Pistachio cake
Pistachio cake is a butter cake with a naturally pale green crumb and a rich, nutty flavor from finely ground pistachios mixed right into the batter. A touch of almond extract brings out the nut flavor without overpowering it. A thin glaze and chopped pistachios on top make the cake pretty to look at and add a little crunch.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 45 min
- Rising or chilling
- 1 hr
- Total time
- 2 hr 15 min
- Method
- Oven-baked
Ingredients
Cake batter
Glaze topping
Instructions
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 170°C, butter a 20 cm round cake pan and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Pistachios are rich in oil, so the cake tends to stick to the bottom without paper. The pan is ready when the paper lies flat and fits the bottom snugly.
Step 2
Put 100 g shelled pistachios in a food processor with a little sugar taken from the 180 g granulated sugar and pulse in short bursts. The sugar soaks up some of the oil so the nuts don't clump into nut butter. They're ready when they look like fine, damp sand and are still loose.
Step 3
Beat 170 g softened unsalted butter with the rest of the sugar on medium speed for about five minutes. Well-creamed butter keeps the cake light even with the fairly heavy ground nuts. The mixture is ready when it's ivory white, fluffy and leaves ridges when you scrape it with a flat spatula.
Step 4
Add 150 g eggs one at a time, beating until blended, then add 4 g vanilla extract and 1 g almond extract. The almond extract makes the pistachio flavor clearer and more rounded. The mixture is ready when it's evenly smooth, glossy and shows no sign of curdling.
Step 5
Mix the ground pistachios with 160 g cake flour, 6 g baking powder and 2 g salt, add it to the butter mixture in two additions alternating with 100 g whole milk, and fold gently. Mixing just enough keeps the crumb soft rather than dense. The batter is ready when it's an even pale green with no streaks of dry flour.
Step 6
Pour the batter into the pan, smooth the top and bake at 170°C for about 40 to 45 minutes. The ground nuts make the cake brown quickly, so you can lay foil over the top for the last ten minutes. It's done when the top is light golden, springs back and a skewer comes out clean.
Step 7
Leave the cake in the pan for ten minutes, then turn it out onto a rack, peel off the paper and let it cool completely for about 60 minutes. The glaze only sets firmly without melting once the cake is fully cool. The cake is ready when the top feels cool to the touch.
Step 8
Stir 70 g powdered sugar with 14 g whole milk into a thick glaze, drizzle it over the cake and immediately scatter 20 g chopped pistachios on top. Sprinkling the nuts while the glaze is still wet helps them stick firmly. The cake is ready when the glaze has set and the green nuts stand out against the white.
Equipment
- Oven
- Round cake pan
- Parchment paper
- Food processor
- Hand mixer
- Spatula
- Sieve
- Mixing bowl
- Kitchen scale
- Wire cooling rack
Tips
- Unsalted, unroasted pistachios give the prettiest green color; if you only have salted roasted ones, cut back on the salt in the batter.
- Blanching the nuts in boiling water for one minute and rubbing off their purple skins makes the crumb even greener.
- You can add grated lemon zest to the glaze for a fresh note that balances the richness of the nuts.
Storage
Keep the cake tightly covered at room temperature for up to three days. Unglazed, the cake can be wrapped tightly and frozen for a month.
Common problems and how to fix them
- The crumb is heavy, oily and a little wet.
- The pistachios were ground too long and released their oil. Pulse them in short bursts with the sugar and stop as soon as they look like fine sand.
- The cake is grayish brown instead of pale green.
- The nuts were roasted too dark or still had a lot of skin on them. Use unroasted nuts, rub off some of the skins and cover the top of the cake while it bakes.
This recipe is based on the common ratios for this bake and is written entirely in our own words.
