Spiced Carrot, Pistachio and Almond Cake with Rosewater Cream

 

Recently I was invited along to a book club of the very best kind known as The Cookbook Club.  The group chooses a cookbook from which they all prepare a dish and then come together to share a meal with each other.  For anyone who is a regular follower of my blog you would know doubt realise that this is an ideal kind of gathering for me.  A real life Cookbook Guru in my own home town.

The gathering that I was a part of had chosen to cook from Sabrina Ghayour’s Persiana.   Each member selects a few recipes to prepare and nominates it to the book club organiser to ensure that there is no duplicates.  The week prior to the meeting you get a wonderful email back letting you know which dish is yours, along with the recipe.  This was one of the recipes I’d chosen and as I found out doing some research, one that has been published a bit in the promotion of Ghayour’s book so it must be one of signature dishes.

To say that I was excited about getting to prepare this delicious sounding cake is an understatement.  I loved the sound of the savoury nature of the ingredients and that the recipe was gluten-free.   A cake that is for non-cake lovers.  What’s more,I loved that the cake was recommended to be made at least 24 hours in advance, making it perfect for when you are hosting a group of people as the flavours will be at their best from being organised and making it a day or two prior to serving. Perfect for book club.

I found the recipe to be simple to create, not even requiring machinery to mix together which is a bonus.  Most of the ingredients I had readily to hand in my pantry with the only exception being the pistachio nuts.   An easy approachable recipe for even the non-bakers amongst us.

The flavour of the cake was nutty, slightly chewy from the coconut and almond meal and overall had a lovely balanced spice and a moist crumb.  I did find it a touch sweet for my personal liking and would maybe reduce the sugar amount next time around, but when served with the rosewater cream this sweetness was neutralised.  Because of the sweetness I chose not to dust the cake with icing sugar as I didn’t think it really needed it.  Instead I served it decorated with some roughly chopped pistachio nuts.

Along with this cake I was also offered the recipe for Saffron and Lemon Chicken so stay tuned for that post.  Both recipes have inspired me and intrigued me about Ghayour and I’m off to find out a little bit more about her as an author and see  if I can track down a copy of her book for myself.

 

Spiced Carrot, Pistachio and Almond Cake with Rosewater Cream

* sourced from Persiana by Sabrina Ghayour

The Cake

• 3 large eggs
• 200g castor sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 200g ground almonds
• 100g desiccated coconut
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 150g unsalted butter, melted
• 2 large carrots, coarsely grated
• 100g shelled pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
• icing sugar for dusting

Rosewater Cream

• 300ml double cream
• 2-3 tbl sp rosewater
• 3-4 tbl sp icing sugar
• chopped pistachios

Preheat the oven to 160c.  Line a 23cm springform cake tin with enough non-stick paper to cover the bottom and sides.  Alternatively you can use a loaf tin and the cake will turn out just as well.

Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla together.   Add the ground almonds, coconut and cinnamon and stir.  Then add the butter and give a good mix, followed by the grated carrots and pistachios and mix until evenly blended.  Pour into the baking tin and cook for approximately 1 hour or until its firm to touch and a crust forms on the top.

Allow to cool in the tin, preferably overnight.  As per Ghayour’s tip the cake is much moister once cooled and tastes better as a result.

To make the rosewater cream, whip the cream along with the rosewater and icing sugar until the cream is thick and unctuous.  Dollop a generous spoonful onto a plate with a slice of cake and then dust with icing sugar to serve.

The cake will keep in a dark cool place in an airtight container for up to a week.

Shared With Love,

Leah