pistachio | Perfecting Pru

Truth be told, I was ready to jack in doing the Daring Bakers. I was wondering whether it would be better for me to challenge myself to bake something that I actually wanted to eat rather than waiting for someone else to pick something which sometimes I didn’t fancy eating, let alone making. But HOORAY! This month’s challenge of Baklava has drawn me back into the fold. I couldn’t be happier.

This month’s Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the June Challange. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then to use that dough to make Baklava.

I had never made phyllo pastry before and I found this daunting. I wasn’t great at doing it either which each piece tearing so in the end I did use some store bought as well, as my own just didn’t cut it. I will have to keep practicing!

I used a combination of pistachios, almonds and cashew nuts and it was lovely. I will have to make this again it was an absolute winner in our house!

~ Pru

The first Martha Stewart Living magazine I bought was April 2007, in May of that year this gorgeous cake appeared as the ‘green’ in a colour story. I have loved the look of that cake for over four years but have never made it. I still find some of the recipes a bit intimidating, but Megan chose quick breads as this week’s Martha Mondays challenge and this cake appeared. It was meant to be.

I cut the recipe down and it filled out my biggest loaf tin, so I knew that this will be plenty for the three of us. I also cut down on the amount of salt (1/2 tbs) and instead just did a tiny pinch as the use of salted pistachios in the batter made it salty enough. Also I didn’t use coarsely chopped pistachios in the batter.

The cake was easy to make, and only required one bowl and the use of the food processor. I was very happy. Mum too was very happy as I did the washing up after making the cake – a Singer Miracle!

The verdict?

This is a very good cake, it has a subtle hint of pistachios and we loved it. We weren’t so keen on the drippy icing (extremely sweet) and would have it with ice cream next time. I had a slice for breakfast this morning with some cream cheese and I think it was even better the next day. A Winner! Thanks for a great pick Megan.

~ Pru