I’ve had a hard time getting back to the blog lately. Maybe I still have Italy on the brain.

For those that don’t know, I spent a month in Tuscany this summer. I attended a cooking and language school for three weeks and then traveled for another week with my beau. My trip was amazing. It was empowering and educational. I learned about myself and got a brief glimpse into what I am capable of. It turns out I can move to a foreign country by myself for a month without freaking out! I can live on my own, and though I missed my friends and family and my sweetheart, I can deal with loneliness and keep myself strong.

In addition to all that, I learned so much about food and wine!! So many great tricks and new skills. I can’t wait to share them all with you. Just two days ago I did a photo shoot that was all about Italian goodness. Pasta! Pasta! Pasta! And a great cocktail too. You’ll see those posts over the next few weeks and I look forward to talking more about my Italian adventure. In the meantime, I’ve got some great stuff to share that I was working on before I left.

I was blown away by Bon Appetit’s June issue. The photos and recipes were great and I just wanted to make it all. First the cherry pie and now this amazing raspberry lemon cake with pistachios. I’ve received three new issues since then and the list of things I want to make is getting longer and longer! I think I need to just put June away.

Sigh. So many recipes, so little time. This cake recipe is a keeper. The original photos in the magazine were so lovely I said, yes. I want.

And I’m so glad I actually followed through and made it. Every month when my magazine shows up, I read through it, trying to keep myself from drooling all over the pages, and I earmark the recipes I want to try. Sometimes I’m good and cook one, sometimes I never pick the magazine up again and don’t many anything, but sometimes if I’m lucky/motivated/inspired/not lazy, I’ll make a few that month. I never regret it. I love a good lemon cake. And this one is good. Dense and with a moist crumb. It has a great lemony zing to it. This recipe is special because before you bake it, you sprinkle raspberries over the top. When you cook the cake, they sink in a little, making beautiful little red juicy pockets in the top third of the cake. You also top the cake with chopped pistachios. When I first read that, I thought the combination sounded a little odd, but they provide a lovely little bit of salty crunch on top of the cake. (I used roasted, salted pistachios because that is what I had. The recipe calls for unsalted, unroasted. So, do what your heart (or your pantry) tells you on this one.)

Did I mention that you also pour a lemon syrup over the top? No? Well, I am now.

That’s right. After all that wonderful the cake already has going for it, at the end, when it is still hot, you pour a simple, lemon syrup on the top. It soaks into the cake, giving it extra moisture, sweetness, and lemony tartness. In some ways, it reminds me of this cake from the Barefoot Contessa (which is also wonderful), but I like the variety of flavors in this one.

And it is great with a cup of tea. Enjoy!

Raspberry Lemon Cake with Pistachios

from Bon Appetit

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 large eggs
• 1¼ cups plus 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon plus ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
• ¾ cup olive oil
• 1 cup fresh raspberries (about 4 oz.)
• 3 tablespoons chopped unsalted, raw pistachios