Little Mama's Lemon & Pistachio Cake

Last weekend brought me into the last year of my twenties -I'm the big two nine ya'll! Sunday was spent surrounded by a few of my nearest & dearest - where we had a beige southern feast (mmm cheese), followed by servings of ultra-boozey pecan pie (thanks to my southern counter part, Leza) & a little ole (two-tiered) lemon cake (topped with sunflowers & lemon halves) - cause after all, who wouldn't want to spoil themselves on their birthday?

Little Mama's Lemon & Pistachio Cake

A little Mississippi favourite adapted from mama's old recipes. A moist, fluffy lemon sponge, layered with lashings of buttercream and smothered in roughly chopped pistachios.

Garnished with fresh sunflowers & a sliced lemon - perfect for a warm summer's eve.

For the Lemon Sponge:-

Ingredients (makes one small & one large sponge):

8 Egg Whites

2 1/4c Caster Sugar

1 1/4c Butter

1.5tsp Vanilla

1 1/4c Milk

3c Flour

3tsp Baking Powder

1.5tsp Salt

1 Lemon (Zested & Juiced)

In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites until dry and set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream together the sugar & butter, then add the vanilla, milk, lemon juice & zest and blend until smooth.

Next, sift in your flour, baking powder & salt - mixing until all is well incorporated. Fold in egg whites.

Pour into paper-lined tins & pop into the oven at 180C for approx 40min - your cake should be a lovely golden brown & cooked throughout.

Once baked, remove from the oven & leave on a rack to cool. Your kitchen should smell glorious!

For the Buttercream:-

Ingredients:

1 large box Confectioner's Sugar

175g Unsalted Butter (at room temperature)

1 1/2tsp Vanilla Extract

Splash-o-Milk

Use a mixing paddle to cream the butter, then slowly add the confectioner's sugar - alternate with splashes of milk & vanilla to keep the mixture creamy.

To assemble:-

Once completely cooled, slice both your sponges in half. Re-assemble the sponge layers by adding a thick layer of buttercream between them. Place the smaller sponge layer on top of the larger sponge layer. Tada!

To Decorate:-

Pistachios (roughly chopped)

Fresh Sunflowers

1 Lemon

On the bottom larger layer, lightly press the pistachios into the buttercream. Top off the smaller layer with fresh sunflowers and a sliced lemon.

Eat up ya'll!