Ever tried making a cake from the healthy pistachio nuts.. If not, check this.. Pista and zesty orange cake

These days I make sure I bake something sweet on my near and dear ones' birthday. Though they are far away from me, it gives me a great pleasure to do so and makes me feel closer to them. It was my sister's b'day last week and I thought why not make a rich cake from the healthy pistachio nuts.  As an add-on I added zesty orange flavour to it. You could add your favourite flavours like lemon etc. Got good acknowledgement from family and friends for the perfect taste and texture of the cake..Here's the recipe for the pista and zesty orange cake.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp freshly grated orange zest

1/2 cup melted unsalted butter

1/2 cup powdered white sugar

 2 tbsp brown sugar (completely optional)

1 medium sized carrot grated (completely optional)

2 eggs

2 tbsp fresh orange juice

1 tbsp milk1/4 tsp vanilla extract 

1/4 tsp orange extract

1-2 drop of green color (for a smooth green color, completely optional)

2 cups dry-roasted unsalted pistachio nuts (deshelled) (if you like you can add 8-10 roasted almonds too and reduce the pista nuts by same amount).

1/2 tsp salt to taste 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg powder (completely optional)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

For the orange glaze:

1 cup orange juice, or as needed

2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest

3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar, or more according to taste.

Procedure

1)Whisk together orange zest and melted butter in a mixing bowl. Add white and brown sugar and whisk until sugar has dissolved. Whisk in eggs until light and fluffy. Add carrot, orange juice, milk, vanilla extract and orange extract into egg mixture. Stir well.

2) Using a blender or a food processor, blend together all the pistachios until coarsely ground. Add salt, baking powder, nutmeg and flour. Blend again until everything is combined well. Now transfer pistachio mixture into the wet mixture and stir ( gently fold) until batter is combined. Add color if you want to at this point and mix it well.

3)Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the baking dish with butter.

4)Pour the batter into baking dish. Tap it remove eliminate air bubbles.

5)Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the top is lightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 

6) Let the cake cool down. If you would like to spread some zesty orange glaze then heat a pan and pour the orange juice and sugar in it. Add orange zest too. Stir it well. Let it simmer until everything is mixed well and sugar is dissolved. It should be like a sugar syrup consistency.  Let it cool down. Spread it evenly on the cooled down cake. 

7) I garnished the cake with confectioners sugar using a tea strainer and placing some sliced  pistachios over it. You can if you wish too :-).

Enjoy the rich orange zesty pista cake with your loved ones. 

Cheers,

Shweta