Pistachio and lime cake recipe

by Lynn Hill, The Clandestine Cake Club on Thursday, 11 April 2013

This beautiful cake is a pistachio-flavoured sponge soaked in a zesty lime syrup and layered
with a lime cream frosting, lime curd and crunchy pistachio nuts. Delicious! Taken from The
Clandestine Cake Club Cookbook
Serves 10-12

Ingredients
300g butter, softened
300g caster sugar

5 eggs
300g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
Grated zest of 3 limes, plus the juice of 2
50g pistachio nuts, finely chopped
For the lime syrup:
Juice of 2 limes
2tbsp caster sugar
For the lime curd:
60g butter, diced
2 eggs
170g caster sugar
Grated zest and juice of 3 limes
For the frosting & decoration:
250g butter, softened
200g full-fat cream cheese,from the fridge
Grated zest of 1 lime
250g icing sugar
75g good-quality dark chocolate (min. 70% cocoa solids)
125g pistachio nuts, chopped a few unsprayed rose petals (optional)
You will need:
Three 20cm round sandwich tins

Preparation
1. Preheat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas mark 5. Grease and line the three sandwich tins
2. Beat the butter and sugar using a wooden spoon or electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, and adding a tablespoon of
the flour with the final egg to help prevent curdling
3. Fold in the remaining flour and the baking powder until thoroughly combined. Add the
lime zest and juice and the finely chopped pistachio nuts and mix until well combined
4. Divide the mixture between the tins, spreading it evenly. Bake for 2530 minutes or until
a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave in the tins to cool slightly
5. Meanwhile, make the syrup. Put the lime juice and sugar into a pan over a low heat and
stir until the sugar has completely dissolved, then bring to a simmer. Remove from the
heat and leave to cool
6. While the sponges are still warm turn them out of their tins on to a wire rack, then
carefully spoon the lime syrup over the top of each one you may not need all the syrup.
Leave the cakes to cool completely

7. Put all the ingredients for the lime curd in a small, heavy-based pan and heat gently,
stirring constantly with a wooden spoon dont let the mixture boil or the eggs will
scramble. When it has thickened enough to coat the back of the spoon quite thickly,
strain through a sieve into a bowl. Cover and leave to cool
8. To make the frosting, beat the butter until smooth. Add the cream cheese and mix until
combined. Add the lime zest, then sift in the icing sugar and beat until light and fluffy
9. For the decoration, melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water,
making sure the water does not touch the base of the bowl, then pour it on to a piece of
baking parchment and spread it out with a palette knife so it is about 3mm thick. Scatter
over some of the chopped pistachios and leave to cool and set
10. To assemble the cake, place one of the cooled cakes on a plate, spread with a third of the
frosting, then cover with a generous layer of the lime curd. Add a sprinkling of the
remaining chopped pistachio nuts. Place a second cake on top of this and repeat the
layers (saving some pistachios for the top). Place the final cake on top and cover with the
remaining frosting
11. Break the pistachio-studded chocolate into rough shards and arrange round the edge of
the top of the cake, then scatter the remaining pistachios among them
12. Decorate the centre with a few rose petals, if you like
Copyright woman&home 2013