Pistachio Cake with Labne Cream and Kataifi
I always find joy in baking desserts, especially when they bridge the East with the West - where familiar comforts meet flavors from my roots.
This pistachio cake is soft and nutty, layered with a lightly tangy labneh cream and finished with crisp, golden kataifi for the perfect contrast. It is a meeting of cultures in dessert form: creamy, crunchy, delicate, and deeply comforting.
Pistachio Cake with Labne Cream and Kataifi
Yield: 8
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 6oz raw pistachios finely ground
- 6 1/2 oz flour
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 10 oz sugar
- 6 oz unsalted butter at room temperature cut into tiny cubes
- 5 egg whites at room temperature
- 4 1/2 oz Greek yogurt at room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
For the topping:
- 2 1/2 oz kataifi (found in Middle Eastern grocery stores)roughly cut
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 oz unsalted butter
For the labne cream:
- 6 1/2 oz labne (found in Middle Eastern grocery stores)
- 5 oz mascarpone
- 5 oz cream cheese
- 2 oz confectioner’s sugar
Instructions
To get started:
- Preheat the oven to 360 degrees F(185 C).
- Grease and line the base and sides of two 8-inch baking pans with parchment paper.
Make the cake:
- Place the ground pistachios in a bowl along with the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Mix to combine.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter with the sugar on high speed until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).
- Lower the speed and add a third of the egg whites at a time mixing until fully incorporated.
- Whisk in the yogurt and vanilla for 30 seconds then scrape down the sides and turn the speed down to low and add a third of the flour mixture and a third of the milk, alternating the two until the mixture is smooth.
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake in the heated oven for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and let cool in the pans completely.
Prep the topping:
- With the oven still on, line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Mix the kataifi with the sugar, cinnamon and butter in a bowl then spread the mixture on the prepared sheet separating the kataifi strands as much as possible with your fingers.
- Bake for 20 minutes stirring halfway until golden then set aside to cool completely.
Make the cream
- In the bowl of the electric mixer, whisk together all the cream ingredients for 1 minute until smooth.
Bring it all together:
- Release the two cakes from the pans.
- Place one cake on a cake stand and spread half the labne cream evenly on the surface.
- Top with the second cake making sure they are aligned. Use the remaining cream to coat the top and sides.
- Sprinkle the top of the cake with the kataifi and some more crushed pistachios.
- Slice, serve and enjoy!
