Pistachio Marble Cake (Nicolas Paciello)

The recipe of the day, the pistachio marble cake that Nicolas Paciello shared on his Instagram account yesterday. It's a simple marble cake: a plain or vanilla batter and a pistachio batter, but its originality lies in its millefeuille-style marbled glaze. You can, of course, skip the glaze and eat the cake as is, especially since it will allow you to keep the cake whole instead of cutting off its top. I admit that I have a strong preference for well-rounded cakes, but I made an exception this time to try the marbled glaze. The result is very visually appealing and can be adapted to the cake flavor you want (pink for raspberry, brown for hazelnut...). Finally, if you want to make a glaze without cutting the cake, you can make the same ganache recipe and flavor it entirely with pistachio puree, and you'll have a lovely green, rounded cake ;-)

Preparation time: 30 minutes for the cake + 45 minutes of baking + 30 minutes and at least 4 hours of resting for the glaze
For a 20cm long cake:

If you can, take all your ingredients out of the refrigerator a few hours before starting the cake so they are at room temperature.

Plain/Vanilla Cake Batter:

65g of softened butter

110g of sugar (granulated, brown, muscovado... whichever you prefer! I used half granulated and half muscovado); depending on the sugar you choose, your marbling will be more or less visible (with muscovado, the batter is very colored and less distinguishable from the pistachio batter)

80g of whole eggs

110g of T45 flour

4g of baking powder

30g of whole milk

QS of vanilla powder or ½ scraped vanilla bean (optional)

Work the softened butter with the sugar(s) and vanilla, if using, with a spatula.

Add the eggs, mix with a whisk, then incorporate the flour and baking powder previously mixed.

Finish by adding the milk, then set the batter aside until assembly.

Pistachio Cake Batter:

75g of whole eggs

90g of granulated sugar

1 pinch of salt

70g of T45 flour

3g of baking powder

10g of pistachio powder

40g of whole liquid cream

80g of pistachio paste

30g of brown butter (about 45 to 50g of butter)

Start by preparing the brown butter: put it in a saucepan, and cook it over low/medium heat until it stops sizzling (it should smell great and have an amber color); be careful to keep an eye on it, as it can burn quickly. As soon as it's ready, pour it into a cold container to stop the cooking. Let it cool, and don't forget to weigh the exact amount before using it in the batter.

Mix the eggs with the sugar.

Add the flour, baking powder, and salt previously mixed.

Then incorporate the pistachio powder, followed by the liquid cream and pistachio paste.

Finish with the slightly cooled brown butter.

Baking:

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Butter and flour, or line with parchment paper, your cake tin. Pour about 1/3 of the plain cake batter at the bottom of the tin, then alternate the two batters by pouring them (or piping them with a piping bag) into the center of the tin.

Pipe a thin line of butter in the center of the batter, then bake, lowering the temperature to 150°C. Bake for about 45 minutes (check with the tip of a knife). If you haven’t piped the butter line in the center of your cake, you can "cut" the middle of the cake after 15 minutes of baking to help with even rising. Once out of the oven, unmold it and let it cool.

You can eat it as is, it will already be very good, or try the glaze below.

Marbled Glaze:

150g of whole liquid cream

200g of white couverture chocolate (Valrhona ivory)

4g of 200 bloom gelatin

QS of pistachio paste (about 1 teaspoon)

QS of chopped pistachios

Put the gelatin sheets in a large bowl of cold water.

Heat the liquid cream, then incorporate the rehydrated and squeezed gelatin sheets. Pour the hot cream over the melted or chopped white chocolate, and stir well to obtain a homogeneous ganache.

Take a small portion of the ganache and mix it with the pistachio paste.

Wrap both ganaches with plastic wrap in contact and chill them for a few hours.

Cut the "top" of the cake so it is flat, then place it upside down on a wire rack.

Then, heat the ganaches very lightly so they are supple but not too hot (around 30-35°C).

Put the pistachio ganache in a piping bag or a cone. Pour the plain ganache over the cake. Draw lines perpendicularly to the cake, with about 1cm spacing between them. Create the marbling effect using a blade: a single cut through the center of the cake, then two lines on each side in the opposite direction.

Since images speak louder than words, here's a short video of the glazing:

Smooth the sides with a spatula and cover with chopped pistachios. And there you go, enjoy your treat ;-)