Pistachio Cake with Honey Buttercream
I wanted to thank LorAnn for sponsoring this Pistachio Cake with Honey Buttercream post! As always, all opinions and ideas are 100% my own.
This Pistachio Cake with honey buttercream is moist, soft, and so flavourful with it’s perfect pairing of honey and pistachios! It features a soft and moist cake that is infused with ground pistachios and LorAnn Oil’s brand new Pistachio Bakery Emulsion – creating a cake that is filled with so much pistachio flavor! Topped with a light and fluffy honey buttercream!
HOW TO MAKE THE Pistachio cake
1. Grind pistachios: Place the pistachios in a food processor and process until finely ground. Be careful not to over-process though – the pistachios will turn into a paste, which we don’t want!
2. Beat eggs and sugar: Add the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and LorAnn Pistachio Bakery Emulsion, to your stand mixer, then beat them together for about 3-4 minutes. By the end, it should be fluffy, and be tripled in volume.
3. Add oil: Turn the stand mixer down to medium speed, then slowly drizzle the oil into the stand mixer while it continues to beat. After all the oil has been added, beat the mixture for another 30 seconds.
4. Whisk together the dry ingredients: In a separate mixing bowl, add the flour, ground pistachios, baking powder, and salt, then whisk them together to combine.
5. Alternate add the dry & wet to stand mixer: First add the 1/3 of the dry ingredients, then beat until just combined. Add ½ of the buttermilk and beat until just combined. Continue adding the wet & dry in this order, until all of the ingredients have been added (you’ll finish with the dry).
6. Add to pan & bake: Pour the Pistachio Cake batter into a prepared cake pan, then place into the oven to bake! When done, allow the Pistachio Cake to cool completely before frosting!
SUBSTITUTING FLOUR WITH GROUND PISTACHIOS
Did you know that you can substitute up to 50% of a cake’s flour with ground nuts without compromising the structure of the cake? As such, I developed this pistachio cake recipe, using my basic vanilla cake recipe, by substituting 1/3 of the flour with the ground pistachios. This would ensure the cake still had excellent structure, while adding that amazing nutty pistachio flavor. Furthermore, substituting ground nuts, such as the pistachios in this recipe, also makes the cake more tender (due to less gluten) and more moist (from the fat in the nuts)! It’s a win-win if you ask me!
What is LorAnn Bakery Emulsion?
I’ve been a long-time fan of LorAnn products! Specifically, I’ve always had a special place in my heart for their Pistachio Oil flavour! The flavour was unmatched and truly tasted lie pistachios – really upgrading any pistachio flavoured baked good! They recently developed a new pistachio-flavoured bakery emulsion! Bakery emulsions are similar to tradition extracts, such as vanilla, however they are water-based, rather than alcohol-based, meaning that no flavour is cooked off during the baking process! Your end result will be an incredibly flavourful treat!
Get the Recipe: Pistachio Cake with Honey Buttercream
Ingredients
Pistachio Cake
- 3/4 cup (110g) Shelled, Raw, Unsalted Pistachios
- 1 ¾ cups (210g) All Purpose Flour
- 1 ½ tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Table Salt
- 1 ½ cups (300g) White Sugar
- 3 Large Eggs
- 1 ½ tsp LorAnn Pistachio Bakery Emulsion
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 3/4 cup (162g) Vegetable Oil
- 1 cup (240g) Full-Fat Buttermilk
Honey Buttercream
- 1 cup (227g) Unsalted Butter,, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (100g) Confectioners Sugar
- 1/2 cup (170g) Liquid Honey
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Equipment
- Stand mixer
Instructions
Pistachio Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F, and prepare a 9” springform cake pan by coating with baking spray and parchment. Add pistachios to a food processor and pulse until the pistachios are well-ground and fine in texture (don’t over process as pistachios will eventually turn into a paste).
- In a medium to large sized mixing bowl, add the ground pistachios, flour, baking powder and salt, then whisk together to combine.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the eggs, sugar, LorAnn Pistachio Bakery Emulsion and vanilla. Beat on high for around 3-5 minutes – the mixture should look thick, fluffy, and be tripled in volume. Then, slowly drizzle in the oil. After all the oil has been added, beat for an additional minute.
- On low, add the dry mixture to the stand mixer in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk in between. Beat only until the batter becomes smooth. Add the batter to the prepared pan, then bake in the oven for around 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow cake to cool completely before frosting.
Honey Buttercream
- Add butter to a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high until butter is doubled in volume, and looks light and fluffy.
- Turn the stand mixer to low and slowly add the confectioners sugar. Beat until completely incorporated, then add in the honey and vanilla. Beat on high until very well-incorporated and fluffy.
- Dollop on top of cooled cake and smooth out with a spatula
Hello, this cake recipe looks amazing, and I would love to make it tomorrow, but I can’t get the pistachio emulsion until next week. Can I make this cake without it? How much flavor would be compromised without it?
Hi! It adds a ton of flavour, and unfortunately without it you won’t get that strong pistachio taste. If you were looking to make it now, try use almond extract instead! It’ll give a similar nutty flavour like the pistachio!