Pistachio and lemon curd cake

I have been super lazy with cooking/baking lately so the Wednesday Ekka holiday was the perfect opportunity to actually make something. This is a recipe by the Australian Women’s Weekly.

Ingredients

Lemon curd

3 medium eggs
1 1/2 tbsp lemon rind, finely grated
1/2 cup (125ml) lemon juice, freshly squeezed
3/4 cup (165g) caster (superfine) sugar
100 g unsalted butter

Pistachio cake

1 1/4 cups (160g) finely chopped pistachios
125 g unsalted butter
1 cup (220g) caster (superfine) sugar
1 tbsp lemon rind, finely grated
3 eggs
2/3 cup (100g) cake flour
1 tsp baking powder

Method

1. To make lemon curd, combine eggs, rind, juice and sugar in a medium heatproof bowl; set over a medium saucepan of simmering water. Stir about 10 minutes or until mixture thickens and thickly coats the back of a spoon.
2. Gradually add butter, stirring until smooth between additions. Strain mixture into a medium bowl. Cover surface with plastic wrap; cool. Refrigerate for 3 hours or until chilled.
3. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 22cm (9-inch) springform pan; line base and side with two layers of baking paper. Spray the side lining paper with oil, avoiding the base. Place 1/4 cup (45g) of pistachios in the pan; rotate pan on its side to coat side with pistachios.
4. Beat butter, sugar and rind in a medium bowl with an electric mixer for 3 minutes until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until combined.
5. Sift flour and baking powder into a small bowl, add 2/3 cup (90g) of the nuts; stir to combine. Using a large metal spoon, fold dry ingredients into egg mixture until just combined.
6. Spoon cake mixture into pan; drop pan on work surface to settle the mixture. Spread 1 cup (200g) of the curd over batter, levelling the surface; scatter evenly with remaining pistachios. Cover remaining curd; refrigerate.
7. Bake cake for 40 minutes; cover surface with a round of baking paper to prevent nuts burning, then bake a further 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean (the top will still be slightly wobbly).
8. Serve cake warm or at room temperature with remaining lemon curd.

Tips

You can finely chop the pistachios in a food processor if you like; use the pulse button, in bursts, for an even texture.

Cake flour is lower in protein than plain (all-purpose) flour so it produces a finer, more tender crumb in baking.

This cake is best made on the day of serving.