Pork and Pistachios

As it turns out, the pork from the pig’s neck was just fine, but I did not get enough of it.  I read Alec’s handwriting on the list wrong, so we had to go back to the market after Milo’s Saturday morning soccer game, and dropping the kids off at a play date.  Is it ever possible to shop just once for a dinner party?  The other problem with my shopping expedition from the previous day was that the fava beans I’d bought were very small.  Never having been the fava bean sheller myself, I didn’t notice.  I had gotten them in containers, taken out of the pod.  But you still have to slip their shells off once you boil them.  Alec worried that it would take hours, since we needed four cups of them.  The market was jammed, and a wandering group of musicians featuring a couple of bagpipe players amped up the volume, so I was glad we did not have to spend much time there. 

We went home and used our precious kid-free hours prepping.  I made the frosting for the cake—buttercream like I’ve never made it before.  You start out cooking sugar, a little flour, milk and cream on the stove until it thickens, then whip it around in the Kitchen Aid for nearly 10 minutes, until it cools.  It doesn’t look like much at this point, but then you add the butter, beat it some more, and it transforms into this fluffy, light, perfect frosting.  So that was satisfying.  Baking really is chemistry, and I love it when everything works out the way it’s supposed to.  The cake looked great.

Meanwhile, Alec cooked the fava beans and I helped him shell them.  It seemed as though we just kept shelling and shelling, but the pile didn’t seem to get any smaller.  We had decided to make a Gypsy Pork Stew, and the recipe also called for artichokes.  I usually pass by recipes that call for fresh artichokes, because I’ve always been intimidated by hacking through the leaves and getting to the good stuff.  Alec did it, and it was something of a butcher job.  It seemed that we should have more left to put in the stew; he probably chopped away too much, but we had what we had.  The stew also included potatoes, chopped jamon, saffron, paprika, and tomatoes.  The whole thing gets topped with chopped fresh mint.

It was a rainy night—cold for Barcelona—and it felt right to cook up a warm stew.  We also made a frisee salad with a burnt garlic dressing and—more pork—chorizo.  When I stop to think about it, it’s really amazing how much pork I’m eating here.  Both the salad and stew recipes are from the New Spanish Table, and both are delicious.

I made some cava sangria for when folks arrived, we had a lovely goat brie, and everyone seemed to have a good time.  The cake rocked.  I passed around a bowl of strawberries, which are growing somewhere nearby, and went well with the nuts and buttercream.

Once we got everything cleaned up and got to bed, I started to feel rotten—head ache and queasy.  I thought I might be sick, but finally just fell asleep.  Milo woke up in the morning feeling the same way, and has spent the day throwing up.  I had tickets to see the Magic Flute—in Catalan—with the kids and one of C.C.’s school buddies and her mom.  And then we were to go to have lunch with some friends.  But it seemed Milo and I should stay home.  So Alec, who had had zero interest in seeing the Magic Flute, went with the girls. 

Here’s the recipe for the Pistachio Cake with Honey Vanilla Buttercream, which comes from the Baked Explorations cookbook.  It’s a fair amount of work, but not difficult, and everyone loved it.  I made it in 2 nine-inch pans instead of 3 eight-inch ones.  It’s also impossible to find cake flour here, so I used the following method—for each cup of regular flour, take out 2 Tbsp and add in 2 Tbsp corn starch.

Pistachio Cake with Honey Vanilla Buttercream

Servings: Serves 12–16

Ingredients

Cake:

·      1 1/3 cups shelled pistachios

·      2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)

·      3/4 cup all-purpose flour

·      1 Tbsp. baking powder

·      1 tsp. salt

·      1/2 tsp. baking soda

·      8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

·      1/2 cup vegetable shortening

·      1 3/4 cups sugar

·      1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

·      2 large eggs , at room temperature

·      1 1/2 cups ice cold water

·      3 large egg whites , at room temperature

·      1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

Buttercream:

·      1 1/2 cups sugar

·      1/2 cup all-purpose flour

·      1 1/2 cups whole milk

·      1/3 cup heavy cream

·      24 Tbsp. (3 sticks) unsalted butter , softened

·      3 Tbsp. honey

·      1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

To make cake: Preheat oven to 325°. Spread pistachios on rimmed baking sheet. Bake 8 minutes, until lightly toasted. Let cool.

Grease 3 (8" x 2") round cake pans with butter or cooking spray. Line bottoms with parchment paper. Grease paper and dust pans with flour, tapping out excess.

In a food processor, pulse 1/3 cup pistachios until chopped. Remove and set aside for garnish. Pulse remaining 1 cup pistachios until chopped; remove 2 tablespoons and set aside in a medium bowl. Process remaining pistachios just until finely ground to a powder. Sift cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into the bowl with the 2 tablespoons chopped pistachios. Stir in pistachio powder.

In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter and shortening on medium speed until creamy, scraping bowl, about 1 minute. Add 1 1/2 cups sugar and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. With mixer on low speed, beat in eggs one at a time until well blended. Beat in flour mixture, in 3 additions, alternating with the cold water, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat until blended, scraping bowl; then beat batter 15 more seconds. Scrape into a large bowl.

In a stand mixer with whisk attachment (and a clean bowl), beat egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until foamy. With mixer on medium-high speed, add remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat just until soft peaks form; do not over beat. With a large rubber spatula, gently fold whites into batter just until no white streaks remain. Divide batter between prepared pans and gently spread evenly. Stagger pans on oven racks so pans are not directly above one another. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of cakes comes out clean. Transfer pans to wire racks and let cool 20 minutes. Run a knife around sides and turn cakes out onto racks. Remove parchment paper. Flip cakes again and let cool completely.

To make buttercream: In a heavy, medium saucepan, whisk sugar and flour until well blended. Add milk and cream and whisk until smooth. Set pan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a heatproof rubber spatula, until mixture thickens and comes to a boil, about 12 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Pour into a bowl and let cool completely, about 1 hour.

In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter on medium speed until fluffy. Gradually beat in cream-flour mixture, about 1/3 cup at a time, beating until blended with butter. Beat on medium-high speed until fluffy and smooth, about 1 minute. Beat in honey and vanilla. Refrigerate until buttercream holds its shape and is thick enough to spread, about 20 minutes.

To assemble cake: Place 1 cake layer on a cake stand or serving plate. Spread top with 1 cup buttercream. Repeat with another cake layer and 1 cup buttercream. Add last cake layer, top-side up. Spread sides and top of cake with about 3/4 cup buttercream to crumb coat. Refrigerate 15 minutes. Frost with remaining buttercream. Garnish cake with reserved chopped pistachios. Refrigerate at least 15 minutes before serving; cake can be refrigerated up to 3 days. If cake is refrigerated for more than 15 minutes, let stand at room temperature for about 1 hour before serving.