistachios
- rose petals (off-white or yellow ones are lovely and spring-like), unsprayed
Method
Step
Preheat the oven to 180C/170C fan/gas mark 4.
Step
Put 330g pistachio kernels in a spice grinder and grind to a powder. (You can use a food processor, but it won’t do it as finely.)
Step
Mix with 75g white breadcrumbs, 350g caster sugar, 4 tsp baking powder and the finely grated zest of 2 lemons.
Step
In a separate bowl, mix together 400ml olive oil and 8 medium eggs then stir them into the dry ingredients.
Step
Scrape into two oiled and base-lined 20cm cake tins and bake for 45 minutes. The cakes should be coming away from the sides of the tins.
Step
Leave the cakes to cool in their tins for about 10 minutes, then turn them out, peeling off the paper.
Step
Put one on to a serving plate and the other on to a piece of greaseproof paper laid on a wire rack (the paper makes it easier to lift – this is quite a fragile cake).
Step
To make the filling, beat together 250g ricotta and 110g mascarpone with 2½ tbsp icing sugar.
Step
Add the finely grated zest of 1 lemon, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 70g candied peel, 20g chopped pistachios, 15g chopped plain chocolate, ½ tbsp orange flower water (optional) and combine.
Step
Spread this over the cake on the plate and place the other cake on top. Dust with icing sugar and scatter with 25g chopped pistachios and rose petals.