Pistachio may be one of those flavours that isn’t the most popular but this cake may change your mind. How does this pistachio cake then?
I was recently at Cake International in November when I went to the Saracino stall and finally got my hands on the pistachio paste. When I went last year, they had sold out and not being sure what the paste was like, I just purchased a small jar (so I could see whether or not I would like it and it worked in my recipes). I have used most of the other pastes offered by them but never used the pistachio paste until this cake and it works wonderfully, so if you see it, buy it immediately!
The inspiration for this cake comes from a few places, mostly Pinterest, Instagram and from a cake I make at work that is similar but not the same recipe – this is my version.
Consisting of two layers of pistachio sponge cake, pistachio cream cheese icing and finished with roughly chopped pistachios, to further enhance that flavour, as well as enhance the pistachio flavour. It will also add colour, texture and decoration.
This is the perfect cake to make for Christmas if you like nutty flavours, the cream cheese icing is smooth and tangy which is always a winning combination.
Anyway, lets get started, shall we?
Ingredients:
Cake:
250g butter, at room temperature.
250g granulated sugar.
4 eggs.
250g self raising flour.
4 tbsp pistachio paste.
1 tsp vanilla extract.
1/2 tsp almond extract.
Pistachio Cream Cheese Icing:
300g icing sugar.
300g butter, at room temperature
200g soft cheese, at room temperature.
2-3 tbsp pista chio paste.
1/2 tsp vanilla extract.
1/4 tsp almond extract.
Decoration:
Roughly chopped pistachio nuts.
Method:
Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. I like to start by weighing up all of the ingredients, prepping the cake tins by lightly oiling and placing parchment on the base of the 6 inch tins, getting any equipment you may need need such as a stand mixer and spatula and finally, don’t forget to preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f.
To get started on the cake, take a mixing bowl and place in the butter and sugar, then beat the two together until they are well combined – this usually takes around 7-10 minutes.
Once the mixture is light and fluffy, you can go ahead and add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. Now that all of eggs have been added, you can add in the vanilla and almond extract, further mixing until they are incorporated.
Add in the pistachio paste and mix until its been fully incorporated – as it combines the mixture it will change the colour of the mixture.
You can then go ahead and give the bowl a good scraping down, just to incorporate any bits that may not be fully worked in from earlier on.
Now go ahead and add in the flour, mixing on a low speed to starts working your way up to a medium-high, the mixture should be smooth and well combined.
Take your two lined cake tins and split the batter between the two of them, smoothing and levelling them out as best as you possibly can, before placing them into your preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes.
While the cakes are in the oven baking, you can make the cream cheese icing.
To start the icing, simply place the butter and icing sugar into a mixing bow, beat the two together until they are very well combined. They should be light and fluffy – depending on how soft your butter is, for me it was 7-10 minutes.
Once the mixture has become lighter and fluffier, you can then add in your pistachio paste and continue to mix until it’s well combined. After it has mixed, you can add in the vanilla extract and almond extract into the icing and mix until its fully combined.
Gradually add in the soft cheese in small additions, mixing well in-between each addition. Repeat the process until all of then soft cheese has been used up. At the end, you should have a buttercream thats spreadable and holds its shape well, if its a little slack, feel free to place in the fridge for a bit before you use it.
Once you have everything made and ready, you can start the decorating.
Simply take your board/stand/plate and pipe a small amount of buttercream into the centre of it and place the first layer of cake, pressing it down to secure it in place. Pipe a ring of buttercream around the outer edge of the cake, then fill the centre and smooth it out as best as you can, ensuring it’s level. Then top with your second layer of cake, and pipe the icing around the sides and on top of there cake.
Smooth and level out the buttercream as much as you can, use a small offset palette knife to create a swirl on top of the cake.
Around the bottom edge, take some of the roughly chopped pistachios and create a boarder. This will help add more pistachio flavour, colour and texture.
Pipe rosettes around the outer top edge of the cake and top those with some roughly chipped pistachios, then chill in the fridge (cream cheese icing is temperamental as heck).
Then you’re good to serve this up, enjoy as you please!
That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.
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