pistachios

Lemon pistachio bars

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I have been making some variation of lemon bars since I was a kid. Mostly my mom made them because they are easy and quick. I followed suit, as they are generally a no-fuss crowd-pleaser. But somewhere along the line, the recipe I’d been using all my life stopped working. The filling would never solidify/thicken, so it was like a lemon soup inside while the outer edges were virtually burned. I don’t know why this is – it just didn’t work no matter what I did.

So when I decided to use up a stockpile of pistachios and wanted to move beyond my standard recipes, I thought lemon and pistachio would be a good match. I used the standard shortbread crust I have always used for lemon bars; I searched around for other filling recipes… but oddly, though I found a different one, it’s still basically the same as the one I’ve always used with a reduced amount of sugar, which is probably better. Maybe I just whisked/beat it better than in the past. Or something. There are only so many ways to make lemon filling, right?

The people who ate these raved.

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Lemon pistachio bars
Crust
Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C
2 cups flour
½ cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon lemon zest
chopped pistachios

Combine base ingredients until crumbly. Press mix into an ungreased 13×9 inch pan. Bake until golden brown (about 20-30 minutes).

Reduce oven temperature to 160C

Filling
4 eggs, well-beaten
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons lemon zest
a pinch of salt

Whisk eggs; add all other ingredients except lemon juice and zest, which should be added last. Bake 20 minutes. Let cool completely before slicing into squares.

You can sift powdered sugar on top of the cut bars.

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Gluten-free pistachio cake

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I am not normally interested in recipes that make use of pre-made mixes. But in my urgency to find gluten-free recipes, I read this one on the Daily Hiit blog.

I plan to give it a try in my next bake near the end of June.

Gluten-free pistachio cake
1 box of gluten-free vanilla cake mix
1 box pistachio pudding mix
1/2 cup coconut oil (microwave solid oil for 15 seconds)
1 cup ginger ale
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup chopped pistachio nuts
powdered sugar for dusting on top

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a bundt cake pan with coconut oil. (Dust with a little bit of cake mix and/or gluten free flour if you prefer).

Mix the cake and pudding mixes in a bowl. Add coconut oil and ginger ale. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add almond extract and chopped pistachios. Blend thoroughly.

Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes. Toothpick test the cake when it has been in the oven 45 minutes. It should be moist, not overcooked. Cake will spring back from pan when done.

Remove from oven and cool completely. Once cool, dust top with powdered sugar. Store in refrigerator.