Pistachio Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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After publishing this raspberry pistachio cake recipe a few years back (that you guys LOVED!) I wanted to revisit the recipe and see what other frosting flavors pair well with it. Turns out that pistachio cake and cream cheese frosting are a match made in cake heaven! The pistachio cake layers here are soft and moist with the perfect nutty flavor. The cream cheese frosting is silky smooth and adds a creamy richness to every slice. This is the perfect cake for Springtime, St. Patrick’s Day, the holiday season, and truly any special occasion! 

Pistachio Layer Cake Ingredients

To make this pistachio layer cake, you’ll need the following ingredients: 

• Unsalted pistachios. For the purest pistachio flavor, use raw or roasted pistachios (and always unsalted). 
• Cake flour. Since it has the lowest protein content of all baking flours, cake flour yields the softest and lightest texture. For best results, use store bought cake flour. If you can’t find it locally, you can make your own cake flour in a pinch. Just keep in mind that since homemade cake flour uses all purpose flour as a base, it will weigh slightly more than store bought cake flour (207g instead of 184g).
• Baking powder + baking soda. The leavening agents that make this cake rise. 
• Unsalted butter + vegetable oil. These are the base fats of the recipe. The butter adds richness both texture and flavorwise, while the oil makes it extra moist.
• Sugar. Not only sweetens the cake but is also responsible for the soft texture.
• Egg whites. I use only the egg whites in this recipe, which are perfect for keeping the cake light. You can substitute the four fresh egg whites for ½ cup of carton egg whites if you prefer. 
• Sour cream. This adds richness, tanginess, and tons of moisture. If you can’t find sour cream locally, you can substitute it for an equal amount of plain yogurt or creme fraiche.  
• Vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt. These all enhance the overall pistachio flavor.
• Whole milk. The liquid that brings the batter together. Whole milk has the highest fat (aside from buttermilk), and that’s what I recommend for the best texture.  
• Green food coloring. This is optional, but if you want the cake to be pistachio-colored, add a couple drops of green food coloring. Otherwise it will be off-white with specks of pistachio (which is not a bad look). 

The Best Pistachios for Pistachio Layer Cake

Finely ground pistachios are responsible for both flavoring the cake and adding structure to the crumb. The best kind of pistachios to use in this recipe are raw, unsalted pistachios that have been de-shelled. I recently tried this recipe with roasted unsalted pistachios and they worked great too. Either of those options will give this cake much better pistachio flavor than your average snacking pistachios, which tend to be salted.

You should be able to find raw unsalted pistachios and roasted unsalted pistachios either in the snack section or bulk section of your local grocery store. Natural grocery stores tend to carry the most options, but they can be on the spendy side. The best deals I’ve found are at Trader Joe’s ($5.99 for 8 Oz) and these pistachios on Amazon being a close second ($5.00 for 5 Oz).

Perfectly Silky & Thick Cream Cheese Buttercream 

The pistachio cake layers pair beautifully with tangy cream cheese buttercream. After many years of making cream cheese frosting, I have gathered a few tips and tricks to make it the perfect consistency for cake decorating – not too soft or runny, thick without having to add extra powdered sugar, and will pipe details like a dream. Here’s everything you need to know:

• Use full-fat brick-style cream cheese. It’s critical that you don’t use low-fat or spreadable cream cheese, as these variations contain way more water than the full-fat brick kind. That means your frosting will be extra soft, liquidy, and impossible to decorate with. I always use the Philadelphia brand, but feel free to experiment with other brands as long as they meet the general requirements. 
• Add extra stability if necessary. Powdered sugar provides structure and thickens cream cheese frosting, but I don’t like to use more than I have to. Instead, I prefer adding buttermilk powder, cornstarch, or meringue powder to add extra stability. This is a good step if you live in a hot/humid environment or simply prefer the frosting to be thicker. More on all of that in this post. 
• Use refrigeration. If you find that your kitchen environment is humid or the frosting is still a bit soft, pop it in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes, then re-mix it on low in your stand mixer. The butter in the recipe will solidify a little bit in the refrigerator, so the overall buttercream will feel a bit thicker and easier to work with afterwards.

To decorate, I filled and frosted this pistachio cake with cream cheese buttercream and created a smooth buttercream finish. Then, I tossed some ground pistachios at the cake while the frosting was still tacky and piped swirls on top using Wilton Tip 4B. 

Alternative Frostings for Pistachio Cake

If you don’t have access to brick-style cream cheese or simply want to pair this cake with a different frosting flavor, here are my recommendations. You’ll need a double batch of any of these frostings:

• Vanilla Buttercream
• White Chocolate Buttercream
• Raspberry Buttercream
• Strawberry Buttercream
• Mascarpone Frosting 
• Lemon Buttercream
• Chocolate Buttercream

Whatever frosting pairing you end up using, I hope you love this pistachio cake as much as I do! Let me know if you make it in the comments below (be sure to leave a star rating!) and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram to show me if you post a photo. I love to see what you create with my recipes!