Pistachio Cardamom Pie

I've been terribly absent from my blog over the last few months, but with good reason! I spent the last month in India (sweets from South Asia will appear very, very soon), and in the months before that, I made 16 pies for my wedding!

Before the new year, I'm going to try to post each one of those pie recipes for you on Spoonfeeding Casanova. And lucky for me, I'll be able to pair each one with a song from our wedding--as wedding favors, we made a mix CD for all of our guests.  First song up? The sixth track on our playlist: The Velvet Underground's "She's My Best Friend."

This pistachio cardamom pie is one of my favorite recent creations. It mimics some of the ingredients of a classic pecan pie, but it takes a fabulous Middle Eastern twist. In fact, it's completely inspired by the massive amounts of baklava I enjoyed in Istanbul a few years ago. Did I mention it would be a delicious treat for any new year's eve party? (By the way, this pie is the one in the top left corner of the table in our "pie cutting" photo.)

Ingredients:
--my homemade pie crust, rolled and ready to go (available here)
--3 large eggs
--1/2 c. light brown sugar
--1/4 c. granulated sugar
--1 c. light corn syrup
--1 tsp. ground cardamom
--2 c. chopped pistachios

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, corn syrup, and cardamom. Line the bottom of your pie shell with the pistachios. Pour the wet mixture over the pistachios and bake for about 35 minutes (or until the center begins to puff up). Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Pistachio Frozen Yogurt

Who wouldn't love pistachios, honey, and brown sugar?  I don't care what they're baked into, dusted onto, or coated with--I could never get enough of these little green earthly delights.  And since this post is all about incorporating them into frozen yogurt, I also have a confession to make: I'm utterly and completely swept in the current "fro yo" craze.  So why not make my own?

With Greek yogurt as its base, this dessert is packed with protein and calcium . . . and oh! It's also delicious. 

Whether it's ice cream or frozen yogurt, cold and velvety desserts transport me without fail to summertimes-gone-by, beach-side ice cream stands, and an old-time Coney Island.  (Not to mention the related lovely pistachio treats at Gulluoglu's Coney Island Ave location.)  Thanks for this wonderfully beautiful and sad song, Lou Reed: "Coney Island Baby."

Pistachio Fro Yo:

--2 c. Greek yogurt (low-fat yogurt, rather than the no-fat variety, works best)

--1/2 c. chopped pistachios

--1/4 c. honey

--1/4 c. light brown sugar

Could this be any easier?  Mix ingredients together and pour into an ice cream maker (frozen to manufacturer's instructions) for approximately 30 minutes, or until thick and ready to be eaten.

And if you really like honey (like I do), you can make a honey-cinnamon sauce as a super sweet topping.  Combine 1/4 c. honey and 1 tsp. cinnamon.  Pour on top of fro yo and dust with pistachios.

Pineapple Pistachio Cookies

 

I can't seem to get my mind off pistachios since visiting Istanbul.  Thanks to a Bon Appétit recipe (for grilled pineapple with a honey-orange glaze and toasted pistachios), I was inspired to make Pineapple Pistachio Cake Cookies.  No, no, I didn't use a box cake mix in the recipe!  I call these cake cookies because they're thick, soft, and dense (much like a slice of cake but in cookie form, akin to Baltimore's famous Berger Cookie).  They feature a pineapple-pistachio cookie batter, a honey buttercream icing, and a dusting of ground pistachios. 

Plus, with the weather warming up, I'm inspired to use more tropical flavors in my baking.  (Pineapples on the grill in the summer = a true sensory delight.)  For me, the Beach Boys have always conjured the feeling of the cold seasons changing over to spring and summer.  One of my all-time, best-loved Beach Boys songs?  Without a doubt, "Feel Flows," from the 1971 album "Surf's Up" (the album is no "Pet Sounds," but this song is amazing and moving).

Cookie dough:

--2 large eggs

--1 c. granulated sugar

--1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

--1/2 c. pineapple juice

--1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

--1 c. confectioner's sugar

--1/4 tsp. baking powder

--dash of salt

--1 tsp. vanilla extract

--1/2 c. chopped pistachios

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat together the eggs, granulated sugar, butter, vanilla, and pineapple juice until frothy, approx. 3-4 minutes.  In a separate bowl, mix the flour, confectioner's sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Fold this dry mixture slowly into the egg batter until combined.  Then fold in the pistachios.  Chill in refrigerator for approx. 6 hours, or until slightly firm and easy enough to roll with your hand without the dough sticking.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls.  Place them on baking sheets line with parchment paper, and flatten them with the palm of your hand.  Bake for 15 minutes, or just until the edges are golden (if the tops are golden, they're overcooked).

Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Honey Buttercream Icing:

--1/2 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

--1/4 c. pineapple juice

--1 c. confectioner's sugar, plus additional 1/2 c. for thickening

--1/4 c. heavy whipping cream

--2-3 tbsp. honey (depending on your taste for it!)

Using a hand mixer, beat together all ingredients.  Slowly add confectioner's sugar to thicken the icing until it has reached the desired consistency (I usually end up adding about another 1/8 to 1/4 cup, but you may like it even thicker).

Ice the cookies and dust with ground pistachios.  Allow the icing to set before serving.

Phyllo Extravaganza!

Oh yes, oh yes!  Baklava, Kataifi, and then some.  I'm keeping the fabulous desserts of Greece and Turkey alive in America, right in my very own kitchen.  With the scents of honey, pistachio, and walnuts wafting from my oven (and a smorgasbord of leftovers across my countertops), I don't regret one second of the many hours it took to make this pastry feast.

I made a traditional Turkish pistachio baklava, Fistikli durum (a pistachio-paste pastry roll), a sesame-molasses roll, Tel Kadayif (a kataifi and walnut cake), and kataifi miniatures.  All the pastries ended up smothered in Kaymak, a traditional Turkish milk cream.  As far as the traditional baklava goes, I already gave you a recipe here, and I didn't make many changes, save for an addition of about 1 tbsp. rosewater to the syrup and a post-bake dusting of pistachios.  

 

For all the others, the recipes are about to follow.  (*Four* recipes are contained within this blog post.  I couldn't help myself.)

And what song could match up with the sugary saturation and sensory overload of this phyllo feast?  None other than the Beatles' "Savoy Truffle," a delicious White Album delight.   

Fistikli Durum:

The paste and pastry:

--2 c. roasted pistachios

--4 c. whole milk (although any would do)

--1/2 c. white sugar

--1 tbsp. cardamom

--1 tsp. cinnamon

--1 tsp. allspice

--1 package phyllo dough

--1 stick unsalted butter, melted

The syrup:

--1 c. water

--1 c. white sugar

--1 c. honey

Before beginning your phyllo work, de-thaw your packaged dough according to the instructions on the box (typically, you'll need to plan a day ahead).  For instructions on working with the phyllo, see my previous Baklava post.

For this specific recipe, you'll need to plan at least two days ahead . . . .

In a large bowl, soak the pistachios in the whole milk for 24-48 hours, or until the pistachios have soaked up all the milk (to the naked eye).  Strain the pistachios, and *save* the remaining milk (you're going to use it for your Kaymak!)  In a food processor, combine soaked pistachios, sugar, and spices.  Pulse until a paste has formed.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Spoon the paste into a row, length-wise, on one piece of phyllo.  Brush melted butter on the rest of the dough surface.

Carefully roll the dough and place in buttered 18" buttered jelly roll pan (in Athens and Istanbul, you'll see these large trays in bakeries, beautifully filled with baklava and other phyllo pastries).  Continue to make these rolls until you've filled the cake pan.  Then slice the rolls so that you have individual pieces (if you don't slice (or "score") the phyllo before you put it in the oven, you will not be able to cut it afterward.

Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until just golden-colored on top.  Remove and allow to cool for a few minutes.

In a saucepan, make your syrup.  Heat the water, sugar, and honey until the sugar has dissolved.  Pour over your pistachio rolls, and allow them to sit for at least 8 hours.

Sesame-Molasses Roll:

The filling and pastry:

--1 c. walnuts

--1/4 c. tahini

--1/4 c. pomegranate molasses (this is a specialty item you'll have to look for at Middle Eastern groceries or buy through special order, but in a pinch, you could also make this yourself by blending molasses and pomegranate juice, 3 parts molasses to 1 part pomegranate juice)

--1 tbsp. cinnamon

--1 tbsp. orange zest

--1/2 c. white sugar

--2 packages phyllo dough

--dash of black sesame seeds

--dash of white sesame seeds (both my black and white sesame seeds came straight from the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul)

--1 c. unsalted butter, melted

The syrup:

--1 c. water

--1 c. white sugar

--1/2 c. honey

--2 tbsp. orange blossom water (the taste of orange--both in the orange zest above and the orange blossom water here--nicely complements the sesame flavor)

In a food processor, pulse the walnuts, tahini, pomegranate molasses, cinnamon, sugar, and orange zest until you've got a thick-ish paste that has the consistency of a tootsie roll(!)  Lay out the phyllo dough, and roll out a very long and thin strip of your paste--it should have an approximately 1/8" diameter or smaller.  Place it horizontally on the phyllo dough, and brush butter on the remaining dough sheet.  Now roll up the phyllo dough so that the paste is at the center.  Next, brush another sheet of phyllo with butter, and roll your already-rolled piece (with the paste at the center) again.  Repeat 8 times per roll (this will give you a lot of pastry dough around the center paste).  

