Moist Pistachio Cake Recipe
Print Pin VideoThis super moist and flavorful pistachio cake recipe uses real pistachios (that's right - no pudding mixes involved!) to create a truly memorable cake that is full of nutty, rich, pistachio flavor. It's topped with a not-too-sweet pistachio cream cheese frosting that adds a wonderful creamy element to the cake. One word - delicious!!
IMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
Pistachio Cake
- 1¼ cups (175 g) pistachios - raw, unsalted
- 2⅓ cups (300 g) flour - regular all purpose (see note 1 if you want to use cake flour)
- ¼ cup (25 g) cornstarch
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt - omit if using salted butter
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- ½ cup (105 g) unflavoured vegetable oil - I use canola
- 1⅔ cups (332 g) white granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs - room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract/essence
- ½ tsp almond extract/essence
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1½ cups (336 g) buttermilk - room temperature, see note 5 if using a homemade buttermilk substitute
- Few drops green food coloring (optional) - gel and liquid are both fine as you only use a small amount
Pistachio Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1½ cups (340 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- 3 cups (375 g) powdered sugar - also known as icing sugar/confectioners sugar
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract/essence
- ½ tsp almond extract/essence
- ½ cup (120 g) whipping or heavy cream - room temperature
- ½ cup (112 g) cream cheese - cold, use a firm cream cheese (not a spreadable one)
- ½ cup (70 g) pistachios - unsalted, processed into fine crumbs
- Few drops green food coloring (optional) - gel and liquid are both fine as you only use a small amount
Instructions
- IMPORTANT: For this recipe I would highly recommend using gram measurements, especially for the flour for accurate results. It has a high fat/liquid ratio so slight adjustments to the quantities can throw off the balance of the cake :)
Pistachio Cake
- Preheat oven to 180 °C (350°F) (see note 4 if using a fan function) and grease and/or line two 8 inch cake tins (I use my homemade cake release).
- Add your pistachios to a food processer, and process until they become fine crumbs (see note 6). Once done, set aside for now.
- In a bowl, sift together your flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside.
- In another bowl, add in butter, vegetable oil and sugar. Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer are both fine - see note 2), cream together for 2 minutes until light and creamy.
- Add in eggs one by one, mixing well in between each addition (about 10-15 seconds between eggs).
- Add in your vanilla, almond essence/extract, vinegar and half of the buttermilk, and mix until well combined. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
- Add half of your premixed dry ingredients to your wet mixture, and gently fold it in with a spatula until just combined. Then add in the remaining buttermilk, and fold it in until just combined. Lastly, add in the remaining dry ingredients and gently fold it into the mixture until just combined. Do not overmix (see note 3).
- Finish off by adding in the crushed pistachios, and a few scant drops of green coloring (if using gel colours then use less - you only want a pastel green color), and fold with a spatula until just combined. Add more coloring if needed, but try not to overmix the batter.
- Distribute the batter evenly into the two 8 inch cake tins, and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs on it.
- Once baked, allow the cake layers to cool in the cake tins for about 15-20 minutes, and then turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool before frosting with the pistachio cream cheese recipe below.
Pistachio Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a large bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer if using one), add in butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract/essence, almond extract/essence and cream.
- Mix on the lowest speed until the ingredients are combined (about a minute), and then turn up the speed to a medium high and mix for a full 10 minutes, scraping down the bowl half way through. If using a stand mixer then use the paddle attachment.
- Once finished, add in the cream cheese and crushed pistachios and mix until well combined. Avoid overmixing. Finish off by adding in a few scant drops of green food coloring (if using gel colours then use less - you only want a pastel green color).
- The frosting should be silky smooth and it's now ready to use! See note 7 if your frosting isn't fluffy and smooth. For decorating ideas, check out the recipe video or blog post above :)
Video
Notes
Note 1. You can use cake flour in replacement of the all purpose flour and cornstarch in this recipe (325g total required).
Note 2. If using a stand mixer, then use the paddle attachment for the initial mixing, but continue to do the last step by hand as stated in the recipe.
Note 3. By gently folding in the ingredients, it prevents too much gluten from forming, thus giving us a softer cake. Only mix until the strands of flour have disappeared and the batter is uniform.
Note 4. In this recipe I use an oven with no fan function. The fan forced function cooks cakes/cupcakes faster, so if using a fan function (also known as convection mode) then you will need to reduce the temperature to 160C (320F).
Note 5. I use store bought buttermilk (and is what I recommend for this recipe) which is thicker than a homemade substitute. For this recipe, because it uses a lot of buttermilk, a homemade substitute doesn't give the same results. If you are using a homemade version you will need to reduce the amount of buttermilk to about 1 1/4 cups (275g) - though this still doesn't guarantee that you will get the same results.
Note 6. You don't want the pistachios to be too fine (like a powder), but you don't want large chuncks either. Process them until they're a bread crumb consistency with a few small chunks in them (see video for visual).
Note 7. If you find that your frosting is a bit firm and has a lot of air bubbles, then it means that either the butter or cream during the initial 10 minutes of mixing was too cold. To fix this, gently heat the buttercream in the microwave for 5 second bursts (don't heat it for too long otherwise the buttercream will melt), mixing in between each burst until the frosting is softer in consistency and you can easily mix it, and then re-whip it for a few minutes. If your frosting is too soft, simply pop it into the fridge for 30 minutes, and then re-whip it.
Nutrition
Calories: 907kcal | Carbohydrates: 91g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 57g | Saturated Fat: 27g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 10g | Monounsaturated Fat: 17g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 149mg | Sodium: 311mg | Potassium: 333mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 64g | Vitamin A: 1357IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 139mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
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