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Pistachio cake sliced open on a white cake stand.

Pistachio Cake W/ Pistachio Buttercream Frosting

Rich and delish
This pistachio cake is made with real pistachios and pistachio paste, full of pistachio flavor, topped and covered with pistachio buttercream frosting, and topped with chopped pistachios.
5 from 18 votes
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
chill time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 10 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12 slices
Calories 701 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 115 g Butter softened, unsalted
  • 2 cups Granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 4 Eggs
  • 2 teaspoon Vinegar
  • cup Sour cream
  • 3 tablespoon Pistachio paste
  • ¼ cup Vegetable oil
  • ½ cup Pistachios chopped, unsalted
  • 3 cups Flour
  • 3 teaspoon Baking powder
  • 1 cup Milk

For the pistachio buttercream

  • 350 g Butter
  • 5 cups Powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon Pistachio paste

Instructions
 

  • Add the pistachios to a food processor or blender and blend until they are finely ground.
  • Preheat an oven to 180c (350f) and prepare 3 8-inch baking pans with parchment paper.
  • In a big mixing bowl, add the soft butter, vanilla extract, kosher salt, and sugar. Mix with an electric hand mixer until creamy and smooth for about 3 minutes.
  • Add the pistachio paste and mix until well combined.
  • Add the sour cream, eggs, chopped pistachios, vegetable oil, and vinegar, and mix until creamy and combined.
  • Add ½ of the flour, baking powder, and ½ of the milk. Mix until almost combined.
  • Add the rest of the flour, and milk and mix until just combined and there are no lumps of flour visible. Do not overmix.
  • Divide the batter into 3 8-inch baking pans and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes (depending on your oven) or until a toothpick is inserted into the cake and comes out clean.
  • Let the cakes cool to room temperature and remove them from the pans.

Make the pistachio buttercream frosting

Assemble the cake

  • Pipe a small dollop of the buttercream on the surface that you will frost on. Lay the first cake layer over the frosting dot.
  • Top the first cake layer with ⅓ of the buttercream and spread an even layer of the buttercream with a spatula.
  • Top the cake with the second cake layer. Repeat adding the buttercream and top with the third cake layer.
  • Frost the cake with the remaining buttercream and smooth it out with a spatula.
  • I like scraping some of the remaining buttercream to reveal the beautiful layers of the cake for a seminaked cake look, but it's not a must.
  • Sprinkle chopped pistachios around the edges of the cake and serve!

Notes

  • Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
  • Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
  • Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have a moist cake and not a dense and dry cake.
  • Use cake strips! Cake strips give you even and perfectly baked cake layers. Click here for the amazon link.
  • Line your baking pan with parchment paper! This step helps the cake to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your loaf cake will release easily from the pan.
  • Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making these cookies, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the dough.
  • Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to frost this cake as it is pulled out of the oven, but let the cake cool for at least 1 hour so it will be firmer and won’t crumble up, and prevent the frosting from melting.

Nutrition

Calories: 701kcalCarbohydrates: 112gProtein: 7gFat: 42gSaturated Fat: 22gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 144mgSodium: 581mgPotassium: 156mgFiber: 1gSugar: 35gVitamin A: 1142IUVitamin C: 0.3mgCalcium: 118mgIron: 2mg
Keyword Pistachio Cake
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