Pistachio lemon cake

It's one of those days again when I'm just too lazy to do any baking much less take some photos .

The weather has been gloomy lately since it's been raining here for more than a week now *sigh*

All I want to do is to lie down and sleep for days but real life intrudes ^___^ ''

I've been meaning to bake this cake for more than a week now and I had to put the pistachios in the freezer to stop myself from eating all of it .....

By the time I baked this cake I just have enough for only half of the recipe pffffttt !

Taking photos is such a pain in the behind during this dreary weather .....

Now I can relate when some bloggers keep griping about how there's not enough light during winter season to take a decent photos .

To think it's already April in this side of the world !

Yeah , I hate summer as well lol

But hey ! Summer is for making ice cream , proofing bread without using desklight and taking photos at past 5 pm , yup , there's enough light until about 7 pm here during summertime .....

And I'll be sweating like a pig ...

Oh well , I'll take the good with the gross lol

You want to know about the cake ?

BAKE IT ASAP ! 

Recipe adapted from Italian Easy : Recipes from the London River Cafe

( The list below is half of the recipe )

113 grams / 1 stick unsalted butter , softened
1 lemon , grate the zest and reserved half for the topping
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup blanched almonds
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons pistachios
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup self-raising flour , sifted

* Preheat oven to 300°F / 150 °C . Grease a 6 x 3 x 3-inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper .
Finely grind the almonds and pistachios together , set side .

* Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy  . Beat in eggs , one at a time , scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition . Add lemon zest and vanilla then fold in the nuts , stir well to combine and then add in the flour , mix well .

* Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until skewer inserted comes out clean . Leave to cool in the pan before removing

Topping :

half of the grated lemon zest ( from 1 lemon for the cake ) and squeeze the juice , use only half
1/4 cup pistachios , cut in half
2 tablespoons caster sugar

* In a small saucepan , mix sugar and lemon juice , boil until syrupy , then add in the zest ; stir in pistachio and pour over cake .

*** The pan used in the original recipe is 12 x 4 1/2  x 2 3/4-inch loaf pan . Butter is 2 1/4 sticks , though the 1/4 stick is only for greasing the pan ( ugh ! ) .  1/2 cup all-purpose flour is used in the original  recipe .