Easter is around the corner, which means a lot of family gatherings and dinners on a long, beautifully laid out wooden table. As we all know, nothing adds that elegant touch to a scrumptiously laid out dinner table other than a gorgeous cake. So if you’re looking for that added touch, this paleo Vanilla Pistachio Cream Cake fits right in!
It’s been quite a while since i’ve posted on here and I apologize. Ever since my accident in September, I literally spend 5 days of the week going to physiotherapy, doctors appointments, seeing my shrink and hand therapy, while simultaneously trying to create new recipes, work on some photography, and just in general trying to have some sort of a “life.” it’s been hectic and challenging, but it’s also been quite progressive. Recovery has been a very interesting path full of ups, downs, side shifts and forward drifts. However, in the grand scheme of things, it’s definitely working out for my greater good.
I also have some very exciting news to share in the coming weeks, something I have always wanted to do for years, but I won’t give it away just yet! For those of you who have been following my blog for a while, you know that I have a terrible sweet tooth, which is the main reason my healthy dessert catering business was born (currently updating the menu!). However, this lovely Easter cake may be the last cake or sweet treat i indulge in for the next little while….and i’ll tell you why.
I recently had another follow up with my family doctor and he scheduled me for an ultrasound, just to see how things were looking because of the complications caused by some of my injuries. The results of the ultrasound showed that things were normal for the most part, but there were some other things that were detected which showed signs of PCOS. I won’t go into any more details at the moment regarding what it is just until my new blood tests come back. But in the meantime, I was told that I may have to stay off sweets and maintain a strict diet for a while to monitor how things go before my next follow up. So of course when I made this vanilla pistachio cream cake, i enjoyed and destroyed every inch and crumble as a send-off to my temporary diet restriction zone. More to come soon.
Here’s a little bit of inspiration I want to share with you all. No matter the curve balls life throws at you, always remember that life is beautiful, and so endlessly delicious.
- For Cake:
- 3 ½ cup almond meal/flour
- ½ cup arrowroot starch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ⅔ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 6 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup raw honey
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- For Pistachio Paste:
- ½ cup raw pistachios, soaked overnight
- ¼ cup raw cane sugar
- 2 tablespoon unsweetened almond milk
- ½ teaspoon pure almond extract
- For Frosting:
- 16 oz full fat cream cheese
- ⅓ cup - ½ cup pistachio paste
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- Melted dairy free chocolate, for topping
- Preheat oven to 325°F and grease four 5-inch baking pans with non-stick spray. Grease the edges and set aside. Sift almond flour, arrowroot starch, baking soda and sea salt in a large bowl and set aside.
- Separate the eggs from the egg whites and place the egg whites in a medium bowl. Place the yolks in a separate bowl with melted butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and lemon juice and whisk to combine. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and mix until smooth.
- Beat the egg whites using a hand mixer until whipped and fluffy, about 2 minutes, then set aside to sit for a moment. Gently fold in the whipped egg whites into the batter about ⅓ cup at a time, mixing carefully.
- Divide the batter between four 5-inch greased baking pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the toothpick comes out clean. Let the cakes cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before turning the cakes onto the rack. Be very careful when doing this to prevent the cakes from falling apart.
- Next, make the pistachio paste. place pistachios in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the nuts are in small bits. Add the cane sugar, almond extract and almond milk and blend until relatively smooth. Set aside.
- To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese, pistachio paste, vanilla and maple syrup in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix with a paddle attachment until smooth. Once the cakes have cooled off, carefully slice the cakes in half from the edges. Frost each layer of the cake, or frost however you would like!
Where did the 1 cup of honey get added?
The honey gets added in step 2. I wrote maple syrup instead of honey as a typo! Thank you for pointing that out!