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Place the finished roll in a buttered 13"x 9" cake pan.  Repeat steps until the pan is filled with rolls.  Cut/score the rolls so that you have individual pieces (again, you'll need to do this *before* baking).  Bake for approx. 25 minutes, or until phyllo is slightly golden-colored on top.  Remove from oven an allow to cool for 10-15 minutes.

While the pastries are cooling, make the syrup.  Combine all syrup ingredients in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until the sugar has completely dissolved.  Pour over pastry rolls and allow to sit for at least 8 hours.  Sprinkle with black and white sesame seeds.

Tel Kataifi:

The cake:

--1 package kataifi pastry dough (as with traditional phyllo sheets, you'll need to de-thaw this in advance)

--1/2 c. walnuts

--1/2 c. pistachios

--1 tsp. cinnamon

--1 tsp. cardamom

--1 tsp. allspice

--1 tsp. cloves

--1/2 c. brown sugar

--1 stick unsalted butter, melted

The syrup:

--1 c. water

--1 c. white sugar

--1 c. honey

--1 tsp. rosewater

--1 tsp. orange blossom water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

First, divide your kataifi dough into thirds (this is a bit hard to work with, and it's constantly breaking and drying out).  It will come in a very long bunch that has been folded into thirds or fourths.  Unfold the dough (it will look like a large bunch of uncooked vermicelli pasta), and using kitchen shears, cut it into three chunks.  Cover with a damp cloth so that it doesn't dry out.  

In a food processor, combine the walnuts, pistachios, cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, cloves, and brown sugar until all ingredients are combined and the nuts are chopped (but not powdered).  Divide the mixture into thirds.  In a buttered 13" x 9" baking dish, spread 1/3 of the nut mixture on the bottom of the pan.  Take the first chunk of kataifi, untangle it, and spread in bunches over the top of the nut mixture.  (The kataifi does *not* have to be in any neat form--just place it evenly, in knots and small bundles, across the top of the mixture.)  Brush butter onto the top of the kataifi, add another layer of the nut mixture, and then repeat once more so that you have three layers of the nut mixture and the kataifi (ending with the kataifi on top).  

Brush butter onto the top kataifi layer and bake for 25-30 minutes.  Don't let the kataifi burn--as soon as it begins to take on a slightly golden color, remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.  While it's cooling, make the syrup.

In a small saucepan, heat the water, honey, sugar, rosewater, and orange blossom water until the sugar has dissolved.  Pour evenly over the layered kataifi "cake" and allow to sit for at least 8 hours.

And if you're up for a challenge, you can use the kataifi and walnut mixture to make kataifi minis!  (Roll the kataifi into little nests, place them in mini cupcake papers, fill with walnut mixture, and bake for 15 minutes.  Remove from mini cupcake papers, place in baking dish, and pour syrup over and allow to sit for 6-8 hours.)

Now, what plate of baklava is complete without a thick cream sauce?  My "Cremaster" boyfriend monitored the Kaymak as it cooked for eight hours, but it didn't drive him to scale any walls (yes, I'm making a Matthew Barney pun).

Kaymak (Turkish milk cream), adapted from Binnur's Turkish Cookbook: 

*Note: you need a lot of lead time for this recipe

--2 cups pistachio milk (this is the leftover milk from the pistachios you soaked for the Fistikli Durum, plus the addition of any whole milk needed to bring the measurement up to 2 cups)

--2 cups heavy whipping cream

Whisk the milk and cream together in a Pyrex bowl.  Next, heat approx. 2 cups of water in a small saucepan, with the Pyrex bowl sitting on top (creating a double boiler).  Once the water (and the cream mixture, sitting on top) has come to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and allow the cream mixture to simmer for eight hours.  Yes, this is such a long time, but it's worth it!  Whisk the mixture every 15 minutes or so, and once eight hours have passed, remove from heat, allow to cool.  Then cover the cream mixture (still in the Pyrex bowl, but now thickened from cooking) with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Once the mixture has been in the refrigerator for approximately 8-10 hours, a thick mound should have formed in the middle of the bowl, cut it/spoon it onto the top of prepared baklava.  

