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An iced loaf cake decorated with diagonal sprinklings of ground pistachios and ground almonds sits on a narrow yellow platter. The end slice is cut to show the interior texture of the cake, which is light-colored and lightly flaked with ground pistachios, ground almonds, and cardamom. The narrow yellow platter rests on a vintage napkin with a rough watercolor-like print of green and yellow strawberries, arranged on a green tablecloth.

Nankhatai are shortbread cookies redolent of cardadmon and sometimes saffron, with a friable texture from semolina flour and richness lent by almonds or pistachios. The same flavors make a very pleasant cake.

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Nankhatai Cake for the Bread Machine

Fragrant with nankhatai-style flavors, this cake goes together easily in a bread machine with a cake cycle.

Prep Time20

Cook Time1 50

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, Fusion

Servings:

Calories: 425kcal

Equipment

kitchen scale
bread machine with cake cycle
cooling rack
small offset spatula

Ingredients

For Batter

3 eggs
80 ml milk
Pinch saffron
82 g semolina
195 g all-purpose flour
11 g baking powder
113 g butter melted
264 g sugar
27 g pistachios
24 g almond flour
1 t cardamom
7 g vanilla extract
½ t almond extract

For Icing

175 g confectioner's sugar
splash vanilla extract
drop almond extract
5 g milk

To decorate

almond flour toasted
pistachios ground

Instructions

Install the paddles in the bread machine's bucket.
In a small skillet over low heat, toast the almond flour, stirring constantly, until it darkens a few shades. Once it's toasted to your liking, turn it out onto a plate, as it will continue to cook in the pan. (If you plan to decorate the cake with some toasted almond flour, you may want to add another 16 g to the amount you're toasting and set it aside for decoration.)
Using a coffee or spice grinder or a nut chopper, finely grind the pistachios.
Warm the milk in the skillet. When warm, pour into a small bowl and sprinkle the pinch of saffron over the surface of the milk. Set aside to allow to infuse.
Return the skillet to the heat and put the butter on to melt over low heat. When melted, set aside.
Add the saffron/milk mixture to the bread machine's bucket.
Crack the eggs into the small bowl and beat to combine yolk and white. Pour the beaten eggs into the bread machine's bucket.
Turn on the kitchen scale. Place the bread machine's bucket on the scale and tare it. Add the remaining ingredients of the batter in the order they're listed, taring between ingredients.
Install the bread machine's bucket in the machine. Set the machine to the cake cycle, medium crust. Press start.
When the cake cycle completes, use oven mitts to remove the bucket from the machine. Turn the cake out onto your mitted hand and place on a rack to cool. Allow to cool for at least two hours before icing.

For Icing and to Decorate

Place the confectioner's sugar in a small mixing bowl. Add a small splash of vanilla and a drop of almond extract. Add enough milk to make an icing that is stiff and barely stirrable.
Using a small offset spatula, pile the icing on the top of the cooled cake. Spread to cover the top. Sprinkle with toasted almond flour and/or ground pistachios. The icing will spread down the sides of the cake a bit as it sets.

Nutrition