Pistachio Chiffon Cake

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shelled pistachios, give or take
1/2 cup plain flour
6 TBS sugar
1/2 TBS baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, separated
1 TBS lemon juice
4 TBS water
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 C/350 F.
Grind the pistachio nuts finely in a food processor to end up with 1/3 cup of ground nuts.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and then stir in ground pistachios.

Add oil, egg yolks, lemon juice, water and vanilla and beat mixture until thick, about 4 minutes or so.

Whip egg whites with cream of tartar to stiff peaks.

Fold one-third of whites into batter, then remaining two-thirds.

Pour batter into ungreased bundt pan (or a 10 inch round tin) and bake for 45-55 minutes, until springy when touched.

Allow to cool completely before removing from pan and then dust with icing sugar.

It really needs the icing sugar - this is not a sweet cake! 

Two recent things!



This is a stellar example of a cookie. A peanut butter whoopie pie cookie to be precise. Baked from a recipe in that awesome Martha Stewart Living christmas cookie magazine. They are awesome in their deliciousness. If you're a fan of the chocolate and peanut butter combo, bake them now. They're not difficult, I promise.

Then, even though it's the hottest month of the year, I knit an angora/lambswool blend scarf for the fun of it. Pretty, dontcha think? I love this multi-directional pattern, it totally rocks.



Pity it was about 37 degrees (100 fahrenheit) today. I wont be wearing it for quite a while.

Patchwork cushion I made for my sister's birthday last year. The owl fabric particularly rules. I was totally inspired by Lisa Congdon to start making log cabin pillows, I mean, hers are the coolest freakin' cushions I've ever seen. Mine are a bit too matchy though, I need to use a bigger variety of fabrics and maybe thicker strips.

Closer look at the fabric: