Like most things, the closer you live to your ingredients, either produced locally or processed minimally, the better the flavor you’re going to get. We’re super lucky to have the Santa Barbara Pistachio Company at our local farmers market because like any food item with fat in it, nuts can go rancid as they age. Try to purchase nuts here in the U.S. whenever possible, and toast them before storing them to extend their shelf life.To toast nuts, place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake at 300°F until they start to get some color - you’ll know because they start to make your house smell really, really good!
Ingredients
1 ⅓cupsAll purpose flour170g
½cupSugar100g
¼cupPistachios30g
2tspBaking Powder
1tspKosher Saltor 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
⅓cupOlive Oil65g
½cupWhole Milk120g
1Egg
Orange Glaze
¼cupPistachios30g
2TbspFreshly Squeezed Orange or Grapefruit Juice
1cupPowdered Sugar115g
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350°.
Line a medium loaf pan with parchment paper or butter and sugar it.
Place the sugar and pistachios in a food processor and pulse until the pistachios are finely ground.
In a medium bowl, whisk together your milk, egg and oil.
Stir in the pistachio/sugar mixture, followed by the dry ingredients, until just barely combined.
Pour into the loaf pan and bake until set (about 20-25 minutes).
Cool in the pan and remove once just warm.
Orange Glaze
Toast the pistachios on a cookie sheet in a single layer at 300°F until they just start to get some color.
Mix together the juice and powdered sugar, adding more powdered sugar if you want a thicker glaze, and less if you prefer it thinner. Pour this through a strainer into another bowl to remove any lumps.
When the loaf cake done and is just warm or cooled, pour the Orange Glaze over the loaf cake and sprinkle with pistachios.
Notes
We love this cake base for so many reasons - but the addition of nuts, ground with the sugar, gives it an insatiable flavor. You can swap the pistachios out for walnuts or pecans - even hazelnuts! Have fun with the flavor combinations. Try a pinch of cardamom with the pistachios, thinly sliced dried pears with hazelnut or fresh ginger with pecans!