Pistachio Milk Cake

Pistachio milk cake

Course: Dessert, Iftar

Cuisine: Latin American

Keyword: Baking, Milk, Nuts, Oven

Servings: 14 people

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade.
Grease and flour an 9×13 inch sheet pan OR ceramic dish.
Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks.
Using a stand mixer or hand held beater, whisk the egg yolks, vanilla extract and sugar until smooth and double in volume.
Transfer the mixture to a separate bowl.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.
Fold this sifted mixture into the whipped egg yolk mixture. Be gentle and make sure you do not over mix.
Clean and dry the stand mixer bowl OR a glass bowl.
Pour a drop of vinegar into this bowl and spread it with a kitchen towel.
Using the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites on high, until stiff peaks form and the mixture looks foamy. This will take about 4-5 minutes.
Gently fold in the egg whites into the egg yolk and flour mixture.
Pour the batter into prepared pan and bake for 18-20 minutes or till the top is golden.
Let cool completely before proceeding with the milk mixture.

Place the pistachios in a food processor.
Grind the pistachios on a medium speed for 5 minutes. It will resemble very thick peanut butter.
Using a silicone spatula, stir the paste and wipe down the paste from the processor back into the middle.
Process for another 5 minutes on medium speed.
Stir and wipe down and blend again for 5 minutes one last time.
The paste should be very smooth and the oils of the pistachios should have released.
If you feel the paste can get smoother, continue processing in 2 minute intervals till the consistency is right.½
In a large bowl or jar, use a whisk to combine all the milk mixture ingredients together.
Add in the pistachio paste and whisk thoroughly till it is a homogenous mixture.
Refrigerate until ready to use.

Using a skewer or a fork, poke (a million!) holes into the top of the cake.
Set aside half a cup of milk mixture.
Gently pour a part the remaining milk mixture on top of the cake.
Make sure you don’t miss the corners of the cake.
Wait for the surface to absorb it briefly.
Once it looks a bit dry (2 minutes), pour a little more of the milk mixture.
Continue this process for the remaining milk mixture.
Refrigerate covered for at least 2 hours.
Check if the milk has been absorbed completely.
If it has, you will be able to see the cake surface. Pour half of the milk mixture that was set aside.
If it has not been absorbed completely, you will see the liquid on the surface. DO NOT pour any additional milk mixture.
Refrigerate the covered cake overnight OR at least 10 hours.

Whip the heavy cream and sugar in a clean, dry bowl till stiff peaks form.
Be careful not to over beat because the cream will curdle.
Using a silicone spatula, spread the whipped cream on surface making sure it is smooth and even on all sides.
Sprinkle powdered pistachios generously all over the cake.
Cut the cake and gently transfer to serving bowls.
Divide and pour the remaining milk mixture into the bowls.

I piped the whipping cream using a pastry bag an open star tip nozzle for a good finish. This is completely optional.
If you’re halving the recipe, you must use 3 eggs. The remaining ingredients can be halved.
The amount of milk the cake absorbs depends completely on the baking pan the cake is made in. When I used a rectangular one, it absorbed better in comparison to the cake made using halved ingredients recipe in a square pan.
If the milk does not absorb, it will be difficult to spread the whipping cream on top.