Skip to main content

Pistachio and Lemon Cake (with a helping of news on the side)

Gosh, where has the time gone?

So how've you been? Good I hope.

Great stuff.

And Me?

Not so much. But getting there.

I've been away a while, I know. Lots of things happening. Some not, but hey, that's life.

Since we last spoke, I've left my job of 19 years (health reasons), and that seems scary.

Mike's job was victim to a reorganisation, so that gave him the opportunity to take redundancy. That seems scary, too.

As they say, timing is everything. So in a burst of mid-life shenanigans, we've decided to start our own business.

A coffee shop. With a bakery - cakery attached.

O. M. G.

That seems very freakin' scary! But exciting, too.


Hopefully soon, we'll be taking on the lease of a small shop near us. Fitting it out, and then opening our doors to entice hungry shoppers with the delicious smell of good coffee and freshly baked cakes.

It's going to be a lot of hard work.

I can't wait.

But I have to. The legalities, you know? Take time. Meh.

So to keep myself occupied I've been practise baking the kind of cakes that we want to offer.

Chocolate Cake.

Carrot Cake.

Lemon Drizzle.

Ginger and Lime Loaf.

etc. etc. etc.

And this one.

A Pistachio and Lemon Cake.


There seem to be quite a few recipes around for this cake, all with slightly different variations.

This one, from Lola's Forever, is a gaw-geous cuddle of a cake. Full of ground pistachios and almonds, it's incredibly moist, yet the crust becomes almost caramelised with the heat from the tin. There is a small amount of flour, so it's not a gluten free cake.

Lemon zest and juice in the batter, and the lemon icing act as a counterpoint to the sweet, nutty pistachios.


At least it keeps me occupied while I wait.

And wait.


The light at the end of the tunnel is getting a bit brighter, though, so hopefully I'll have more news soon.

Susie

xx

Comments

  1. OMG!!! that's so exciting!!!... where is it? When can we come visit? This is such a dream of mine and many of us i'm sure. Well done you. With cakes like these you cannot help but succeed!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Dom - hopefully we'll sign the lease by the end of next week. But we said that about October half term! :) It's Cardiff, and you're welcome any time.

      Delete
  2. So glad to see you back and what exciting news! I visit Cardiff once a year to see one of my friends so please do keep me updated on when you open and I'll pop along on my next visit!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Kat. Bit of a leap of faith, but if we don't do it now, we'll always think 'what if ...'. It'd be lovely to see you. :)

      Delete
  3. Wow, how exciting? Glad to see you are back and i'm sure your coffee shop will be a wonderful success. x

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lovely to see you back, you've had quite a year! Fantastic news about the coffee shop - I'll certainly be dropping by next time I'm in Cardiff! Pob lwc!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Diolch yn fawr! Thanks Katharine - would be great to see you! :)

      Delete
  5. Wow Susie congrats!! That is mega exciting news! Living the dream hey! I'm sure that's what we would all love to be doing! If only you weren't in the wrong part of Wales ;) I'd be popping in for a huge slice of your choc fudge cake for sure!!! xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Gem, and if you ever are in this neck of the woods, it'd be great to see you! Hope everything is good with you! :) xx

      Delete
  6. Wow, that's amazing news, congratulations! I'm unlikely to be in Cardiff any time soon, but if I know anyone heading there I'll tell them to make a beeline for you (follow the smell of cake, perhaps?)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Lucy - hopefully yes - as long as I don't burn anything! :) x

      Delete
  7. Wow that sounds so exciting! And scary, in a good way. I'm sure your cafe will be a raging success - just look at the texture of that cake. Glorious! Lovely to see you blogging again. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I've just set up my own business too! its scary but the most alive and excited i've felt in years. With cakes like yours i'm sure you'll succeed. I wish you every bit of luck and i'm looking forward to following your success on the blog!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. Yes, there's so much to arrange when you're starting up, but it's a great feeling knowing you are doing it for yourself. Good luck with yours, too! :)

      Delete
  9. Fantastic! I'm so pleased you're back blogging and what exciting news. This is a fresh beginning for you both when everything starts to go right. Congratulations

    ReplyDelete
  10. Happy Christmas and have a very happy new year

    ReplyDelete
  11. I suppose by now all the legals are done and dusted and you are in the thick of things in the shop kitchen baking. I wish you every success in your new venture....scary for sure but so so exciting. Will you have time to blog? I hope so, would love to hear about all the things that go on in this new chapter. Happy New Year

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unfortunately, no. The landlord needs to approve the transfer and things are now getting rather protracted. We are told that it is 'imminent', but we've been told that for a while. Very frustrating.I will almost certainly blog about it then. Fingers crossed.