[If you don't have time to make Kaymak, a regular vanilla ice cream goes very nicely on top, too!] 

Baklava and other phyllo pastries do not need refrigeration, and they last for quite awhile (at least a week or two!).  Delicious desserts for days, and days, and days!

Baklava (or, I've Died and Gone to Pastry Heaven)

This has been an absolute, without-a-doubt, all-time favorite dessert of mine for as long as I can remember.  I've heard that it's a terribly difficult one to make and that phyllo dough is impossible to work with, but I'm here to tell you: it's not true!  It is important to be careful when handling the phyllo dough and to keep it moist while creating this lovely, layered treat, but it's entirely possible.  

I must admit: I was inspired to create my own version of this, for the very first time, since I began planning a trip to Istanbul.  A visit to the center of delicious baklava production?  My tastebuds can't wait!  In particular, I'm aching to have the genuine version from Güllüoğlu.  While New York now has its own Güllüoğlu Cafe, I'm thrilled to try it at its point of origin.   

What song pairs best with this Turkish, honey-drenched pastry?  One of the first songs that made me dream of leaving America to see the world: the Feelies' Moscow Nights.  Although I've traveled around since hearing it many years ago, its bold beat and tragic lyrics continually reinvigorate my wanderlust.  

Pastry and Filling:

--1 box frozen phyllo dough (I buy this at Whole Foods, and then I thaw it according to the package instructions, which typically suggest 7-8 hours in the refrigerator, followed by 2 hours on the countertop before use)

--1 pound pistachios

--1/2 pound walnuts

--1/2 c. light brown sugar

--1 tbsp. cinnamon

--1 tsp. ground cloves

--1 tsp. ground cardamom

--1 tsp. ground allspice

--4 sticks unsalted butter 

Place pistachios and walnuts in a food processor and pulse until chopped but not powdery.  In a medium-sized bowl, combine chopped nuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and allspice.  Mix well.  (The colors are gorgeous.)

In another medium-sized bowl, melt 4 sticks of butter (I know this seems like a lot of butter, but it makes the pastry dough flaky and delicious).  Now remove the phyllo from its packaging, and rest on a clean surface on top of a damp, kitchen towel.  If you're using a 13x9" pan (as I did), you'll need to cut the phyllo to the correct measurements.  Using kitchen shears, cut all sheets--all at once!--into 13x9" rectangles and discard scraps.  Place another damp kitchen towel on top of the trimmed dough sheets.  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Now, using a pastry brush (I used a new silicone one that worked amazingly--thank you, Molly!!), generously butter the insides of your pan.  Carefully lay down one sheet of phyllo dough and then brush butter across the entire top.  Lay another phyllo sheet down on top of the first one, and butter again with pastry brush.  Repeat this step until you have 8 sheets of dough layered in your pan.  Then, spoon out 1/3 of your nut mixture and spread evenly.  Continue with another round of phyllo sheets and butter, this time using only 4 sheets.  After you've gotten 4 pieces of phyllo down on top of your first layer of nuts and spices, add another layer of that pistachio, almond, and spice mix, using about 1/3 of the mixture.  Then add another four buttered phyllo sheets, one at a time, followed by the final third of the mixture.  Then add the final four phyllo sheets, and make sure to butter the top (and final) sheet.  

Next, you must score the baklava.  You can create any shape you'd like (squares, rectangles, and so forth), but I wanted to make the traditional diamond-shaped pastries.  To do this, make four deep cuts length-wise across the dish.  Then, make six angled cuts, creating a criss-cross diamond pattern (see image).

Bake for approx. 40 minutes, or until top sheet is golden brown.  Remove and let cool for just about 5-10 minutes.  Re-score the dish, making sure the cuts between each piece remain (you want to make sure the syrup will soak in evenly). 

While your dish is baking, it's time to make the syrup.

Syrup:

--1 c. white sugar

--1 c. honey (I used orange blossom honey to give it a slight citrus flavor, but any will do)

--2/3 c. water

--1 tsp. cardamom

--1 tsp. clove

--1 tsp. allspice

Stirring regularly, bring the sauce to a boil over medium heat, until both sugar and honey are dissolved.  Cook on medium-low for about 5-10 minutes, or until the syrup is relatively thick.

Pour the syrup evenly over your cooling baklava.  Cover, and allow it to sit at room temperature for 8 hours.  (I know this is difficult, but the syrup will not have soaked into the pastry without this length of time.  It requires both strength and willpower.)

It's so worth the wait.