Armenian Nutmeg Cake

 I had a quick trip to the dentist a month or so back, and while waiting I flicked through a magazine and found this lovely cake recipe. Actually it was the photo that caught my eye. It was such a lovely shot,with the cake in a dark setting (with candlelight I think), with beautiful pink rose petals scattered across the top. That did it for me, so romantic and so clever. I really aspire to being a decent sort of photographer but I am a true novice when I see shots like that!
 I used my phone to take a photo of the recipe. And I am sorry I didn't note down the name of the magazine  (or the name of the recipe creator) - it may have been an overseas magazine. I got called into the dentist before I had finished uploading what I needed.
 The cake is gorgeous. It is quite different in its construction. Looking 'on line' there are lots of variations of Armenian Nutmeg cake. Some use walnuts or pecans. From the magazine article I seem to recall you can use orange blossom water instead of the orange zest, or rosewater to add a different flavour (hence the rose petal decoration I suppose). And in spite of having a full box of nutmeg spice in my pantry, I stuck to the recipe and bought whole nutmegs for this cake.

 The pistachio nuts had to be shelled and of course were a little salty. The cooks assistant remarked that might not work, but it did, thankfully. In fact I liked the slight salty, sweet taste of the topping and so did my friends.
 I am not sure if this is a 'traditional' cake. But it is obviously a great cake to finish off any Middle Eastern meal. I would definitely bake again.

Armenian Nutmeg Cake

1 ½ c flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 ¼ c brown sugar, firmly packed

½ ground almonds

125g butter

1 tsp baking soda

½ c milk

½ c natural unsweetened yoghurt

1 egg

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Finely grated zest of 1 orange

½ c pistachio nuts, chopped

Method

Heat oven to 180°C.

Grease and line the base of a 20cm round spring-form or loose bottomed cake tin.

Sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl and mix in brown sugar and ground almonds.

Using fingers, rub in the butter until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Press a third of the mixture firmly into the base of the prepared cake tin.

In a separate bowl, mix baking soda with milk. Add egg, nutmeg and orange zest, and beat to combine.

Fold into the remaining flour mixture, combining thoroughly.

Pour batter over base in tin. Sprinkle chopped pistachios over the top, and bake 40-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

(Watch the topping does not burn, cover with tinfoil to protect if necessary)

Allow cake to cool at least 30 minutes before removing from tin.

Serve with a little yoghurt or cream

My friendly Tui kept me company while taking shots!