We are just back from 2 weeks in beautiful Croatia, we spent it in Istria, which feels very Italian and is therefore close to my heart. From stunning old squares and shaded alleyways to beautiful Venetian style houses there is plenty to enjoy and sampling the wine, olive oil and cheese was part of the fun. Cafe culture is also a strong part of the lifestyle and I loved having some timeout drinking an espresso and people watching….. and sure you would have to have something to go with it, wouldn’t you?. This cake is inspired by the tastes and flavours of the area, filled with lemon zest and with a beautiful colour courtesy of the pistachios. I always say, if you are going to have some cake, make it a good one, no sense in wasting the calories on processed refined baked goods. Make it yourself and you control the quality of ingredients going in to it. This one has not too much sugar and as it is made with gluten free flour perfect if you don’t work well on wheat. I make the pistachio flour by blending pistachios and sieving to remove any bigger pieces of nuts.

Then as I have said before bring the cake into work and you won’t be able to eat too much of it! 🙂

Lemon Pistachio Cake with Yoghurt Fruit Compote

8oz unsalted butter
zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup pistachio meal
3/4 cup gluten free plain flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp GF baking flour
4 eggs

Oven at 150C
Mix the flour and pistachio meal together.
Grease spring-form tin well and line base with parchment paper.
Beat butter and sugar until really smooth.
Add vanilla and zest and beat to combine.
Alternately add eggs and pistachio meal and flour mix.
Add the baking powder and give a final beat to combine but don’t over beat.
Pour into greased lined spring-form tin and bake at 160C for 40 minutes until a skewer comes out clean
Serve with some yoghurt and fruit.