Pistachio Cake Recipe

There’s one thing about pistachios that make them a bit fancier than different nuts, don’t you assume? So this Pistachio Cake is particular, worthy of serving at any event! Topped with a cloud of Cream Cheese Whip. Suppose – subtly tangy whipped cream. Dreamy!

It is a Pistachio Cake that has a gorgeous mushy crumb with beautiful pistachio flavour. Which, as unusual as that sounds, is rarer than you would possibly assume. And I’m talking from expertise right here, having tried fairly a couple of recipes through the years!

The reason being fairly easy – this recipe makes use of virtually double the quantity of pistachios of typical recipes. Additionally, I insist on toasting the pistachios first earlier than blitzing right into a powder which, as with all nuts, brings out the flavour. It’s a primary step that basically makes a distinction, particularly as a result of there’s a restrict on how a lot pistachio powder could be added into the batter with out weighing it down. Does it shock anybody that we’re hitting the restrict on this recipe??😊

Plus, pistachios are dearer than most nuts. So let’s get as a lot flavour as we are able to out of them!

We’re ending in the present day’s cake with a beneficiant cloud of what I’ve christened a Cream Cheese Whip. A little bit of an invention that happened after I was considering what to high it with. It’s already wealthy with pistachio nuttiness so I didn’t assume it wanted a frosting as candy and buttery as buttercream. However I felt like plain whipped cream was a bit too mild and ethereal, and I needed a little bit of tang to stability out the earthiness of the pistachios.

Resolution? Do a Cream Cheese Frosting whipped cream mash up!

Bonus: It’s basically a stabilised whipped cream which suggests it can keep fluffy for days with out weeping or deflating like common whipped cream.

Right here’s what it’s essential to make this Pistachio Cake. Freshly blitzed, freshly toasted pistachio nuts is vital to make sure you can really style pistachio on this cake.

PISTACHIOs

I exploit pre-shelled pistachio kernels. Good and handy as somebody has finished the shelling for me!

I favor unsalted pistachios so I can management the quantity of salt within the cake. Saltiness of nuts at all times appears to differ relying on model / supply. But when your pistachios are salted, simply skip the salt within the recipe.

To shell your personal pistachios, use 225g / 7 oz (125g/4.4 oz as soon as shelled) and cut back the toasting time to 7 minutes (as a result of shelled kernels are usually softer).

⚠️ Not all pistachios are created equal. The older they’re, the much less flavour they’ve. The higher the standard, the higher the flavour. I’ve tried this with common grocery retailer ones, and higher high quality ones. I nonetheless received good pistachio flavour with the common grocery retailer ones. This was my baseline for this recipe.

for the CAKE BATTER

Be sure that your yogurt and egg are at room temperature earlier than making the batter. If they’re fridge chilly, it can make the batter chilly which suggests the cake received’t rise as nicely within the oven. Talking from expertise right here! I attempted to skip the step of bringing yogurt to room temperature – and was penalised for it.😝

• Flour – Simply plain / all-purpose flour. This recipe will work with self elevating flour but it surely most likely received’t rise as nicely (widespread theme utilizing self elevating flour somewhat than flour + baking powder). When you use self elevating flour, skip the baking soda and baking powder.

• Baking powder and baking soda (bi-carb soda) – These each make desserts, muffins and so on rise however have completely different results on completely different batters. As a basic rule, baking soda is 3x stronger than baking powder.

  Useless baking powder – When you haven’t used your baking powder for some time (say, a month or so), verify it’s nonetheless good. Baking powder can lose its rising powder even earlier than the expiry date!

  Substitute – should you don’t have baking soda you possibly can substitute with further baking powder (see recipe notes for quantity). Nevertheless, anticipate the floor of the cake to dome and the crumb is a contact much less mushy. It’s primarily a visible factor although, so it’s not an enormous deal!

• Yogurt – A lot cherished baking trick to make desserts and muffins with a beautiful moist crumb in comparison with utilizing thinner liquids reminiscent of milk. The additional position it performs right here is that the acidity in yogurt provides the baking soda a kick begin to make the cake rise. Because of this typically you see a tiny quantity of vinegar in desserts, like Pink Velvet Cake. Appears completely misplaced, however serves a objective to get the baking soda going.

