Two-tier pistachio-orange-chocolate cake

Birthdays and anniversaries require cake so we're having cake today for this little Blog's 4th Anniversary!  

When I realized this anniversary was coming up, I started thinking about cake. Surprisingly, I didn't have a queue of cakes I wanted to make sitting on the sidelines so I kept it simple and just asked myself: what kind of cake do I want to eat?  And pistachio cake popped into my mind.  I've been on a pistachio kick lately and, to me, they're kind of like pears in that I'll go for a while without eating them and forget how good they are until I eat them again. 

So pistachios it was!  In the back of my mind, I was seeing this chocolate pistachio cake of Martha's that I always found alluring.  I stuck with the torte idea (which I tend to think of as nut-based, European-style, cakes) but instead of making a chocolate-pistachio cake, I made it a pistachio cake with chocolate.  I wanted the bright, nutty flavor of the pistachios to shine.  I based the cake on a recipe from epicurious and added the chocolate elements.  Pistachios and orange with chocolate is one of my favorite combinations so that's what we have. 

I didn't give this cake a lot of pre-thought before making it and wow, I was very pleasantly surprised by the cake I ended up with!  It was totally scrumptious, really moist and full of nutty citrus flavor, capped off by that coating of chocolate ganache. I will be making this one again and again.

The cake is made with ground pistachios but since it's not propped up solely on ground nuts (there's flour in it, too), the texture is moist and dense but also stands firmly in traditional cake territory as well.  I find cakes made entirely with ground nuts can be too rich and moist for my taste so this was a great balance.  There's a lovely chewiness to it also that I adore.  Orange zest works so well with pistachios and while I already have chocolate well represented in the coating, I couldn't resist adding another hint of chocolate in the cake itself.  So I grated an ounce of dark chocolate and folded it into the batter at the last moment.  You might not be able to detect the shaved chocolate within the cake but I'm comforted to know it's there.  

I attempted to make this a little more special by creating a two-tier cake, a 4-inch on top of an 8-inch base.  As you can see, I swaddled the cake in chocolate ganache, which is like an irrepressible reflex for me.  I am exploring my new interest in water ganache so it was made with just dark chocolate and water.  I'd use a little less water next time for a thicker consistency but I'm so far very happy with the water ganache option.  I topped the cake with a little decoration of chopped pistachios and cocoa nibs.  I would say this cake is a good representation of the kind of cake I love to eat - a moist, flavorful cake featuring nuts and chocolate!

I'm so glad I made cake to celebrating four years tapping away on this blog!  When I first started here, I didn't know how long I'd keep at it, and I still don't.  I'm almost surprised I'm still plugging away here but the truth is this continues to be a fun outlet for me and a motivation for learning.  I love thinking, talking, reading, writing, cooking, and eating food and that hasn't changed.    

I've learned to be comfortable in this space and I enjoy the freedom to make and show what I want without being pinned down to anything.  For a non-creative person like me, I really love the act of creating these pages - seeing these posts come to be with a recipe, some time in the kitchen, and then some words and a few pictures. There is a great sense of satisfaction in it that I'm very grateful for.  

If there's one thing that I feel a little sad about in the last four years of joining the food-blogging world (in my own very amateur, minor way) is the exiting of blogs that I got to know and enjoy.  While many blogs I started visiting four years ago are still going strong, some have stopped blogging altogether or reduced their posting significantly.  I didn't realize how much I enjoyed their words, recipes, inspiration until they were gone and I miss many of them.  I trust that those who have stopped blogging are happy and busy, and I'm sure they continue to eat well.  So I'm having a piece of cake and celebrating food blogs of old, the ones that continue to go strong, and ones yet to come that do so much to inspire and entertain me.  Thank you!  : ) 


Let's talk some more about this very tasty cake!

It starts with 3/4 cup of toasted pistachios (I just buy and use dry toasted, unsalted ones for this recipe).  Grind the nuts finely but not so much that it turns into a paste! This, along with a cup of all-purpose flour, provides the structure for the cake.  I really like the balance of nuts with the flour; it makes for a nice texture of moist dense cake yet not overly wet.  

I divided the batter into an 8-inch cake pan and a 4-inch for the second tier.  Yes, I was thinking wedding cake.  You can simply bake the batter in a 9-inch cake pan.  Some of the dark specks comes from 1 ounce of dark chocolate that I grated in the largest opening of a box grater.  I folded that into the batter at the last minute, like I did with the banana-chocolate chiffon cake.  I love the visual (not to mention taste) of little flecks of chocolate running through my cakes.

