tummyrumbles.com

Sometimes a recipe just grabs you by the apron ties and begs to be baked. A Pistachio Layer Cake with Nougat Cream led me astray this weekend. Oh my.

The method and ingredient list is rather impressive, although I had to tweak a few of the ingredients as to what was at hand. So out went the Amaretto di Saronno and orange / almond extract. And in came Frangelico, orange rind, orange blossom water and some almond essence. But I must say, this is a really spectacularly yummy cake (despite my cheapass substitutes). What a winner.

The cake was super easy. I had the food processor, the mix master and the hand held mixer all going at once. Yolks and sugar were beaten to a pale yellow ribbony consistency, and the whites and sugar aerated to a glossy cloudy puff. The pistachios, shelled, were blitzed to a fine powder with plain flour and baking powder. Then the three mixes were combined together and poured out into a large tray. A quick stint in the oven, and out she came, twice as high and smelling divinely of toasted nuts.

The soaking liquid and nougat cream were easy as. I contemplated throwing in some chunks of leftover glace citron, but couldn’t be stuffed once I remembered how difficult it is to cut the damn stuff.

Anyway, the assembly was purely pleasurable. Four layers of pistachio cake were drenched in a nutty orange soaking liquid, and then pillowed with generous layers of honey nougat cream. Crushed nuts decorated the side (a la continental style), and I even adorned it with a retro piped star cream border. I wonder if I’ll learn about those in culinary school

My apprenticeship starts on the 30th January 2006. I went and purchased all the required duds from Dura-wear…traditional chef checked drawstring pants, white long/short sleeve jackets, white/yellow jacket studs, aprons, profi birkenstocks, skull cap, bakers cap and white/yellow neckerchief (how the heck do I tie it?). At work I can dress up in whites, but at school the required uniform includes yellow jacket studs, yellow neckerchief, bakers hat, short-sleeved jacket and short apron. I got dressed up in the new gear on Saturday, and must admit to feeling a slight thrill as I looked in the mirror. I looked like a true blue dinky-di chef. But I’m sure it won’t take long to dirty those crisp new whites though!

Written by mellie on January 22nd, 2006 | Tags: cakes, desserts, recipes | Category: Uncategorized |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL