I've never been a fan of fad dieting (or dieting in general), a few years ago my best mate and I thought it might be a great idea to give the soup diet a try. If you have never heard of it, the soup diet is a soup made up of crushed tomatoes, celery and possibly onion (I've blocked it out), that you consume non-stop for 7 days straight before adding in some steak (I may have made up the steak). I can't remember if I lost any weight but I do know I spent a lot of time on the toilet. So I kinda have issue with any extreme dieting, Dukan, Soup etc. So when I first glimpsed the sugar quitting book, without any research at all I had a slight tantrum. I have since only done a very small amount of research (I read her recipe for brownies, blurk! and heard about her on Sunrise) and shockingly my opinion has not changed. You may think my opinion is horribly unjustified and how can I judge something without ever trying it? I've also never been hit by a bus, but I'm pretty sure I won't feel like a macaron afterwards.
So in conclusion, I may have no idea what I am talking about but if you tell me you have brought the 'I Quit Sugar" book be prepared for me to rant uncontrollably with hand gestures galore and quite a few f-bombs.. (sorry Dan). Just like this blog, my rant may not make a lot of sense, but at least you'll know not to share your sugar free, dairy free, chocolate free (I know its dairy but it should seriously have its own food group) brownies with me without the risk of a slight brain fart on my behalf.... usually in public (once again sorry Dan).. :)
Oh to celebrate the I Quit Sugar rant, here's a recipe for a pistachio cake... with lots of sugar!
Recipe - Watergate Cake with Impeachment Frosting
Pistachio Pudding
1 cup (5 ozs) shelled unsalted pistachio nuts
2/3 cup (4 2/3 ozs) sugar
1 1/2 cup half and half (I used half milk half cream)
4 egg yolks
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 tblsp corn powder
Cake
2 cups (10 ozs) plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 cup (4 ozs) unsalted butter, at room temp
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ozs) sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tblsp pure vanilla extract
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
Pistachio Cream (Impeachment Frosting)
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup mascarpone
2 tblsp sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Caramelized Pistachios
1/4 cup Sugar
2 tblsps water
1/3 cup shelled unsalted pistachios
Small pinch sea salt
Pistachio pudding: In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, grind the pistachios with 1/3 cup of the sugar until finely ground but not a paste. In a medium saucepan over low heat, heat the half and half and the ground pistachio mixture until the half and half is hot but not boiling. Meanwhile, thoroughly whisk together in a small bowl the egg yolks, the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar and the salt, then whisk in the corn flour. Slowly whisk about a third of the hot pistachio cream into the yolk mixture. Pour the resulting mixture back into the saucepan with the hot half and half and gently cook over medium-low heat whisking steadily, until the mixture begins to thicken and has been bubbling for roughly 1 minute (you will need to stop whisking for a moment to check if it is bubbling). The mixture will get thick quickly. Strain the mixture through a medium mesh sieve into a shallow bowl or pie pan. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding and refrigerate until cook, about 1 hour. The pudding can made 1 day ahead.
Centre an oven rack and preheat the oven to 176c
To make the cake, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and then whisk the ingredients by hand to ensure they are well mixed.
Measure out 1 scant cup (almost full) of the pudding and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, blend the butter and sugar together on a low speed until the ingredients are well blended. With the mixer on low speed, drizzle the oil and the vanilla into the mixture until combined. Kick up the speed to medium high and beat until fluffy, about 5 minutes. As you make the batter, stop the mixture frequently and scrape the paddle and the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. With the mixer on low speed, blend in the eggs one at a time, adding the next one as soon as the previous one has disappeared into the batter. Ad the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk mixture in two parts, beginning and ending with the flour. After each addition, mix until just barely blended and stop and scrape the bowl. Stop the mixer before the last of the flour has been incorporated. Stir in the scant cup of pistachio pudding and complete the blending by hand with a rubber spatula to ensure you do not overbeat the batter.
Divide the batter evenly into the prepared pans (there will be approximately 1 pound per pan) and smooth the tops. Bake in the middle of the oven until the cakes are very lightly golden and spring back when touched, 22 to 25 minutes. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Invert the cakes onto the rack (you will leave on the parchment paper until you assemble the cake) then turn them so they are top side up and continue to cool them on the rack until they reach room temperature.
While the cake is cooling, make the pistachio cream (aka Impeachment Frosting). Place the bowl of a stand mixer and its whisk attachment in the freezer for 5 minutes to chill. Measure out 1 cup of the pistachio pudding into a medium size bowl and set aside. Place the cream, mascarpone, sugar and vanilla in the cold bowl and mix on low speed until the mixture has come together. Gradually increase the mixer's speed to high and whip until peaks just begin to form. It is important to stop beating once the firm peaks form: mascarpone is a fragile cream and tends to become grainy if it is over whipped. Gently fold one third of the mascarpone cream into the pistachio pudding to lighten it up. Continue gently folding the mascarpone cream into the mixture in thirds until fully combined.
To make the caramelized pistachios, grease a baking sheet lightly with cooking spray and set aside. Place the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring this syrup to a boil and cook without stirring until it turns light amber in colour (you can swirl the pan instead of stirring to distribute the colour and the heat). Add the pistachios and swirl to coat the nuts completely in caramel. Continue cooking until the syrup turns a dark amber. Quickly dump the nuts onto the greased baking sheet and lightly dust with salt. Using you hands, clump the nuts into small clusters or separate the individual nuts before the mixture cools, but do this with caution as the sugar holds onto the heat and could burn your fingertips! Cool the nuts and store in an airtight container at room temp for up to 2 days.
To assemble the cake, remove the parchment from the cake layers. Lay one of the cakes on a serving plate, top side up. Spread a generous cup of pistachio cream over the cake, spreading the filling out and slightly over the edge of the cake. Set the next cake layer (again top side up) on top of the filling and spread another layer of pistachio cream over it like you did with the first. Repeat with the last layer and top with the remaining cream on top.
Decorate with the caramelized pistachios.
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This is a fabulous book! Seriously fabulous! I wouldn't say these are vintage cakes in Australian terms, but if you were from America you would certainly get a kick out of it. There are very few cookbooks that I am very tempted to start with the first recipe and work my way back, this is one of them. Not only is this a beautiful looking book, everything in it looks delicious and the names are awesome! Shoo-fly Cake, Honey Bee Cake, Blackberry Chocolate Cream Icebox Cake and (my favourite name) Goober Cake... Just picking the names out, I've found a cake I'm going to make this week, only because it looks awesome! A friend of mine* put me onto this book and so I'm passing on the same information, if you like making cakes that take a little bit more concentration and often a few extra steps, get this book! Even if you don't like making cakes but you like cookbooks, get this book! One of these days I'm going to take 6 months off work and make every cake in this book!.. The only thing you will need is possibly a ingredient convertor for the American ingredients, but worst case scenario, wing it.... much more exciting if you aren't sure what you will get :)
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| Terrible photo but I was impatient to start eating! :) |
Thanks
Kate
xx
MAKE THE PICSTACHIOS!!!!!!!...... :P
*My friend Dan(ielle) was a bit put out that I blamed her for I Quit Sugar but didn't mention that she also recommended Vintage Cakes.... So thankyou Dan, but its still doesn't make up for I Quit Sugar, unless of course you burnt it?? :P
