Pistachio Cherry Cake

My dad’s in town this week for a fairly last minute visit. I guess I know where I get my “on a whim” habits from. We’re very lucky that the weather is looking so good. All sun, a little cloud, high (for us) temperatures of 16 to 17’C. There may even be a little ocean fishing on the forecast on morning this week.

This cake can be made with a 9inch or into 16 or so muffins. I doubled the recipe and made both, although I only made 12 muffins and put the rest of the batter in the cake pan. I really appreciated how easy the cake was to get out of the cake pan and will be making this cake again and again. Here’s what I did:

Pistachio and Cherry Cake

• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp unsalted Pistachios, gently toasted
• 1 cup All Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 2 tbsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/2 cup Sour Cream or Creme Fraiche
• 1/2 cup Butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup Honey
• 2 Eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tsp Lemon Zest
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• Cherries, sliced in half and pitted

1. Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease and line the bottom of a 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper. If making muffins, thoroughly grease or line 16 muffin tin holes. Or grease one 9-inch cake pan.
2. Toast the pistachios and then put them with 1/4 cup of the flour in the food processor. Process until pistachios are finely ground. Transfer to a small mixing bowl. Whisk in the remaining flour, the baking powder and the salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and honey on high speed until the mixture becomes light and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next.
5. Add lemon zest and vanilla.
6. With a spatula or spoon, stir in half the sour cream, followed by half of the flour-pistachio mixture. Repeat with the remaining sour cream and flour mixture, mixing until it is just fully blended.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan or spoon into muffin tins making sure you don’t fill the holes any higher than 2/3 full. Push the cherry halves all around the top of the cake or a few into each muffin top.
8. Bake in the oven, rotating the pan after 15 minutes to promote even cooking and until a tester inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes.
9. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Once cooled, run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it. Then place a flat plate on top of the cake and very carefully flip the cake over on top of it. Quickly do the same with a cake platter. With the muffins, also allow to cool on the rack before carefully running a knife around each (if you didn’t use paper liners) and carefully removing each muffin.