Pistachio Almond Tea Cake: An exercise in patience

There is nothing like my kids, a group of "adults-in-development," in my face for most of my day (summer vacation WHAT!) to remind me that I don't have enough patience and strength to withstand the onslaught of craziness and $*$(%&*$$!! that comes at me.  I'm just not that zen.  I'm definitely not that mellow.  I think my use of curse words (in my head, under my breath, and aloud) has gone up exponentially in this new phase of child-raising.

But through it all, I hear God gently pushing me to exercise a lot of grace and patience that I think that I don't have.  "Use it or lose it" I hear Him say.  Patience is in me - just not exercised and practiced well enough, not often enough, and for no sustained amount of time.  Being patient while your car is being fixed, while alone - that's not any sort of practice of patience.  Add three kids, all hungry, all hopped up on the sugar cereal that they discovered in the back of the pantry, all begging to go somewhere, ANYWHERE, but wait at the mechanics - that is an advanced form of exercise.  A trip to Costco, getting things necessary for the house during a busy Monday may be some mild form of practice of patience, but it doesn't compare to the Level 27 exercise of 3 hungry kids with you at Costco who want to try all the samples, all different ones, while you are just trying to get three items out the door.  

I'm working on practicing more patience - and it's not been a pretty road this summer.  There are ripped papers, broken boxes, a little bit of a broken spirit, and a lot of yelling I wish I could take back.  But I also know how much more work God must do in me, to mold me into becoming more of what He knows I can be - not perfect, but rather an imperfect, constant, work in progress. 

And it's just not in parenting that I've fallen into becoming extremely impatient; I'm impatient in the kitchen as well - the lack of time to do anything meaningful, the lack of willing effort to make things that require more than nominal effort and more than one pot or plate has made my kitchen and meals somewhat mundane and boring.  But I decided to push myself and practice a Level 10 lesson in patience by working out a tea cake recipe that I first tasted at Tartine Manufactory.  There is no recipe (not that I could find) anywhere for this tea cake which I became obsessed with, so I decided to make one.  This isn't exactly the same, but more like a vocal cover of which appears on America's Got Talent - not the same as the original, but pretty good anyways.

The reason why this is a Level 10 practice in patience is that it is a pretty fussy cake to make in terms of ingredients.  You want the butter to be fairly soft, you'll need to shell pistachios - many of them, you need to sift flour and baking powder separately, and there is zesting of lemons.  Then there is the glaze, and the sprinkling of pistachios over. And the cooling, and the waiting, and all the while doing this while your kids are on summer break definitely pushes you to Level 10.  So, if you've been lacking in your own patience in raising children or working or in general -  a lack of patience in your life, I highly recommend practicing some patience with this cake.  At the end of your practice, you will end up with something deliciously yummy that is the perfect reward for your efforts. (and you can have it with coffee.)

Pistachio Almond Tea Cake (inspired by Tartine Manufactory)
Makes 9x5 Loaf, serving 8-10 Tea Cake

Ingredients
½ cup superfine almond flour (Bob’s Mill makes a nice one)
½ cup of shelled pistachios, removing as much of skin as possible.  (I use salted, and don’t add salt to the flour mixture)
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
¾ cup pastry or cake flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
⅛ teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons lemon zest (save lemons for the glaze)

Glaze Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
2 cups confectioners sugar
½ cup of roughly chopped shelled pistachios (optional garnish)

Cake Method 
Preheat oven to 350.  Line a 9x5 inch loaf pan with parchment. I like to measure the pan and create an overhang on the long side to ensure easy removal. Spray or grease pan and parchment. Using a food processor or grinder, process pistachios until fairly fine.

In a small bowl, sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt (if you’re not using salted pistachios).

In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, cream together sugar and softened butter until well incorporated together.  Add both pistachio and almond flour, and beat until mixed.  Scrape down sides and mix again. Turn mixer to low, and add eggs, one at a time, incorporate the eggs slowly.  Once eggs are in, add almond extract and lemon zest. Mix again briefly.  Remove batter from mixer stand. Using a spatula, add the flour in two batches, using your arm power to gently get flour well distributed through the mixture. Once the mixture is uniform in consistency, carefully pour into your prepared pan.

Bake in oven for 60-70 minutes, until top springs back and tester in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and place on cooling rack with a tray underneath.  Allow cake to cool completely.

Cake Method 
DO NOT MAKE GLAZE UNTIL YOUR CAKE IS FULLY COOL!  This glaze goes on, and starts to harden into that amazing yummy crunchy glaze if your cake is fully cool.  Patience my dear friend.
In a small saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter and add lemon juice.  Whisk together, and turn heat to low, and add confectioners sugar and begin whisking until glaze comes together into a white semi-opaque mixture.  Remove from heat and immediately move towards your cake and pour glaze over the top in a slow and steady stream.  Glaze mixture will begin to harden so a single pass over the tea cake is the best method of distributing the glaze.  If desired, sprinkle top with pistachios. Serve once the glaze is fully hardened, about 20 minutes.

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