Pistachio Cake with Mascarpone Cream and Strawberries

Pistachio cake:

1. Heat the oven to 175 Celsius degrees and grease the pans well. Place baking paper at their bottom.
2. In a food processor with a steel blade, put pistachios and flour and grind into a thin powder.
3. Add in baking powder and salt and mix.
4. Heat milk in the microwave or a small pot until it is warm.
5. In a mixer bowl with a whipping attachment, put eggs and sugar and beat at medium to high speed until you get a light, airy foam.
6. Add the oil and the lemon peel and mix slowly until they incorporate in the mixture.
7. Add half of the pistachio-flour mixture and gently fold it with a whisk.
8. Add the milk and mix well until incorporated, then add the remaining pistachio-flour mixture and fold with a whisk only until uniform.
9. Pour the batter into both molds and divide evenly.
10. Bake the cakes for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out dry.
11. Run with a knife through the sides of the pans, and allow the cakes to cool for about 10 minutes at room temperature, then remove from the pans. Cool completely.

Lemon syrup:

1. Place lemon juice, zest and sugar in a small pot and cook on medium heat, stirring with a spatula until the sugar melts.
2. When the syrup starts to boil, lower the flame and cook for another 10 minutes on low heat.
3. Remove from the heat and keep aside until the cake is assembled.

Mascarpone cream:

1. In a mixer bowl with a whipping attachment place mascarpone cheese, sweetened condensed milk, powdered sugar and vanilla and mix on medium-high-speed until creamy. Occasionally mix the mixture with a spatula to get rid of lumps of cheese and continue to whip until the texture is creamy.
2. Add in the whipping cream and whip at high speed until you get a very firm mascarpone cream. It is recommended to scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula occasionally to ensure that there are no lumps of cheese that are not absorbed in the cream.
3. Transfer the cream to a piping bag fitted with a 2 cm serrated piping tip.

Assemble the cake:

1. If necessary, slightly align the top of the cakes with a knife.
2. Place a first layer of cake on top of a serving dish, and with a brush, moisten the cake with lemon syrup.
3. Pour a generous layer of mascarpone cream on top of the cake and sprinkle with strawberries and chopped pistachios. Drizzle a few more mounds of cream on top of the strawberries and pistachios.
4. Place the second layer of cake on top and brush with lemon syrup.
5. Drizzle mascarpone cream mounds at the top of the cake. Decorate with strawberries and pistachios and serve.