Pink Prosecco & Pistachio Loaf Cake with Pink Prosecco Icing.
Sometimes there isn’t enough time in the day to spend hours making and decorating a cake, but even when the days a rush, there’s always time to make this Pink Prosecco & Pistachio Loaf Cake with Pink Prosecco Icing.
Pink Prosecco in a cake brings a little bit of luxury and it and keeps the cake moist enough to hold those chopped pistachios.
Using the pink Prosecco in the icing is a nice little touch too!
In the icing, the flavour of the Prosecco comes through although adding just a touch of pale pink gel colouring to it takes it from looking good to looking beautiful.
I do love pistachios in a bake, and in this loaf cake, having them chopped up inside and as a decoration for the top adds another texture dimension and adds a lovey contrast against that pretty pink icing.
Of course, if there’s any Prosecco left in the bottle after you’ve used some in the cake, the only thing to do is to drink it up!
Go on, give it a go and enjoy your sweet life!
Chopped pistachios all through the cake.
What You Need
Cake
250g Self Raising Flour
250g Castor Sugar
135g Butter – Softened
120ml Pink Prosecco
50g Pistachios – Roughly Chopped
3 Large Eggs
½ tsp Baking Powder
Fold the pistachios in so the cake doesn’t get over mixed.
Decoration
200g Icing Sugar
2 tbsp Pink Prosecco - May need more
25g Pistachios – Roughly Chopped
Pale Pink Gel Food Colouring
Fill the prepared-tin 2/3 s full
How It’s Done
Heat the oven to 180c
Line a 2 lb loaf tin with a non-stick liner or cut out a piece of non-stick parchment to fit the bottom and the sides of the tin
Set it aside, sitting on an oven tray – See Tip Box
Place the softened butter and castor sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer and let it run for 3 minutes so that the mixture becomes light in colour and a little airy
With the mixer running on slow, add the eggs one at a time.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times and let the machine run on medium speed until the mixture becomes airy – about 3-5 minutes
With the machine running on slow, add the Prosecco to the bowl along with the flour, and baking powder.
Turn the machine off and gently fold the chopped pistachios into the batter – See Tip Box
Don’t over mix the batter – See Tip Box
Once the pistachios are mixed in, pour the batter into the prepared tin so the tin is around two thirds full.
Place the loaf tin onto the oven tray and into the oven to bake until a toothpick places in the centre of the cake comes out clean – approx. 30-40 minutes – See Tip Box
Leave the baked cake in the tin to cool completely before decorating while its still in the tin
Once the cake is cold, make the icing for decorating the cake.
Pistachios down the centre of the cake look so pretty agains that pale pink.
Icing
Roughly chop the pistachios and set them aside until needed
Place the 200g of icing sugar into a bowl
Adding one tablespoon of the Prosecco at a time, mix it in to the icing sugar so what’s left is a thick but runny icing – If it’s not runny, add more Prosecco one drop at a time and if it’s too runny, add more icing sugar 1 tablespoon at a time - See Tip Box
Use a toothpick so as not to add too much of the gel colouring at once, and put a tiny bit into the icing.
Mix it in until what’s left is a very pale pink icing
While the cake is still in the tin, pour the icing over the top of the cake so that all the top is covered.
Sprinkle the chopped pistachios over the top as decoration – see my cake for inspiration
Leave the cake in the tin until the icing has set - maybe a hour or two
Once set, run a sharp knife around the tin and remove the cake from the tin
Slice and serve or store for a couple of days in an air tight container.
Leave the cake in the tin to decorate
Tip Box
Sit the tin on an oven tray – Sitting the loaf tin on an oven tray will prevent the cake mixture from burning on the bottom of the oven if it bubbles over a little
Folding in – ‘Folding in’ is a technique which stops the batter from being over mixed. If cake batter is over mixed, the cake may turn out tough to eat.
How – Use a large metal spoon if you have one or a silicone spatula. Use a cutting motion to part the batter and turn it over in on itself. Repeat just enough times to mix everything together.
Don’t over mix the batter – Over mixing the batter from the stage when the flour is added onwards, may result in the cake being tough to eat.
Baking – All ovens vary so adjust the baking time accordingly.
Icing – The icing for the cake should be just runny enough to coat the cake.
The perfect slice of cake
