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!
I’ve made several SB cakes with great success, and for some reason or another, this one just didn’t turn out. The batter seemed especially thick, and when I popped them out of the pans, they were quite thin. I retraced my steps and made sure I followed it to a tee. The flavor was nice, but the whole cake was only 3.5 inches high and rather dense. Not sure what went wrong.
I would like to make this for Easter, but our family always uses a lamb shaped mold. Do you think this would be appropriate? Once decorated, the cake needs to be sturdy enough to hold the cake upright. I think we would be decorating with a Swiss meringue buttercream not cream cheese.
Hi Virginia, we haven’t tested this particular cake in a lamb mold, so we’re unsure exactly how well it would work. This cake is on the more delicate side, so you may have better luck using a vanilla cake instead. Let us know if you decide to try it!
Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. I am a stubborn gal. I don’t want vanilla or chocolate., I want pistachio. So i discussed with my child(who is more in charge of cakes usually) and we changed the cake flour to AP flour and did a test run. I am glad to report that the cake can be baked in a lamb mold, after laying flat. All night I stood the cake up and the head stayed on. I have frosted with Italian meringue buttercream and we will see if the head stays on until after dinner. 😀
P.s. there is always left over batter and I baked it in a pie tin(i was tired last night) and I dug into it right away. Everyone liked it warm, no frosting. This morning i added the frosting and like it even more!
I love this recipe! It would be great to know the calories and nutrient information for this as I’m on a calorie deficit diet!
Hi Jane, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
I made this for St Patricks day dinner. I did use a bundt pan. You noted that you did not know how long it would take, it took 50 minutes to bake. My family loved the flavor. I am not fond of cream cheese frosting, so I made a smal batch of buttercream and added a package of pistachio pudding to frost the cake..
I’d love to make this recipe for a party in a couple of weeks but have someone coming who is allergic to dairy. I think I’ve got the frosting sorted out, but any suggestions for replacements on the dairy in the batter? I’m thinking oat milk and Earth’s spread for the butter, but what about the sour cream? Maybe a bit more oat milk and a little lemon? Would love to hear anyone’s experiences here.
We haven’t tested a dairy-free and gluten-free version of this cake, so we’re unsure of the results. You can try those substitutions for a dairy-free butter alternative (do not use margarine) or even solid coconut oil. If you give it a try, we’d love to know how it works for you!
I make this recipe every year for Saint Patrick’s day. It’s always a hit.
I made this for my husband’s birthday today and it is fantastic! I did make one very important change that I think helped with the flavor and texture immensely. Instead of processing the pistachios in a food processor, I used a nut mill to grind the pistachios. The resulting nut meal was a gorgeous green color that remained even after baking. And the crumb of the cake was incredible! If you bake with nuts with any regularity, a German style nut mill is a must for your kitchen!
hi sally! some quick questions…
1) if i wanted to add more texture, do u think i should leave the pistachio pieces larger or add crushed pistachios between layers?
2) i wanted to do this with a raspberry rose jam and rose or white chocolate cream cheese frosting. do you think that would taste good?
3) will it stay moist if left in the fridge for a day?
Hi Shreya! We would still use ground pistachio crumbs in the cake, but you could additional larger pieces of pistachios to the batter for more texture. Layering them in with the frosting could work too. All of those flavor combinations sound lovely! If making the cake 1 day in advance, we would store it at room temperature. Store in the fridge after that.
thank you so much’nn
Can’t I bake this in a loaf pan can I use cake flour as well
Hi Greg, this is too much batter as written for a loaf pan. Here’s everything you need to know about scaling for other cake pan sizes and conversions. This recipe calls for cake flour.
I want to make this for St. Patrick’s day. Would it work out okay if I use the full egg and not just the whites?
Hi S.B., 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.
I am a HUGE fan. Everything I’ve baked so far has turned out until this cake. My layers collapsed on one side, they are very thin layers. I bake often and have never experienced layers being so flat on one side of pan. And when I say thin, I mean an inch. Is this correct? Three 9” rounds
Hi Claire, do you mean that the cake layers baked lopsided and one side is lower than the other? I can’t imagine how that would happen, unless the bottoms of the pans were uneven or the oven racks were uneven. If you try the recipe again, you can divide the batter into 3 8-inch round pans. That promises thicker layers. And then the bake time may be an extra minute or 2.
This cake is my new favorite! The flavors are amazing.
I made this cake as two round pans. After refrigerating, I cut each layer in half. I just put a very little layer of whip cream cream cheese frosting, essentially torted into layers. I decorated it with blackberries but cut some in half and left some whole on top of the pistascio bits along the edge. The blackberries shows the blue and the red against backdrop color of the pistaschio it makes it so pretty like Sally’s. Then I cut more blackberries, with the bumpy part facing out, to stand against all along the bottom of the cake. If framed it out nicely. And I like how the berries taste so well with the cake! I too only put a little food coloring. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Very excited to try this!! I just wanted to know if I should cut the ingredients in half for a making sheet cake? LMK 🙂
Hi EB, To bake in a 9×13-inch pan: Simply pour the batter into a greased and lightly floured 9×13-inch pan and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Same ingredient amounts. And here’s everything you need to know about converting to other cake pan sizes. Hope you enjoy the cake!