lemon pistachio breakfast cake

every sunday morning, i head out to the demonstration garden to work with my fellow gardeners for a few hours.  it is usually peaceful out there and we always have a good time together.  how can you go wrong if someone always comes out to the garden with a freshly baked cake?  unless you are that someone who is searching through cupboards trying to figure out what to bake...did i mention that the "someone" in question is me?

this week, lemon sounded like a good choice to me.  it has been so hot and lemon sounded light and refreshing; a good choice for a crowd.  that is providing a crowd shows up.  since it was a holiday weekend, i ended up gardening by myself with a cake for company.  luckily, for me anyway, i wasn't in a sweet tooth mood and was easily able to limit myself to a small slice.

this is a moist cake that is quickly mixed up in one bowl and baked in a medium sized (about 8 cups) bundt pan.  rather than make a glaze as the recipe called for, i opted for a more finger friendly dusting of powdered sugar-we don't have the time for plates and forks in the garden.

lemon-pistachio breakfast cake

adapted from a recipe by lou seibert pappas.  the original recipe, lemon-glazed buttermilk bundt cake can be found in the 2006 book, coffeecakes, simple, sweet and savory published by chronicle books.

serves 10-12
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
3/4 cup canola oil
1/3 cup chopped pistachios (i used unsalted, dry roasted pistachios from trader joe's)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
powdered sugar for dusting the cake

preheat the oven to 350.  grease an 8 cup bundt pan and set aside.  in a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, zest, canola oil, chopped pistachios and salt and whisk until smooth.  sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda over the top of the egg mixture.  stir it a couple times with a rubber spatula, add the buttermilk and continue to mix until smooth.  scrape it into the greased pan and spread it out evenly.  bake until a pick inserted comes out clean, 35-40 minutes.  allow the cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then invert it onto a rack to cool completely.  to serve, dust the top with a small amount of powdered sugar and cut into slices with a serrated knife.