Made from scratch with real pistachio and almond flavors, this rustic-chic layered pistachio cake is full of flavor, and enhanced with silky cream cheese frosting. Garnish with fresh berries, pistachios, and flowers for a truly remarkable dessert that’s perfect for spring.
The pink flowers pictured on the finished cake are called kalanchoe.
As nut flavors go, pistachio is one of the most subtle. In fact, did you know that pistachio ice cream gets most of its flavor from almond extract? The almond extract works to enhance the pistachio flavor, and I’m using this concept in today’s pistachio cake. I’m often asked how to change my pistachio cupcakes into a layer cake, so this is the perfect opportunity to show off those delicately nutty flavors again.
Tell Me About This Pistachio Cake
- Texture: The combination of real pistachios + almond extract results in a soft, buttery pistachio cake. Cake flour and egg whites keep the texture light and delicate.
- Flavor: This pistachio cake is made without any artificial flavors. The natural flavors of pistachio, almond, butter, and vanilla really shine through in each bite.
- Ease: This pistachio cake with cream cheese frosting is “nearly naked,” so no expert-level cake decorating skills are required. It looks gorgeous garnished simply with fresh berries, crushed pistachios, and some flowers, if you’re feeling extra springy.
One reader, Kathy, says: “Absolutely divine!!! Made this for my daughter’s bday and everyone loved it. The ground pistachios gave it a perfect light green tint. The texture was great-light cake with some bite from the pistachios. Not too sweet, either, which I prefer. This is a GREAT RECIPE.”
The full recipe is below, but first I’m going to share some of the main things I’ve learned while testing this pistachio cake recipe.
How to Get Real Pistachio Flavor Into Cake
We’ll grind shelled pistachios and then mix the pistachio crumbs into the cake batter for the best quality, real pistachio flavor. I know what you’re thinking: chunks of hard nuts in a cake? Don’t worry! The pistachios are ground into a soft and creamy crumb, which adds pure pistachio flavor without a chunky texture. I recommend using a food processor for this step. Just be careful not to overdo it and make pistachio butter!
The cake batter may resemble spicy brown mustard, but it smells fantastic. The ground pistachios tint the cake a light spring green. I also add a drop of green food coloring to deepen the color, but that’s completely optional.
Key Ingredients You Need & Why
I used my favorite white cake recipe as a starting point for this cake.
- Pistachios: Instead of using artificial pistachio flavor, grind shelled pistachios to add to the cake batter. I usually use unsalted raw pistachios for this cake recipe, but you can use raw or roasted pistachios, salted or unsalted, whichever you prefer. I recommend buying them already shelled, to save time.
- Almond + vanilla extract: Use pure vanilla and almond extracts for truly outstanding flavor. Almond extract enhances the pistachio flavor, so don’t leave it out.
- Cake flour: Cake flour is almost 30 times finer than all-purpose flour and provides the structure for this pistachio cake. We use slightly less cake flour in this recipe than in a white cake because of the pistachio crumbs, but the result is equally delicate and delicious.
- Egg whites: Using only egg whites ensures a light crumb that isn’t weighed down by the fat in egg yolks. Lighter confections such as marshmallows and angel food cake require only egg whites. Same rule applies here.
What Frosting Goes Well With Pistachio Cake?
I like pairing this sweet and nutty cake with smooth and tangy cream cheese frosting. But there’s no shortage of delicious options that would complement this cake! You could easily replace the cream cheese frosting with:
- Vanilla Buttercream
- Salted Caramel Frosting
- Strawberry Buttercream
- Lemon Buttercream
- Chocolate Buttercream
You could also use this pistachio cake recipe as the base for my fresh berry cream cake!
Decorating Inspiration
To frost and decorate this pistachio cake, I use a good amount of frosting inside and on top of the cake, and minimal frosting around the sides. This frosting style is called a naked cake, which exposes the gorgeous cake layers and reveals the deliciousness to come!
- For smooth sides, use a bench scraper (you can follow this vanilla naked cake video for a little guidance). I also recommend a cake turntable to make cake decorating even easier. Or simply just swipe the frosting on—this pistachio cake is so delicious no one will care what it looks like!
Today’s recipe makes enough cream cheese frosting to decorate this cake in the “naked” style. If you’d prefer more frosting on the sides of your cake, use the ingredient amounts for the cream cheese frosting from my favorite carrot cake recipe.
