Whenever my sister decides we’re going to have a dinner party, it can never be easy. I am well versed in dinner parties. I even hosted one for my 21st birthday. For a successful dinner party, you stick to recipes you’re familiar with. That doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t try something new, but it helps if it’s related to something you’ve made before. It’s even better if you can make something ahead of time so that you can enjoy your own party without having to dash away constantly to make sure nothing is burning. This is not to say that my sister’s dinner party ideas aren’t delicious or that they turn out poorly. It’s just that they make me a little bit stressed out until everything inevitably (so far) turns out successfully.
This time, her idea was to make a Persian style dinner, one of my favorite cuisines, but also one neither one of us had any experience with. However she couldn’t be persuaded to do anything else, so I found myself buying pomegranate molasses and the biggest flatbread I had ever seen in our local Middle Eastern market. We ended up making Persian-style roast leg of lamb, Polo Ba Tahdig, and Persian-style eggplant and tomato stew. I wish I could give you the recipe for it all, but I was so busy all day I think I blacked out.
The world’s biggest bread. Sister for scale. 
We started with salad with pistachios, pomegranate seeds, and a yogurt dill sauce 
Lamb, Polo Ba Tahdig, and Persian-style eggplant and tomato stew 
This lamb was incredible, but the gravy it created was even better
What I do have the recipe for, however, is the polenta, honey and pistachio cake I made for dessert. I was inspired by this David Lebovitz recipe, but decided to use Bärenjäger and pistachios in the cake.
Bärenjäger is a German honey liquor, and though the recipe only calls for a very small amount, the honey flavor permeates the entire cake. I also added pistachios in the cake and on top because when I think of Middle Eastern food, I immediately think of pistachios and pomegranate seeds (which I also sprinkled on top). Also, I could easily eat an entire bag of pistachios without thinking.
This also tastes fantastic in tea! 
Just rough chop the pistachios, they don’t need to be tiny
This cake was delicious! The combination of the slight crunch of the polenta mixed with the tenderness the almond flour makes for a perfect texture. It was also incredibly easy. It came together in about 20 minutes, and baked for just long enough for me to rewatch Sanditon episode 7 (#bringbacksanditon).
However, my favorite thing about this cake was that I didn’t have to frost it! I didn’t even have to make a topping, I just used Siggi’s Icelandic Lactose Free Yogurt on top which was the perfect thing to cut through the honey sweetness of the cake. You could also use Greek yogurt or any other thick yogurt of your choosing. And obviously it doesn’t have to be lactose free, that was just a treat for my stomach. Though this cake can be made a day in advance, I would suggest not “frosting” and decorating until the day of, because it might get a little soggy. That being said, it was just as delicious on day two.
Recipe
For Cake:
Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
100g sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons barenjaeger
3/4 cup (125g) polenta
1 cup (108g) almond flour
1 cup + 6 tablespoons (163g) all-purpose flour (trust me on this measurement)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pistachios
Method:
Butter and line a 9-inch cake pan and preheat the oven to 350 and roast the pistachios for 10-15mins. Then chop them up.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar at medium-high speed, until it’s light and fluffy
Add the eggs one at a time making sure they are completely incorporated before adding the next one. Scrape down the sides and mix in the Bärenjäger.
Combine the polenta, almond flour, flour, baking powder, and salt, in a separate bowl until there are no lumps and slowly add the dry ingredients into the butter until combined. Then stir in the pistachios.
Dump batter into the pan, it will be very thick. Smooth the top, and bake the cake until it is golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost clean, with just a few crumbs attached, 40 to 50 minutes.
Let cool on a rack for about 30 minutes, then loosen the cake from the sides of the pan with a knife and carefully tip it out. It may crack, just shove it together, the topping with cover any imperfections.
For Decoration
Ingredients:
2 cups thick Icelandic/Greek style yogurt
1/4 cup chopped pistachios
Candied lemons
Pomegranate seeds
Method:
Once completely cool, top with a thick yogurt of your choosing (Icelandic or Greek style) a few hours before serving. Top with more chopped pistachios, candied lemons, and pomegranate seeds.
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