Early Saturday morning – before the coffee, big breakfast, and general lollygagging we are privy to on any given weekend day (especially in those early hours) – I carefully set out 6 large eggs on the counter.

They were my reminder eggs. To not only get back into the kitchen in an hour or so… but also to take it easy on the bacon and french toast. There was to be a cake made! And one of the pistachio pound variety.

Why…? Well that’s easy.

I had a craving. All last week, in fact. For a velvety slice of rich buttery pound cake topped with the most generously green robe of candied pistachios one could ever dream of.  Simple, down-to-earth, and not overcomplicated. The way I’m trying to live each day of this life I’m so blessed with. Which leads me to a question! Why is overcomplicating things SO damn easy? I find myself doing it on the constant. Hand to forehead!

But enough about me and my weekend daydreaming (mentally I’m still very much on Saturday time and the leisurely thinking that tends to allow), let’s dive head first into the part where I tell you every little intimate detail on WHY this luscious loaf not only made my recipe book so much richer with its addition, but why YOU need to try it at once. Or at least as soon as you can possibly get your hands on a few cups of pistachios.

Since we all savor some good flavor, lets start there! This cake has a lot of personality going on, but I concentrated hard on keeping the pistachios front and center. That being said, I actually opted to not add pistachios into the cake, but instead play up the nutty aspect by subbing in some almond flour instead of using ALL all-purpose. This worked perfectly not only for flavor, but also for texture. Double win and high fives all around!

The texture of this sweet loaf is amazingly unique, and evolves day by day, making it an excellent “keeping” cake, if you know what I mean. On day one each slice is rich, buttery, and has a soft yet dense crumb that makes an A+ partner in crime to any warm beverage. By day 3, things will have firmed up a bit – the crumb becomes much denser – but it works with the nuttiness of the loaf, and doesn’t make it one bit less tempting to warm up and gobble down. Trust me on that.

I know this is a bit of early thinking (just call me the holiday pusher), but I think this would look very pretty on the Easter dinner dessert side of things. All of those bright green pistachios have me not only dreaming of Spring, but feeling excited about the holidays and events that come with those warm, breezy days…

Ay! And I’m back to dreaming. I guess it’s not the worst way to be on a Monday. Happy cake baking and daydreaming to you too, lovlies. xoxoxo