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This is adapted from the River Café in London and while I’ve never eaten there, I find that the cookbooks by owners Ruth Rogers and the late Rose Gray give the finest interpretation of Italian food outside of Italy. It's delicious at all times of the year, but it's especially good for Easter, which is a big deal in Italy.
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1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus additional for greasing pan, at room temperature
1 lemon, preferably Meyer lemon
1 vanilla bean
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup slivered almonds
3/4 cup shelled unsalted pistachios
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Glaze
lemon juice from reserved lemon (above), plus additional lemon if necessary
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup shelled unsalted pistachios, roughly chopped
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Preheat the oven to 325°. Grease bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan with some butter and line bottom with a circle of parchment paper.
With a zester, grate the lemon peel (reserve lemon). With the tip of a sharp paring knife, split the vanilla bean down the center and scrape out the seeds. In a food processor, pulse the sugar with the peel and vanilla bean. Transfer to a bowl. In the same processor bowl, pulse the almonds and pistachios until finely ground, but do not let go to paste.
With an electric mixer, beat the butter and lemon-vanilla sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides the bowl between each addition. Continue beating until light and fluffy and doubled in bulk, 3 to 5 minutes. With a spatula, fold in the lemon-vanilla sugar, then the flour and nuts. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and shake to even it, but do not worry about smoothing the top. Bake until a skewer comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Set on a rack to cool for 10 minutes, then loosen edges of cake with a kitchen knife and remove sides of pan. Invert cake and remove bottom of pan and peel off parchment paper, then invert right side up on a serving plate.
For glaze, squeeze juice from reserved lemon (you should have about 3 tablespoons; if not squeeze more lemon juice). In a very small pot, bring the lemon juice to a boil with the sugar, stirring until sugar is melted. Spoon over the cake, then sprinkle chopped pistachios on top. Let cake cool for a few minutes then cut into wedges to serve.
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