Mother's Day and an Orange, Honey and Tahini Cake with Pistachios
Tuesday May 15, 2012
When I saw this recipe, my immediate reaction was YES lets do it. Tahini? In a cake? Sign me up. Where are my cake pans...
Happy belated Mother's Day! I love you mumsy!
I meant to post this ON Mother's Day, however by the time dinner was over, and we had dessert, I decided that I was much too lazy to edit photos let alone post a new recipe.
This was the perfect dessert for our family. Interesting flavour, light and not too sweet. It allows for the tahini to shine through. Although I would consider next time cutting the cake into 2 layers and putting some sort of filling between to add a bit more moisture - however I haven't decided what that filling would be just yet. I think I will definitely making this cake again.
This is definitely a cake that I don't see many people thinking immediately I HAVE TO MAKE THAT. However, the nutty flavour of the tahini mixed with the zesty orange and honey is definitely interesting and delicious. AND...super awesome that pretty much all the fat comes from tahini! Cool beans.
Recipe: Orange, Honey and Tahini Cake with Pistachios
1 1/2 cup whole wheat (or spelt) flour
1 1/2 tsp baking poweder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup tahini
2 tbsp vegetable/canola oil
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup orange juice (~2 oranges)
zest of one orange
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp sugar (or use half the amount of sugar as honey)
1 egg
1 tbsp vanilla extract
Topping:
1/2 cup roasted (unsalted) pistachios
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (I forgot to put these on mine-oops)
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 1 6-inch cake pan with butter or margarine and coat lightly with flour. In a large bowl, combine thr flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or by hand) combine the tahini, orange zest and sugar and beat until combined. Add the egg, oil and vanilla extract and mix until incorporated. Add in the yogurt, orange juice and apple sauce and mix until well combined.
Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients slowly and mix JUST until incorporated. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake in the oven for ~40 minutes or until a tester comes out clean when inserted into the centre. Remove the cake from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.
Meanwhile, prepare the syrup by combining the honey, water and orange extract (you can also use juice here) in a saucepan over medium heat. Let come to a boil and boil for 4 minutes.
When the cake has cooled a bit (it doesn't have to be completely cool), level the top of the cake if it has domed with a serrated knife. Turn the cake upsidedown (so the bottom of the cake is facing up) and poke a bunch of holes in the (new) top of the cake. Top with your roasted pistachios (you can crush them a little first so that the pieces are smaller). Pour the honey syrup over the cake. Enjoy!
