A Perfect Vegan Pistachio Cake With Marzipan
Revisiting fond memories of Smitten Kitchen’s spectacular Pistachio Petit Four cake with this recipe for a vegan version
One of the biggest cakes I made before going vegan was for my mom’s birthday. She loves almond and marzipan, and I have always remembered, perhaps apocryphally, the singular flavor of petits fours, tiny cakes coated in chocolate served to me by my grandmother at some point before her passing. I can see them, piped with thin stripes of blue royal icing, and I can taste them, this combination of light, nutty cake, a bit of jam, and chocolate.
This memory was in my mind when I decided to make her Smitten Kitchen’s Pistachio Petit Four Cake, an undertaking that had me making marzipan for the first time. My mother’s birthday is approaching again, and so this cake has been on my mind. Can I recreate it, but vegan?
I can’t recreate it perfectly, no. The cake’s light crumb requires five eggs. But I can make a good copy. Here, my two-layer edition (or three, in 6-inch…
