Pistachio semolina cake with meringue

In their latest cookbook Souq, tables full of mezze, Nadia and Merijn give you recipes for mezze unlike anything you have ever tasted. Fill the table with different dishes in combinations you enjoy. Anything goes, nothing is required. As long as you share it with your favourite people.

Nadia and Merijn about their showstopping pistachio cake: “This cake, or rather tart, is inspired by all the delicious things we have eaten over the past few years at pastry shops such as the famous Hallab in Tripoli, Lebanon. It is not without reason that people prefer to go there on an empty stomach. The assortment of pastries, baklava and ice cream is enormous, and everything is equally pleasing to the palate and the eye. If you want to have something Arabic and sweet for dessert, we recommend ordering small portions; not because it is not incredibly delicious, but because it is truly very rich.”

Method
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees. Using a hand mixer, beat the eggs with the peanut oil, yoghurt, sugar and half a teaspoon of salt in a bowl until thick and creamy. Whisk in both types of semolina. Then gradually add the baking powder and baking soda. Grease two cake tins of approximately 24 cm and lightly sprinkle them with some semolina. Divide the batter between the two cake tins and bake them in the centre of the hot oven for approximately 45 minutes until cooked through and golden brown. Leave the cakes to cool briefly in the tins, turn them out and allow them to cool completely.

For the meringue, bring 200 grams of sugar with 60 millilitres of water, the lemon juice and orange blossom water to the boil in a saucepan. Preferably use a sugar thermometer. Let the syrup simmer gently for approximately 10 minutes, until the sugar thermometer reads 118 degrees. As soon as the sugar thermometer reaches 118 degrees, beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar and cornflour in a food processor or in a bowl with a hand mixer until the consistency of yoghurt. Add the hot sugar syrup in a thin stream and continue beating at the highest setting until glossy, stiff peaks form and the foam has cooled. Allow it to cool further.

For the pistachio paste, finely grind the pistachios in a food processor. Set aside 2 tablespoons of pistachio powder for garnish. Add the icing sugar, a pinch of salt and the egg yolk to the ground pistachios in the food processor and process until smooth. Add enough pistachio oil to make a cohesive ball of paste. Roll out the ball of paste between 2 sheets of baking paper into a 24 cm circle.

Place one cake layer on a cake stand, put the sheet of pistachio paste on top and cover with the second cake layer. Spread the meringue beautifully over the cake and sprinkle with some pistachio powder.

Souq, tables full of mezze
Nadia Zerouali and Merijn Tol
€ 29,95
Fontaine Uitgevers B.V.