      In the meantime, Happy New Year! Xx

      Delete
  12. Hi Susie,

    You followed my blog (djkardkreations) and so I've come to return the flavor! Thank you! I wish you all the best with your new venture and I wish I lived there so I could be a customer! I am curious how you found me and followed me since I'm a card hobby blog, if you don't mind my asking!

    Hugs, Darnell

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Darnell,
      Thanks for following, and for the good wishes.
      I started making my own gift tags etc for the cakes and gifts I've been creating, and slowly started learning a bit more about paper crafting. My Christmas present from the boys was a Cuttlebug, and I've been gradually experimenting, and reading and discovering some wonderful blogs, which included yours! I've really enjoyed it, and I also have a very nosy side, so really enjoy things like the craft room tours.
      Susie xx

      Delete
  13. Oh my goodness, how did I miss this???? Sounds fabulous, how very exciting. I do hope it works out for you. It can be tough, but also very rewarding - so they say ;-)

    When are we going to hear more?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for the good wishes! Fingers crossed we are going to sign off on the legalities tomorrow - then it'll be getting the go ahead to collect the keys! :) xx

      (I just had to pinch myself then - it's been a long six months since Mike and I got this harebrained scheme in our heads. Can't believe it may be finally about to happen!)

      Delete
  14. Hi Susi, I so admire your decision to jump into a new business doing something you love! Life is too short so follow you dream girl! I see from your comment to Darnell that you are getting into papercrafting too and this will be a wonderful complement to your beautiful cakes. Good luck with the set up process and I wish you every success.
    Hugs
    Carol x

    ReplyDelete
  15. yummy i love this, delicious, thanks for sharing this recipe.


    Simon

    ReplyDelete
  16. Where are you? Snowed under - working hard? So looking forward to some new recipes from you and what are the favourites in your new shop.

    ReplyDelete
  17. could you send me the recipe please? Xx

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Your comments are very much appreciated.

Popular posts from this blog

Dark Indulgent Chocolate and Walnut Brownies for the Weekly Bake Off

It's been a great couple of weeks in the Bake Off , as Amy has chosen some fantastic chocolate recipes from Mary Berry's 100 Cakes and Bakes . Although I made last week's American Chocolate Ripple Cheesecake, I didn't enter it. Not because it was a disaster (it was incredibly delicious though very rich - Josh has been able to eek it out all week as he only needs a little piece to get his daily chocolate fix!), but I simply ran out of time. So this week, I decided to get my skates on and make the bake early. Particularly as it's brownies. Yes. Brownies. Those dark, fudgey, chocolatey little bites of heaven. But for me, this week was an experiment. You see, I already have a fantastic brownie recipe . It's been made countless times and been played around with to give an endless variety of treats. (Have I ever mentioned Maya Gold in brownies? Yes? Well I'll have to post about them someday soon because they are amazing - like some sort of out of body exp

Not Viennese, but Swiss Cakes for the Weekly Bake Off

One of my strongest childhood memories is the ritual of our family's Sunday Tea, which always took a certain form. My nan would put the kettle on at just before 4pm, and a pot of steaming hot tea would soon be brewed. There were sandwiches, and always, always some form of cake. Quite often, if nan and mum had had a busy weekend, it would be provided by Mr Kipling. My brother and I looked forward to this with some enthusiasm, as there were quite often French Fancies and Vienniese Whirls, which were our hands-down favourites. We could leave the Battenburg Slices, and the jam tarts were often a bit too dry  for us (definitely not as good as homemade). But the soft sweet inside of an iced French Fancy (my favourite being the lemon yellow ones), and the moistness of the Viennese Whirls were something to savour. Of course, you can still buy these. But they just don't seem to taste the same somehow. So when Amy announced this week's Bake Off challenge as the Apricot Swiss

Limoncello Cake

I really love this cake. I mean really love it. So much so, it's my new best friend. It's like sunshine on a plate. The citrussy aroma tempts you while the sultry lemony pucker hits you full in the mouth. And who can resist anything with 'Limoncello' in the title? The mere mention of the word transports you to to the Sicilian sun. It's one more reason I have to thank Random Recipes for getting me to delve into my cookbooks. This month's challenge had a bit of a twist. Dom, of Belleau Kitchen (who runs the challenge) created a Randometer thingummy-bob to test us. You had to enter how many cookbooks you owned, and then it would generate a random number. You counted along your shelf to that book, and then entered the number of pages, to generate another number and so find your Random Recipe. The gods must have been looking favourably on me this month, as I ended up with this gorgeous lemon cake, from Peggy Porschen's 'Boutique Baking