The Hunt for Pistachio Extract

I am not the biggest fan of Martha Stewart. My perception of her hovers right around mean lady with an affinity for baking, interior design, and cheating the stock market. We can blame the TV movie starring Cybill Shepherd for the "mean lady" part.

So, when my fiancé got me a copy of the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook for my birthday the year before last, I was conflicted. I managed to get past the "Martha" of it and flipped through it to find some recipes that I actually got really excited about.  The biggest was a recipe for a pistachio mocha wedding cake.

Since I have/had no plans to make a wedding cake, I thought I could adjust the recipe to make a cake for my sister's upcoming birthday. So last night I was going over the recipe only to realize that the only thing that separates pistachio cake from white cake is the pistachio extract, which I don't recall seeing in a grocery store ever.

Today I started calling around to see if stores had it...and you know what? THEY DON'T! Not Whole Foods, not Henry's, not Ralph's. Online forums even said "you can't buy it. make it yourself with real nuts!"

Needless to say, I am a tad disappointed. I was able to find some pistachio extract online, but I don't want to pay for expedited shipping and I don't want to risk it not getting here in time.

So, no pistachio cake for me - and no surprise whatsoever that Martha chose an ingredient that's not exactly easy to find.