Torta di Fragole e Pistacchio

Strawberry and Pistachio Cake


2 oz (50 grams) unsalted butter
5 oz (150 grams) blanched pistachio nuts
6 eggs, beaten
5 oz (150 grams) superfine sugar
Few drops of vanilla extract
5 oz (150 grams) plain white or Italian type 00 flour

For the filling and decoration:
12 oz (350 grams) fresh strawberries plus a few to decorate
1 tablespoon (15 ml) Marsala wine
1 pint (600 ml) heavy cream


Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Grease with butter and line two 8 inch
(20 cm) round sandwich tins. Finely chop the pistachio nuts. Melt the
butter in a small pan and leave to cool. Put the eggs, sugar and vanilla
extract in a bowl. Whisk until pale and thick enough to leave a
ribbon-like trail for 8 seconds when the whisk is lifted. Sift the flour
and fold half into the egg mixture. Pour the cooled butter around the edge
of the mixture and carefully fold in the remaining flour. Divide the
mixture in half and spoon one half into one of the prepared tins. Fold 1
oz (25 grams) of the pistachio nuts into the remaining mixture and pour
into the other tin. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until the cakes
have just started shrinking from the side of the tins. Cool in the tins
for 5 minutes. Turn out on to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

To fill and decorate, thinly slice the 12 oz (350 grams) of strawberries.
Sprinkle the Marsala wine over the plain cake, then split both cakes in
half horizontally. Whip the cream until it just holds its shape and divide
into 2 portions. Set one portion aside. Place a pistachio cake layer on a
flat plate and spread over half of 1 portion of the cream. Add a plain
cake layer, the strawberries, another pistachio cake layer and the
remaining cream. Top with the plain cake layer. Coat the top and sides of
the cake with two-thirds of the reserved portion of cream. Lightly press
the remaining pistachio nuts on the sides of the cake. Spoon the remaining
cream, in blobs, around the top of the cake and decorate with the
remaining strawberries.

"Adriana's Italian Gourmet Cookies"

If you would like more of our Italian and Sicilian recipes straight
from Italy be sure to visit CookiesFromItaly.com

Ciao-Ciao!
Adriana


--
Rec.food.recipes is moderated by Patricia Hill at .
Only recipes and recipe requests are accepted for posting.
Please allow several days for your submission to appear.
Archives: http://www.cdkitchen.com/rfr/ http://recipes.alastra.com/