syrup-soaked orange blossom + pistachio loaf cake

I’ve pondered a lot of questions in quarantine over these past few months:

  1. Whatever happened to all of Joe Exotic’s tigers?

  2. Will headbands still be trendy after this? I just bought like 5 in March

  3. Why is banana bread called bread? It’s clearly cake

So with that said, I developed this recipe for an orange blossom + pistachio loaf CAKE, that plays on a lot of Middle Eastern flavors present in traditional baklava – namely orange blossom, which lends a floral-y & citrus-y flavor, balanced with the depth of pistachio. It’s airy, perfectly sweet, and *moist* (yes, I said it), and may even out-do that other loaf cake that has lots of bananas in it. And if calling it bread makes you feel better, then fine, go ahead, you have my permission.

INGREDIENTS

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup almond flour

3/4 cup shelled pistachios

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream or greek yogurt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

2 eggs

1 tbsp. honey

3 tsp. orange blossom water*

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cardamom

1 orange (from it 2 tbsp. orange zest & 3 thin slices)

1/2 cup simple syrup (1/3 cup sugar + 1/3 cup water; recipe below)

*orange blossom water is an extract found in Middle Eastern/Mediterranean specialty stores or online

DIRECTIONS

Make the simple syrup: In a small saucepan, combine 1/3 cup sugar & 1/3 cup water and bring to a boil. Stir occasionally to ensure all sugar dissolves. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, until syrup thickens. Let cool. Pro tip: simple syrup can be made ahead, in a big batch, and kept for cocktails or for brown butter baklava.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a loaf pan with non-stick spray and parchment paper, so that the parchment hangs over the sides for easy lift-out.

If your pistachios are not already roasted, roast them! (for 10 minutes at 350ºF). Crush your pistachios into pieces; you can do this by chopping them with a knife, crushing them in a plastic bag with a mallet, or in a food processor – just don’t grind into a flour! You want crunchy pieces. Save 2 tbsp. of crushed pistachios for topping.

orange zest  imparts all the citrus oils into the sugar for extra orange flavor

orange zest imparts all the citrus oils into the sugar for extra orange flavor

In a large bowl, combine sugar & zest from one orange (about 2 tbsp. total). Rub the zest into the sugar, until the sugar is tinted orange and smells orange-y (yum!). Add in eggs, sour cream, honey, and orange blossom water. Whisk until well incorporated.

folding in the butter ensures the cake is light + airy

folding in the butter ensures the cake is light + airy

Sift in the almond flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt into the wet mixture. Whisk together. Using a spatula, fold in the melted butter and crushed pistachios. Pour batter into the loaf pan. Top with thin orange slices & extra pistachios.

Bake cake for 35-40 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean all the way through. Immediately out of oven, pour simple syrup all over top of cake and let cool.


store: in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or in the fridge for up to 1 week.

diet: vegetarian

eat it with: a dollop of tangy labneh, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or by itself. Bonus points if you have it with Turkish coffee or tea.

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brown butter + tahini labneh with roasted sweet potatoes

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miso tahini cookies