• Egg – Use a “massive egg” which weighs ~50-55g/2oz every, bought in cartons labelled “massive eggs” weighing 600-660g / 1.2 lb for a dozen. This recipe is fairly forgiving so don’t fret in case your egg is a bit bigger or smaller, simply don’t use, say, an ostrich egg or quail egg. 😂 See right here for the right way to scale in case your egg is massively completely different in dimension.

• Butter AND oil – Butter provides beautiful flavour however desserts will not be as moist and don’t have pretty much as good a shelf life as desserts made with oil. However oil is just not as tasty! On this recipe, I like to make use of each so I’ve one of the best of each worlds – beautiful buttery flavour and moistness plus shelf life from oil. This trick doesn’t work with all desserts, it will depend on the batter. Very completely satisfied it really works right here!

• Sugar – Not an excessive amount of, simply 3/4 cup (150g). Except for my desire for desserts that aren’t overly candy, I seen that the sweeter the cake, the much less pistachio flavour got here by.

  Caster sugar / superfine sugar is my default for baking as a result of it’s finer than common sugar (granulated sugar) so you possibly can guarantee it dissolves simply into mixtures. Nevertheless, for this recipe, common / granulated white sugar is okay. (Don’t use brown sugar, it can doubtless make the batter too damp).

• Inexperienced colouring – The pistachios alone is not going to give the cake a pistachio inexperienced color. Relatively, it comes out brown. So it wants a serving to hand from meals colouring in order for you your cake to have the color pictured on this submit.

  I exploit 4 small drops to attain the color pictured. Be happy so as to add extra in order for you a greener cake. As soon as baked, the cake is a contact darker than the raw batter. Right here’s a comparability of the batter and the color of the cooked cake:

Cream cheese WHIP

Right here’s what you want for the Cream Cheese Whip frosting. It’s basically Whipped Cream plus some cream cheese which stabilises and enriches it, in addition to giving it a beautiful contact of tang which works very well with the nutty pistachio flavour.

• Cream cheese – Softened to room temperature, so it’s straightforward to beat till fluffy and easy.

• Whipping cream – Be sure that the cream you get could be whipped as a result of not all cream is made for whipping. Some are dolloping lotions (ie thick cream you dollop onto desserts, like bitter cream) or skinny pouring lotions that you just stir into issues like soup. If it’s a whipping cream, it can say on the carton.

• Lemon juice – For a smidge of additional tang which I believe goes very well with the pistachio flavour. Nevertheless, not essential. Think about it an enhancement somewhat than important! (PS Doesn’t make it overly lemony. I initially tried a stronger lemon flavour and located it overwhelmed the pistachio flavour).

• Vanilla – For flavour. I attempted with out and missed it.

• Salt – Commonplace observe in candy baking recipes today because it brings out the opposite flavours. We solely use a pinch so that you received’t style salt.

You received’t want an electrical beater to make the cake half. Simply combine it up with a wood spoon! (See FAQ part for different cake-making strategies I attempted).

1. MAKE PISTACHIO POWDER

Please don’t skip toasting the pistachios. It not solely brings out the pistachio flavour (particularly crucial should you get pistachios from common grocery shops like I do), it makes them crisper so that they grind up extra simply right into a powder somewhat than turning right into a paste.

1. Toast the pistachios within the oven for 12 minutes or till they scent nutty and they’re crisp (eat to verify).

2. Blitz – Allow them to cool fully then blitz right into a powder. It’s very fast utilizing a NutriBullet as I do – actually 2 x 2 second pulses. Some pistachios lumps are okay / welcome, however you need it to be a minimum of 95% powder.

   ⚠️ Watch out to not let the pistachios flip right into a paste which is able to occur should you blitz for too lengthy.

2. MAKE THE PISTACHIO cake

1. Break up pistachio clumps – Whisk the pistachio powder with the flour. Then use your fingers to interrupt up any apparent pistachio powder clumps right into a powder ie the place pistachio powder has gotten a bit pasty so that they stick collectively. Including flour makes this step simpler as a result of should you pinch the plain pistachio powder, it sticks collectively right into a paste. Some small clumps remaining are effective, they are going to dissolve within the oven.

   Then whisk in remaining dry components (baking powder, baking soda, salt).

