Kefir cheese and pistachio cake for SHF

I had made this cake about a week ago and had taken some pics at that time. I then forgot all about it till I downloaded all the pics from my camera today. And incidentally Sugar High Friday focuses on dairy. Since yogurt/unknown cheese was the highlight of this cake, I think this was an apt entry to SHF

I didnot use yogurt for the cake as the original recipe mentions . I used something that said Kefir cheese on the container.It almost looks like sour cream but is more of a thicker consistency. Is this Greek yogurt? I dont know..it says on the cover that it is a rare lebanese treat. This was brought home by our friends when they shopped for Arabic groceries at a middle eastern store for our Arabic meal. We never used it and it remained in the fridge till I saw this recipe, and decided to substitute it for the yogurt in the recipe.
Another reason this recipe attracted me was that it gave me a way to use up the pistachios that I had in my pantry.

The original recipe can be found here
I found it when I was searching for pistachio recipes.

Ingredients

I cup shelled pistachios ( I had salted ones on hand, so I decreased the amount of salt in the recipe)

All purpose flour 1 cup

Baking soda 1 tsp

Salt 1/2 tsp
Eggs 6 seperated

Sugar 1 1/4 cup

Yogurt or kefir cheese 3/4 cup

Extra virgin olive oil 1/2 cup

Method

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F
Toast the pistachios for about 10min. (The original recipes says 15min but to retain some of the green color I removed it a little earlier).

After removing the pistachios increase the oven temp. to 350 F

Once the pistachios have cooled, rub them between the folds of a clean kitchen towel to remove the skins. I didnt do this very aggressively either and some skin on the pistachios is not a problem. Grind them finely in the food processor. Some large pieces may be left and it is fine to leave them as it is, this adds a bite to the cake after it is cooked.

Add flour, baking soda, and salt( if using unsalted pistachios, add 1/2 tsp salt) and mix in the food processor.

In a clean vessel, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Add 3/4 cup of sugar and beat it to
stiff peaks.

In another vessel, using the same beater,beat the egg yolks with the remaining half cup sugar till it is a pale yellow color. Add olive oil and yogurt and mix well. Then using a spatula, fold in the flour.

Lastly fold the egg whites, Do this gently using a spatula. The eggwhites add to the fluffiness of the cake and so when mixing be gentle so as not to flatten the egg whites.

Pour the batter into a 10inch buttered springform pan and bake for about 40 to 50 min.
Mine was ready at about 40min. Keep a close eye on the cake after 30min. Insert a toothpick to see if the cake is ready. If the toothpick comes out clean, it is ready.

Let cool. Serve with honey and chopped pistachios or as it is. This cake lasted us a few days in an airtight container on the countertop. It was a lifesaver after tired work days.

Sugar High Friday

kefir cheese shf17 kefir cheese and pistachio cake