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Pistachio Cake
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes
- Total Time: 5 hours
- Yield: 12 servings
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Make this pistachio cake with real pistachio and almond extract flavors. This “naked cake” is finished with silky cream cheese frosting. Read the recipe notes before beginning. The pink flowers pictured on the finished cake are called kalanchoe.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (260g) unsalted pistachios (out of shells)
- 2 and 1/3 cups (275g) cake flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 and 3/4 cups (350g) granulated sugar
- 5 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120g) sour cream, at room temperature*
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup (240ml) whole milk, at room temperature*
- cream cheese frosting
- optional: 1 tiny drop green food coloring*
- optional: garnishes such as berries and leftover pistachios
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease three 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cakes seamlessly release from the pans. (If it’s helpful, see this parchment paper rounds for cakes video & post.)
- Make the cake: Pulse the pistachios in a food processor until ground up into very fine crumbs. See photo above for a visual. You’ll have about 1 and 1/2 cups of crumbs. (If you have more than that, set aside for garnish.)
- Pour 1 and 1/2 cups of pistachio crumbs in a large bowl. Whisk in the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Beat in the egg whites on high speed until combined, about 2 minutes. Beat in the sour cream, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients until just incorporated. With the mixer still running on low, pour in the milk (and the green food coloring, if using) and mix just until combined. You may need to whisk it all by hand to make sure there are no lumps at the bottom of the bowl. The batter will be slightly thick.
- Pour batter evenly into cake pans. Bake for around 21-23 minutes or until the cakes are baked through. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it’s done. Allow cakes to cool completely in the pans set on a wire rack. The cakes must be completely cool before frosting and assembling.
- Make the frosting: Prepare the cream cheese frosting (see note below).
- Assemble and decorate: Using a large serrated knife, slice a thin layer off the tops of the cakes to create a flat surface. Discard (or crumble over ice cream!). Place 1 cake layer on your cake stand, cake turntable, or serving plate. Evenly cover the top with frosting. Top with 2nd layer and evenly cover the top with more frosting. Top with the third cake layer. Spread the frosting all over the top and sides. (I used a bench scraper to smooth out the sides.) Decorate with garnishes, if desired. Refrigerate for at least 30-45 minutes before slicing. This helps the cake keep its shape when cutting.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: The cake layers can be baked, cooled, and covered tightly at room temperature overnight. Likewise, the frosting can be prepared then covered and refrigerated overnight. Let it sit at room temperature to slightly soften for 10 minutes before assembling and frosting. Frosted cake or unfrosted cake layers can be frozen up to 2-3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before decorating/serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Food Processor | 9-Inch Round Cake Pans | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Cake Turntable | Straight Icing Spatula | Bench Scraper | Marble Cake Stand or Serving Platter | Cake Carrier (for storage)
- Pistachios: I usually use unsalted raw pistachios. However, the cake is still sweet even if you use salted pistachios. Salted actually adds extra flavor! You can use roasted or raw (not roasted), whichever you prefer.
- Full Fat Ingredients: Whole milk and full-fat sour cream are strongly recommended for the best taste and texture. A full-fat plain yogurt would work instead, though the cake may not be as light. Same goes with a lower fat milk.
- Food Coloring: While the pistachio crumbs tint the batter light green, I added 1 *very teeny* drop of green food coloring to help brighten the green color. This is completely optional!
- Frosting: My recipe for cream cheese frosting will be enough to decorate your cake like I did in these photos. Minimal on the edges with more frosting inside and on top of the cake. Do you want more frosting? If so, make the amount of cream cheese frosting included in my carrot cake recipe.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: All refrigerated items should be at room temperature so the batter mixes together easily and evenly. For more information, read my post about the importance of room temperature ingredients.
- Bundt Pan: This cake batter will fit in a 10-12 cup bundt pan, but I’m unsure of the exact bake time. Use a toothpick to test for doneness.
- Here are my pistachio cupcakes!
Keywords: pistachio cake
This recipe is phenomenal!!!! I had a request from a workmate to make a pistachio cake, something I’ve never done. Everyone loved this so much that i’ve gotten requests for it even after I left the department. Your instructions and hints are on point and never left me guessing about anything and helped this amateur baker be successful. Thank you so much for sharing.
★★★★★
I brought this wonderful cake to a friends house and was told it was restaurant worthy
It was absolutely delicious……had to use lightly salted pistachios but I don’t think it made a difference. Thank you. My friend said it was restaurant worthy
Hi Sally, the ingredients list says “roasted or raw (not roasted)”. Could you please update to clarify? Thanks!
Hi Kristen, you can use roasted or unroasted pistachios for this cake.
My family’s favorite! Could I enhance by using brown butter in the cake?
★★★★★
Hi Nav, we’re so glad this is a favorite for your family! We haven’t tested a brown butter version of this cake, but that *should* work just fine. Be sure to account for moisture loss (more on that here) by starting with a bit more butter than needed. You’ll want to let the browned butter completely cool and solidify again so that it can be creamed together with the sugar. Or, you might enjoy topping this cake with our brown butter cream cheese frosting for that brown butter taste. Let us know if you give it a try!
I love the recipe but i may have overcooked it? because the cake was really grainy? sand—like texture vs silky moist texture. is there anyway i can avoid it the next time i make it?
Hi Trae, if the texture was dry and grainy, it sounds like the cake was likely over baked. For next time, try removing it from the oven a minute or two earlier and use a toothpick to test for doneness. This post on how to prevent dry and dense cakes will also be a helpful resource. Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try!
I made this for a dinner party and it was a huge hit! It was so light and really tastes like pistachios. Thank you for creating such a unique and tasty recipe!
★★★★★
Hi Sally! I’m excited to make this cake:) was just wondering if I could use 3 8” pans instead of the 9” pans ? Thank you
Hi Aileen, You can use the recipe as written for 8 inch cakes, the bake time will be a little longer for thicker cakes.
I made this for a dear friend’s birthday and everybody loved it SO much! It brought so much joy! Thank you very much!
★★★★★
So happy to read this!
hi sally, i have actual pistachio flour (no crumbs), can i sub that out for the cake flour and then continue on with the shelled pistachios as you suggest (in food processor) for the texture? i’d love to have the “pistachio punch” cake flavor.
also, would adding the whole eggs instead of egg whites only compromise the cake? i realize this might make the cake a bit denser which i’m fine with.
last question…do you think the cake would need a little bit of simple syrup with it being a little denser with whole egg addition?
thank you 😉
Hi Sonny, we haven’t tested this cake with pistachio flour, but we’d recommend sticking with cake flour for best results. It may not be a 1:1 swap with the cake flour, and the texture of the cake will be different. Only using egg whites ensures that the crumb is not weighed down by the fat in egg yolks. We don’t suggest substituting whole eggs. You can certainly feel free to add a simple syrup if desired.
This is the most wonderful cake, so moist, so light and so much flavour. Thank you so much!
I will be making this over and over again I am sure.
I baked this cake yesterday and the texture was really good even though I used All-purpose flour instead of Cake flour. I also reduced the sugar by 100g, meaning I only used 250g of sugar for the cake… it is still quite sweet and did not result in a dry crumb. For the cream cheese frosting, I also reduced the powdered sugar by about 50g and added 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice to give it a little more tang and cut down on the sugary taste. All in, it was a very successful 1st attempt and I must add that this recipe is quite forgiving. I baked in 2 8-inch round pan and ended up baking them at 175C for around 29 minutes. Thank you for sharing this great recipe!
★★★★★
I would like to use a pistachio paste. If I do how much of it can I add in this recipe and should I omit the vanilla extract and keep the almond extract? Any suggestions? Thank you.
Hi Karel, we haven’t tested this recipe with pistachio paste. You can try adding about 1/2 cup to the batter and leaving out the ground/chopped pistachios. Let us know if you try it!
Hello! Do you think this would work as a 2 or 3 tiered cake for a wedding?
Hi Erika! With proper support from cake dowels (like we do for homemade wedding cake), this should work well as a small tiered cake.
Don’t add a so much milk !!!!!!! It’s very big mistake!!!!!! my cakes have become very liquid
Hi Sally, my cake doesn’t hold together. Not sure where I go wrong. What can it be pls.
Hi Celina, how is the texture of the cake? Does it seem especially dry? If so, it’s possible that the cake was a bit overbaked, or that that flour was overmeasured. Here’s more on how to properly measure baking ingredients (spooning and leveling flour is key!) and how to prevent a dry and dense cake–both will be helpful resources. Thank you for giving this one a try!