2. Whisk moist – Put all of the moist components right into a separate medium bowl. Then whisk till mixed.

3. Mix moist and dry – Pour the moist components into the dry components. Use a rubber spatula to combine them collectively however cease when the flour is nearly blended in. (Why? As a result of overmixed batter = robust cake, and we nonetheless have further mixing to return once we add the meals colouring).

4. Make it pistachio inexperienced! Add 4 small drops of inexperienced meals colouring and blend it in. Objective – pistachio inexperienced color. (Notice: the cake turns into barely darker in color as soon as baked, see above for uncooked batter vs cooked cake comparability.) Then combine till the batter is absolutely mixed. You might have some small lumps from pistachio powder clumps (these will dissolve within the oven) and some random complete bits of pistachio.

   ⚠️ If utilizing gel somewhat than liquid colouring which is far more intense, use a tiny toothpick smear as a substitute. See recipe card notes for instructions.
   💡 We add the meals colouring on this step as a result of bizarrely, I discovered the colouring doesn’t work as nicely if blended in with the moist components, I wanted double the quantity of colouring. I can’t clarify it, I simply know what I skilled!

5. Pour the batter right into a lined pan then unfold it out within the pan. You don’t must easy the floor completely as a result of the batter will unfold within the oven.

   💡Tip : As a result of it’s a thickish batter, I favor to grease the pan with butter somewhat than oil spray. It’s because butter makes the paper stick extra firmly to the pan so it received’t slide as you unfold the batter.

6. Bake for 40 minutes at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced), rotating on the 30 minute mark so the cake browns evenly on the floor. The cake is prepared when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out and not using a batter smear (though will probably be a bit moist as a result of this can be a damp cake).

   Cool fully earlier than spreading on the Cream Cheese Whip, else it can soften! 10 minutes within the pan then about 1 hour on a rack.

3. MAKING THE CREAM CHEESE Whip

1. Cream cheese first – Beat the cream cheese till mushy and fluffy. Take a great 2 minutes on medium excessive velocity to do that so that you cream it very well. That is necessary as a result of the cream is chilly so it received’t mix in simply with the cream cheese (ie while you whip the cream, it will possibly trigger cream cheese lumps). To keep away from this drawback, you need to beat the cream cheese till it’s actually mushy and creamy so it mixes in seamlessly with the cream.

2. Whip cream – Then add the cream, sugar, lemon, vanilla and salt, and beat till the cream is whipped. This frosting will look and behave like common whipped cream, however it’s a little richer due to the cream cheese. (Which is why it can keep fluffy for days somewhat than weeping like common cream).

3. Unfold the frosting onto the cake, making beautiful huge swirl patterns. A small offset spatula (pictured) makes quick work of this (useful software for cake frosting).

4. Sprinkle with finely chopped pistachios. And now the second has arrived – sure, let’s eat it!

I’m so pleased with how this cake turned out. It’s a type of recipes the place I’ve tried fairly quite a few different recipes through the years however by no means discovered what I used to be on the lookout for. So I made a decision to provide you with my very own.

I actually like that it’s not too candy and it depends on the richness from the pure oil of pistachios somewhat than extreme quantities of butter or oil. And I like the mushy texture of the crumb, and that it’s nonetheless like freshly made 3 – 4 days later. Can’t say that about many desserts!

I actually hope you give it a go sooner or later, and find it irresistible as a lot as I do! – Johnsat x

Pistachio Cake Recipe

Print

Serves: 10 Prep Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 55 minutes 55 minutes

