Vintage fare

During my recent short blogging hiatus, I missed sharing some lovely homemade treats with you. These pistachio and orange cakes were made with a vintage tea in mind. They reminded me of a era gone by but were exceedingly enjoyed by us modern girls (and even the kids). There are lots of ingredients so maybe enjoy just at very special occasions!

125g butter

1 cup caster sugar

2 eggs

1 cup roasted pistachios, chopped coarsely

2 cups SR flour

2/3 cup milk

1 tbls icing sugar

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

2 tsp gelatine

2 tbls water

125g cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup caster sugar

2 tbls lemon juice

1/2 tsp orange essence

1 cup marscapone

300g thickened cream

1. Preheat oven to 180 c. Grease 2 22cm spingform tins and line base with baking paper.
2. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time until combined.
3. Stir in nuts, sifted flour and milk, in 2 batches.
4. Spread mixture into tins, bake about 40 mins. cool
5. Make filling by sprinkling gelatine over the water in a heatproof bowl. Stand jug in saucepan of simmering water. Stir until gelatine dissolves. Cool 5 mins.
6. Beat cheese, sugar, juice and essence until smooth. Add marscapone; beat until combined. Stir in gelatine mixture; fold in cream.
7. Split cakes in half. Cut out circles with cookie cutter. Dollop filling on half of cake circles, and top with remainder. Refrigerate at least 3 hours.
8. Serve dusted with sifted icing sugar and cardamom.