Have you ever gone to press the "oven light" button on your oven but inadvertently turn off the timer instead?  That happens to me too often (I'm going to blame it on a design flaw!) so I can only approximate that I baked the larger cake for about 30-35 minutes while the smaller was done about 5-7 earlier.  

About the water ganache...I'm only starting to figure out the ratios and I used 5 ounces of dark chocolate with 4 ounces (half a cup) of water for this cake.  I've adjusted the recipe attached, reducing the amount of water, because I found mine a bit too loose even after chilling for a while.  And needless to say, since there are only two ingredients here - and one being water - use a good-quality chocolate you love because that's the taste that comes through.  

Water ganache - just chocolate and water

Waiting for my ganache to thicken required more time than I expected so the cake took me longer to complete.  Patience paid off though.  I ended up slathering the first layer with ganache, chilling it for about 10 minutes, before applying a second layer.  You can skip the two-step process if you start with a thicker ganache.

I frosted the second, smaller layer, on a separate plate and then transferred it on to the base layer, using extra ganache to smooth out or patch up any major dents.  Since my ganache was loose, I stored the cake in the fridge to allow it to set up (and it did very nicely!).  I ended up keeping the cake in the fridge, cutting slices and allowing them to come to room temperature before serving.  

The ganache sets firm in the fridge (more so than you see here, where the cake was freshly coated and sliced) and the cake stayed delightfully moist while the ganache was firm yet soft, full of chocolate flavor, for a few days.  

It's funny but we removed the little top tier and froze it, like people do with the top layer of their wedding cake.  I can promise you that we will not wait a year to eat it though!  My husband and I have imminent plans for a date night, capped off with two forks digging into this delicious "anniversary" cake.

Thank you!

Recipe:

Two-Tier Pistachio-Orange-Chocolate Cake
Cake recipe adapted from epicurious and inspired by Martha Stewart; Water ganache method adapted from Hand Made Baking and Cooking Light

- For a two-tier layered cake, 4-inch on top of 8-inch base (you could also make one 9-inch round cake) - 

For cake:
3/4 cup (approximately 4 oz.) toasted, unsalted shelled pistachios 
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange
3 large eggs
1 ounce dark chocolate, grated through the largest opening of a box grater

For ganache:
5 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/3 cup boiling water

For garnish: Chopped pistachios and cocoa nibs 

Make cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with a rack in the middle position.  Prep an 8-inch round cake pan and a 4-inch round cake pan by spraying with baking spray, lining the bottoms with a round of parchment paper, and spraying the paper (alternatively, you could butter and flour the pans).

Place pistachios into a food processor and pulse until finely ground, about 40 seconds (do not over-process or the pistachios could turn into a paste).  Add flour, baking powder, and salt, and pulse briefly to combine.  

Combine milk and vanilla in a measuring cup. 

In a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar, and orange zest (I like to zest the orange right on top and rub it gently into the sugar) on medium-speed until light and fluffy, about 1 1/2 - 2 minutes.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with each addition.  On low-speed, add the pistachio and flour mixture in 2 batches alternating with the milk mixture in between.  Mix until just combined.  Fold in the grated chocolate with a large rubber spatula.

Spread batter about 3/4 way full into the prepared 4-inch cake pan.  Transfer the rest of the batter into the 8-inch pan, smoothing the top.  (For a simple one-layer torte, you can bake the batter in a prepared 9-inch cake pan.)  Place pans on a baking sheet and bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean - about 30-40 minutes for the 8-inch cake and 5-10 less for the smaller.  Remove cakes from the oven, let sit on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.  Run a knife around the sides of the cake, remove the cakes, and let cool completely on a rack.  

Make ganache:  Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl.  Pour boiling water over top and let sit for about a minute.  Then gently whisk the mixture until smooth.  Let sit at room temperature, whisking occasionally, until it thickens enough to spread (you can speed the process up by placing it in the fridge but don't forget about it). 

Assemble cake:  Place the 8-inch cake on top of a cake pedestal or serving platter. Tuck pieces of wax or parchment paper under the rim of the cake for easy cleanup. Spread ganache on top and down the sides of the cake.  Likewise frost the smaller 4-inch cake on a smaller plate, then using a large spatula, carefully transfer it on top of the bigger base layer.  Touch up the cake, as needed, with ganache.  To decorate, sprinkle chopped pistachios and cocoa nibs around the sides of the cake.  Remove the wax or parchment paper under the cake.

Place cake in the refrigerator for about half an hour to set.  I stored my cake in the fridge but let slices come to room temperature before serving.  Cake should stay moist this way for about 3 days.