Sunday is truly my favourite day to bake and relax with a good book. Today has been no different. I have been home alone the majority of the weekend as my boyfriend has been working long hours in the office, so what’s better than to turn up my music, don an apron and make a mess of the kitchen to surprise him with a treat when he gets in and asks for a cup of tea.
Today’s treat was a pistachio loaf, I love baking loafs as they are pretty quick to throw together, although it felt like I was shelling the pistachios for a very long time.
You will need:
190 g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
190 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
190 g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
35 g sour cream
1 tsp vanilla essence
100 g pisachios, shelled and roughly chopped
40 g pistachios, grounded
120 g icing sugar
1 Loaf tin, 11 cm x 22 cm
(1) Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan assisted).
(2) Grease the loaf tin with butter and dust with flour.
(3) Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
(4) Break in the eggs one at a time, whisking well.
(5) In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
(6) Add the dry ingredients to the batter in two stages and mix on a low speed until just incorporated.
(7) Mix in the sour cream and vanilla essence.
(8) Stir in the 100 g of roughly chopped pistachios by hand.
(9) Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake for around 55-65 minutes or until the sponge is firm and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean and without any uncooked batter.
(10) Allow the loaf to cool in the tin for around 20 – 30 minutes before turning it out on to a wire rack to cool down fully.
(11) When the loaf has completely cooled you may now begin to make the glaze. Place the icing sugar into a bowl, add 2 tablespoons of warm water and mix together. This will make a runny paste, but if you feel it’s too thick just add a few tiny drops of water.
(12) Stir in the some of the ground pistachios and keep a small amount aside to sprinkle on top at the end.
(13) Pour the glaze over the cooled loaf and sprinkle on the remaining pistachios.
(14) Get you kettle on again for some more tea!
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