At our Summer Seasonal Market, Chef Nadine Ingram of Flour and Stone baked a delicious Pistachio, Rhubarb & Ginger Sponge Cake, an Ode To John Olsen.
“Meeting in a meadow with cake is what I imagined when I looked into Olsen’s Coopers Creek in Flood (1975-1976), with its palette of pistachio and rhubarb. It gave me the feeling of cake painted onto a canvas.” Nadine Ingram
Below you can view a short video of the cooking demo and read the full recipe.
Pistachio, Rhubarb & Ginger Sponge Cake, an Ode to John Olsen.
Nadine Ingram, Flour & Stone
20 cm / serves 10–12
25 cm / serves 12–15
Ingredients
Baked Rhubarb
1/1½ bunch rhubarb (minimum 6/9 stalks)
150g / 250g caster sugar
1 small piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 oranges, juiced and zested
Ginger Custard
200g/250g double cream
250g/300g pure cream
1 large piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
¼ tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp vanilla paste
5/6 egg yolks
60g/70g caster sugar
Pistachio sponge
50g/70g unsalted butter, plus 50g/70g for greasing
40g/55g pistachio paste
6/8 eggs
200g/260g caster sugar
150g/200g cake flour or combine 100g/140g plain flour and 50g / 60g cornflour
100g/135g pistachios, shelled and finely ground
To assemble
150g/200g pure cream
150g/200g double cream
80g/100g pistachios, shelled and roughly chopped
Method
Baked Rhubarb
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Wash the rhubarb to remove any soil and trim off the ends and leaves using a sharp cook’s knife. Slice the stalks lengthways down the centre, so that they are no thicker than 1 cm. If the stalks are really thick you may need to slice them into three pieces lengthways to achieve the correct thickness. Cut each length into 7 cm batons then toss with the sugar, ginger, and orange zest and juice. Arrange the rhubarb in a deep baking dish, all in a row and in the same direction like matchsticks, and place in the oven for 20 minutes. Check the fruit and you will see the sugar has melted and the rhubarb is half-immersed in the liquid. Give the dish a shake so the fruit rolls over and the other side can be cooked, then return to the oven for a further 15–20 minutes or until soft and tender. You need the fruit to be soft enough so that when it goes into the layers of the cake you can cut through it with a knife. Remove the rhubarb from the oven and cool completely in the baking dish.
Ginger Custard
Combine the creams, ginger, cardamom and vanilla in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring everything almost to the boil, then turn off the heat and allow the flavours to infuse for 30 minutes.
Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together using a hand whisk until pale and fluffy. Set them beside the stove with a sieve sitting over the top of the bowl and place a shallow tray for pouring the custard into beside the stove also.
Return the cream almost to the boil and pour the hot liquid through the sieve directly onto the yolks. Use a spatula to press the ingredients through the sieve to extract every last possible drop of cream into the eggs and discard the ginger. Whisk the cream and yolks together and return to the saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly and gently using a heatproof spatula, for 1–2 minutes or until the custard thickens. Test it’s ready by running your finger through the custard on the spatula. If the custard doesn’t run back together, it’s done. Remove it from the heat and pour into the shallow tray, then cover the surface directly with plastic film to prevent a skin from forming and pop in the fridge to cool and set for 3 hours.
Pistachio Sponge
Preheat the oven to 175°C. Lightly grease 3 x 20 cm | 3 x 25 cm cake tins with butter and pop in a base liner of baking paper to make removing the cakes easier. No need to flour the tins.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan on the stove, turning off the heat before it starts to boil. Add the pistachio paste and whisk through the butter thoroughly then set aside.
Choose a heatproof bowl (preferably the bowl from an electric mixer) and crack the eggs into the bowl. Add the sugar and roughly whisk together using a hand whisk. Place the eggs and sugar over a saucepan of barely simmering water, ensuring the bowl isn’t touching the water, and whisk every now and then so they don’t sit idle and scramble. It’s not necessary to engage any fierce whisking action here as the electric mixer or electric beaters will do that later, you just need to keep the eggs and sugar moving as they are warming. Once the mixture is slightly hot to the touch (50°C on a thermometer), remove it from the heat and place the bowl onto an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed for 5–7 minutes or until completely cool.
Meanwhile, sift the flour twice to aerate and wake up the flour and have the finely ground pistachios at hand.
By now the eggs will be cool and have tripled in volume, so remove the bowl from the mixer. Sift half the flour onto the surface of the eggs and gently fold it through using a spatula or metal spoon. Repeat with the remaining flour. Once all the flour is combined, gently fold through the pistachios. Remove 3 tablespoons of the sponge mixture and fold it through the melted butter to lighten the liquid. Now fold this back through the sponge – this process will cause less deflation in the finished sponge.
Divide the sponge batter equally between the prepared cake tins and gently smooth the tops using an offset palette knife or a spoon. Bake the cakes for 20 minutes | 25 minutes. The sponges are ready when the middle bounce back slightly when pressed with your finger. Remove the sponges from the oven and allow to set in their tins for 2 minutes only. Remove them by tilting the tins at a 45-degree angle and slipping them out onto a cooling rack using your deft fingertips. Cool the sponges completely before assembling the cake.
To Assemble
Remove the ginger custard from the fridge and place in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment along with the creams. Whip together until thick and fluffy. Don’t walk away from the mixer at this stage as double cream can whip very quickly and curdle.
Place one of the sponges onto a cake platter and spoon one-third of the ginger cream on top, spreading it evenly to the edge of the cake using an offset palette knife. Cover the custard with half the baked rhubarb, being mindful not the add too much of the syrup at this stage, then top with the second sponge and repeat the layering of ginger cream and rhubarb. Place the third sponge on top and take a moment to jig all the layers together so the cake looks straight. Ripple a little of the rhubarb poaching syrup through the final third of the ginger cream then spoon it all over the top of the cake. Push the cream gently over the edges of the cake using a large palette knife and rotate the cake as you go to cover the sides. Try to move the cream only in one direction, so you don’t sweep crumbs back into the icing. Smooth over the top, drizzle with a little more rhubarb syrup, if you like, and sprinkle with the chopped pistachios.
Buy Nadine’s new book and this cake at the Carriageworks Christmas Market, 21 Dec 2024, 8am-3pm
The Carriageworks Farmers Market is on every Saturday 8am-1pm, providing the freshest seasonal produce from growers and producers from around NSW.