Nutrition facts: 317 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

• 125g/ 4.4oz (just shy 1 cup) pistachio kernels , unsalted (Note 1)
• 1 cup plain flour (all-purpose flour)
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder (check yours still still good if it's old)
• 1/4 tsp baking soda (bi-carb soda) (Note 2)
• 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
• 3/4 cup yogurt , plain, full-fat, at room temperature (Note 3)
• 60g/ 4 tbsp unsalted butter , melted and slightly cooled
• 1/4 cup plain oil (canola, vegetable, cottonseed etc)
• 3/4 cup caster sugar (superfine sugar)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg (50-55g/2oz), at room temperature
• 4 drops green food colouring , optional (Note 4)
• 100g/ 3.5oz cream cheese , at room temperature (block best, tub ok)
• 3/4 cup thickened cream (heavy cream) or whipping cream (Note 5)
• 3 tbsp caster sugar (superfine sugar)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp lemon juice (optional)
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (160° fan-forced). Grease and line a 20 cm / 8" round cake pan with baking paper (parchment paper).
2. Toast – Spread the pistachios on a tray. Bake for 12 minutes, shaking once halfway, or until the pistachios smell nutty and are crisp (eat to check!). Fully cool on the tray (~15 minutes).
3. Blitz – Measure out 3/4 cup pistachios (save the rest for decorating). Blitz into a powder using pulses, taking care not to turn it into a paste. I use a NutriBullet (2 x 2 sec bursts). Spice grinder or small food processor would also work. Some larger pistachio bits are fine, but aim for 98% powder. (Note 6)
4. Break up clumps – Put the pistachio powder in a large bowl with the flour. Briefly whisk to combine then use your fingers to rub pistachio powder clumps into a powder. No need to be meticulous here, just get the larger ones.
5. Dry – Add the remaining Dry ingredients then whisk to combine.
6. Wet – Put all the Wet ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk until combined.
7. Combine wet & dry – Pour the Wet into the Dry ingredients bowl. Use a rubber spatula to mix until the flour is almost mixed in.
8. Colour it! Add the food colouring. Then finish mixing the batter until mostly lump free (small lumps will dissolve when baked).
9. Scrape the batter into the pan and spread out it out (no need to be meticulous, the surface will smooth out in the oven).
10. Bake for 40 minutes, turning the pan at 30 minutes so the surface browns evenly, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out without batter on it.
11. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack and cool completely. (~1 hour)
12. Chop the reserved pistachios (mix of finely chopped and larger chunks).
13. Spread the cake with the Cream Cheese Whip (steps below). Sprinkle with chopped pistachios. Cut and eat!
14. Beat the cream cheese for a good 2 minutes on medium high until it's really light and creamy, scraping down the sides as needed. Do not shortcut this step, else you may end up with cream cheese lumps!
15. Whip – Add the remaining ingredients then beat until the cream is softly whipped and spreadable, about 1 minute on medium high.

Notes

1. Pistachios – I use kernels already pre shelled which are typically unsalted. If you use the pistachios in the shells, use 225g / 7 oz pistachio in shells (125g/4.4 oz once shelled) and reduce toasting time to 7 minutes. If your pistachios are salted, skip the salt in the recipe.
2. Baking soda (bi-carb soda) – Substitute with 3/4 tsp extra baking powder, but expect the cake to dome a bit (rather than pictured flat surface).
3. Yogurt – Make sure it’s at room temperature else it makes the batter cold which inhibits the rise. Substitute with sour cream (give it a good mix to loosen before measuring out). Low fat is acceptable, it won’t ruin the recipe!
4. Green food colouring – Cake needs a helping hand to have a lovely green colour. If using colouring gel, which is much stronger than liquid, just dip the tip of a toothpick into the gel and smear it onto the batter. Add as much as needed to make the batter a pistachio green colour (note: colour fades as it bakes, see in post for before/after baking).
5. Cream – Make sure the cream you get can be whipped (not all cream is made for whipping). It will say on the carton.
6. Pistachios go from powder to paste fairly easily. Avoid this problem by using very short pulses and shake/scrape down the side of your appliance to blitz evenly. With a NutriBullet it takes me 3 x 1 second bursts, shaking in between. Some clumping of powder is ok because we break up clumps (mixing with flour makes this step easier).
7. Different in cup sizes in different counties – see FAQ above recipe card.
Storage – Keep leftover cake in the fridge for 4 days. Cream will not weep like regular whipped cream! Note that pistachio flavour is strongest when freshly made, but still a darn tasty cake even on day 4.
Nutrition per slice, assuming 12 slices.

Did You Make This Recipe?

How you went with my recipes? Tag me on Instagram at @PenciDesign.

Share your love

Sarah Miller

Hi, I’m Sarah Millar!
I’m a food blogger who loves creating quick and easy recipes that bring big flavor without the fuss. Cooking doesn’t have to be complicated — and I’m here to share simple, fast food ideas that anyone can make at home. When I’m not in the kitchen, you’ll usually find me tasting new dishes, exploring cafés, or coming up with fresh food hacks to make everyday meals more fun.

Articles: 1302