A showstopping pistachio cake with labneh cream and a crunchy kataifi topping

CBC

15-04-2025

With a labneh cream icing and a crunchy kataifi topping, this pistachio cake from Noor Murad would be the natural centrepiece of any table. And you don't have to be a pro to make it in your own kitchen. "I believe that everyone can bake, but a few tricks can make all the difference," she said.
Murad shared the recipe from her cookbook, Lugma: Abundant Dishes and Stories From My Middle East, and her tips for getting it right. It helps if you allow all the batter ingredients to come to room temperature before starting, and pop the iced cake in the fridge for a bit before serving, especially if your kitchen is warm.
If you don't have kataifi, which are thin strands of pastry, don't fret — use blitzed or shredded phyllo sheets instead. 'They add the same amount of texture and can look really fun on top of the cake,' Murad said. She's also used a mixture of ground almonds and pistachios. 'It didn't turn out looking as green, but it was still delicious!' she said.
The following has been reprinted, with permission, from Lugma: Abundant Dishes and Stories From My Middle East.
Pistachio Cake with Labneh Cream and Kataifi
By Noor Murad
My mum is a really good baker. She'd bake a cake every weekend and it would always come out perfect. So perfect, in fact, that she once made her signature Victoria sponge and went to answer the doorbell, only to return moments later to an empty plate, a trail of crumbs and our dog Max, gazing up at her with guilty eyes and a sugar-powdered nose. My journey into baking was not so smooth. I would be impatient, flustered and heavy-handed – all things that don't bode well in the world of desserts. With time, and perhaps a bit of maturity, I've learnt to find joy in desserts, so long as I get to be a little bit whimsical in the process. This cake is one I'm super proud of, especially the fun element that the crunchy kataifi topping adds. If you can't find kataifi in Turkish or Middle Eastern supermarkets, you can thinly shred some filo sheets to create the same effect.
Ingredients
For the cake:
170g (6oz) shelled pistachios
190g (6½oz) self-raising (self-rising) flour
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Seeds from 15 cardamom pods, finely crushed using a pestle and mortar
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
½ tsp fine sea salt
280g (10oz) caster (superfine) sugar
170g (5¾oz) unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into 3cm (1¼in) cubes
190g (6½oz) egg whites, at room temperature (from about 5 large eggs)
120g (4¼oz) Greek yoghurt, at room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
240ml (8fl oz) whole milk
For the topping:
60g (2½oz) kataifi, defrosted if frozen, roughly cut into 4cm lengths
1 tsp caster (superfine) sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
25g (1oz) unsalted butter
For the labneh cream:
180g (6¼oz) Labneh, bought or homemade
130g (4¾oz) mascarpone
140g (5oz) cream cheese
50g (2oz) icing (confectioner's) sugar, sifted
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 165°C fan/185°C/360°F/Gas mark 4½. Grease and line the base and sides of two 20cm (8in) diameter, loose-based cake tins with baking paper. (If you only have one tin, then you can bake one cake at a time.)
Pulse the pistachios in a food processor until they resemble ground (powdered) almonds. Tip 150g (5½oz) into a large bowl (reserve the rest for decorating) along with the flour, cinnamon, cardamon, bicarbonate of soda and salt and whisk to evenly combine.
Put the sugar and softened butter into a second large bowl and beat with a hand mixer on a medium-high speed until light and fluffy – about 3–4 minutes. Scrape down the sides with a spatula. Lower the speed to medium and add a third of the egg whites at a time, mixing until fully incorporated with each addition. Scrape down the sides with a spatula again then increase the speed to medium-high and beat for 1 minute, until the mixture is nice and smooth. Add the yoghurt and vanilla and beat for 30 seconds then scrape down the sides once more. Turn the speed down to low and add a third of the flour mixture and a third of the milk. Alternate these until combined, and the mixture is smooth.
Evenly divide the batter between your prepared tins (about 650g/1lb 7oz per tin). Bake for 37–40 minutes or until a cake skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. (If you only have one tin, allow the first cake to cool slightly after cooking and release it carefully from the tin. Re-line the tin and repeat with the remaining batter.) Allow both cakes to cool completely in their tins.
With the oven still on, line a medium baking tray with baking paper. In a bowl toss together all the topping ingredients, using your fingers to separate the kataifi strands as much as possible so they aren't too clumped together. Spread out onto the prepared tray and bake for 15–20 minutes, stirring halfway, until golden. Set aside to cool completely.
Lastly, use a hand-held mixer (or a whisk and some arm power) to beat together the labneh cream ingredients in a medium bowl, for about 1 minute, or until soft peaks. If too thick, add a splash of milk to make it easier to work with. Refrigerate until needed.
Once cool, release the cakes from their tins and discard the paper.
To decorate the cake, place one of the cakes on a cake stand (a rotating one is easiest if you have one). Use an offset spatula to spread a little less than half the labneh cream on top of the cake, spreading it evenly all around. Next, top with the second cake, stacking it so that it's aligned. Use the remaining labneh cream to coat the top and sides (an offset spatula will help you most here). You're going for a rustic look so don't worry if it's not perfect. Lastly, sprinkle the top of the cake with the kataifi, followed by the reserved ground pistachios.
Serves 10
Excerpted from Lugma: Abundant Dishes and Stories From My Middle East by Noor Murad, ©2025. Published by Quadrille. Photography by Matt Russell and Matt Wardle.