pistachios plumcake and the sea at Colosseum

Last week there was a storm in Rome and I was at the Coloseum to get to work. Under the Coloseum there was a sea, yes you read well a sea, real waves of water like those at the sea.
The amount of water was in itself already disturbing enough and going through the waves by car was as alienating as being in a film like Apocalypse now: we were in a familiar place  thrown into an unreal, absurd place. Infact we were so amazed, waiting for everyone to pass the ford, (hoping that no water enters the exhaust pipe stopping your car there in the middle of the ice age) to appear civilians and stunned. The few people on foot were walking on the walls because otherwise they would have to dip the legs to the knees; everything was paralyzed and strangely silent, even the usual din that is typical of Roman traffic, was drowned in the water. After an hour in this set, to run a stretch of road that usually takes 5 minutes, even my backache screamed, so I spotted an empty parking and left there my prison cell with motor attached, bringing myself to work on foot by now completely wet. About 4 hours later the sun came out!  Like a real movie set, perhaps Truman remained unemployed was inserted  into our weather and began to direct. Impeding us to hoist and break the wall of the stage. It has never happened to you to find yourself  in a familiar place that suddenly becomes strange, unknown? However this should be a post for velvety lentil or for a steaming cream of asparagus, however for me the butter and the chocolate are the real winterly leading actors, so I tell you here the story of a plumcake with pistachios, where the butter looks like a dancing swan and its fragrance gives me head. 

Recipe taken from La cucina Italiana

Ingredients (in red my experiments)

• 250gr butter
• 250g icing sugar
• 250g flour (half 00 half integral flour)
• 200gr peeled pistachios
• 4 eggs
• vanillina (Vanilla Bean)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (8 gr)
• salt

Method:

1. With the electric mixer beat 250gr of butter with 250 gr icing sugar and the seeds of the vanilla bean until fluffy (it will take 15-20 minutes). Stir in the eggs one by one and with a spatula add the flour sifted with the baking powder, the salt and 180 g of very finely chopped pistachios.

2. Butter a mold of 1 liter (I have used txo medium) sprinkle with remaining chopped pistachios (I forgot to do so) and pour the prepared mixture, leveling well. Bake at 180° for about 50'.

Remove from the oven, let cool and sprinkle with the remaining icing sugar.