While we eat plenty of them, the humble pea has never been regarded as one of the sophisticates of the veggie kingdom. Except when pea maestro chef Samuel Goldsmith is in the kitchen. Samuel’s new book, The Frozen Peas Cookbook (Murdoch Books), offers up 100 ways to use the little green globes creatively in delicious dishes that are so far from the usual pile on your plate, you will be amazed. Try this Pea, Pistachio and Matcha Cake and see what we mean – and perhaps you will finally “Eat your peas!”
This cake is a real green extravaganza. I love matcha; this is mostly down to my fabulous colleague, Helz, who would regularly make us matcha lattes to kick off our day. I think the flavour goes well here – with the peas and pistachios, it’s a green triple threat. I use lime juice in the glaze to add a bit of zing, but you can use milk if you’re not a lime fiend.
Vegetarian
SERVES 10–12
Ingredients
115ml (4fl oz) sunflower or vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing the tin
125g (4 1/2oz) frozen peas
200g (7oz) natural yogurt
75g (2 1/2oz) pistachios, plus extra for decorating, if you like
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
175g (6oz) caster (superfine) sugar
200g (7oz) self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon matcha powder
Zest of 1 lime
For the Glaze
125g (4 1/2oz) icing (confectioner’s) sugar
1/2 teaspoon matcha powder
1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice (or you can use milk)
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas 4. Oil a 1.5-litre (2-lb) loaf tin and line with parchment paper. Place the frozen peas in a heatproof bowl and cover with freshly boiled water to defrost. Leave for a few minutes, then drain. Tip the peas into a food processor, add half of the yogurt and blitz until smooth. Throw in the pistachios and blitz until coarsely chopped. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine the oil, vanilla extract and eggs, then stir in the remaining yogurt, sugar and pea and pistachio mixture. Fold in the flour, baking powder and matcha powder along with the zest of 1 lime. Pour the cake batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake in the hot oven for 45 minutes–1 hour or until risen, golden and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before lifting out onto a wire rack and cooling completely. While the cake cools, make the glaze. Mix together the icing sugar with the matcha powder and enough milk or lime juice to make a thick, smooth paste. Once the cake is cool, pour the glaze over the cake. It’s fine if the glaze dribbles down the sides of the cake as this only adds to its beauty. Scatter over a few extra chopped pistachios, if you like.
Cook’s tip
Matcha is a very specific flavour. If you haven’t tried it before, I recommend grabbing an iced matcha or similar drink at a coffee shop before trying this recipe, especially as it’s a more expensive ingredient. If you don’t like matcha or don’t want to use it, just leave it out and glaze the cake with a simple icing (frosting) and scatter over some pistachios.
Images and text from The Frozen Peas Cookbook by Samuel Goldsmith, photography by Mowie Kay. Murdoch Books RRP $39.99.
