Easy Pistachio Cake Recipe From Scratch
This easy Pistachio Cake recipe requires just a few minutes of hands-on preparation time and 10 ingredients. Made from scratch with freshly ground pistachios, without artificial colors or cake mix.
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 291kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup pistachios, shelled, unsalted
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated white sugar
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 2 vanilla beans* (or 2 teaspoon vanilla extract)
- ½ cup milk
OPTIONAL: orange pistachio syrup
- ⅓ cup pistachios, roasted, shelled, salted
- ¼ cup granulated white sugar
- 1 large orange - zest and juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line the bottom and the sides of a 9" (23cm) springform pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Place pistachios in a food processor and pulse into fine crumbs. Don't grind too long. Otherwise, it turns into a paste. Transfer to a bowl and add flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl with a stand or handheld mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until creamy for about 2-3 minutes. Add 1 egg at the time and mix until incorporated. Add sour cream and vanilla* and stir to combine. Alternately add dry ingredients and milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Stir just until combined.
- Transfer to the prepared baking pan and bake for about 25-28 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to let cool completely.
- Orange pistachio syrup (OPTIONAL): In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, cook pistachios, sugar, orange juice, and orange zest until sugar is completely dissolved and syrup coats the back of a spoon, about 3-4 minutes.
- Pour syrup over cooled cake slices just before serving. Store leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days. Reheat leftover syrup to liquefy again, if necessary.
Notes
- Prepping the Vanilla Bean: First, cut off the straight end of the vanilla bean. Then place the tip of your knife below the curled end and cut the vanilla bean through the middle of the bean lengthwise with a sharp knife. Although you don't need to cut it all the way through, it's ok when you do so. Then open the vanilla bean and scrape out the flavorful seeds with the back of your knife. Just use the seeds.
- Don’t over-grind your pistachios. Grind just long enough to finely chop the pistachios. Too long and you will end up with a paste.
- Use the right pan. The timing for this recipe is based on using a 9 inch round cake pan. You can also use an 8" (20cm) pan but you will need to adjust the baking time to about 10 minutes longer as the cake will be a bit thicker.
- Make it a day ahead. I recommend making the cake a day before serving. as the flavor develops overnight when the cake is allowed to sit before serving. This makes it a delicious make-ahead cake.
Nutrition
Calories: 291kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 71mg | Sodium: 123mg | Potassium: 269mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 420IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 71mg | Iron: 1mg