I can’t change the direction of the wind , but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.
Jimmy Dean
If you saw my post last week about all my favourite cakes on the blog in the last five years , you will realise I tend to stick to flavors that I know and love. I usually steer away from some ingredients as I worry about them being universally liked and the people I bake for can be fussy ! And when the ingredients are hard to get or expensive , I am especially wary as I dont want to waste them in my trials and errors.( Yup, 5 years of baking and blogging and I still have plenty of crumbly cakes, too strong brownies or flat cookies . ) I have a jar of matcha lying in the fridge that I still haven’t dared to put into a batter yet . And the matcha can chill for a while longer as today I tried my hand at another green… pistachios !
Ok , so first things first. If like me you worry about trying recipes using new or expensive ingredients (I wont call myself cheap, just cost-efficient), then let me tell you . This 6 inch cake with pistachio buttercream has just 125 grams pistachios in total! And that is in the cake and buttercream together!
And wait, This cake has no added colour ! I have nothing strong against food colors but I’ll avoid them when I can , and most recipes that I came across for pistachio cake always had a drop or two of green . I know my cake is just a pale green but that’s plenty green for me !
You know what’s not pale , the flavour of the pistachios! Close your eyes and take a bite, you ll guess the flavour immediately. The nuttiness shines through. And the pistachio buttercream ? Possibly one of the best ones I have tasted yet.
The frosting is chocolate ganache because chocolate goes fab with chocolate (and because some of my old habits simply refuse to die hard !). You can skip the chocolate ganache . Go just with the buttercream for an unadulterated nutty profile. And the buttercream is Italian meringue buttercream , if you dont want to make it you can make a batch of the new buttercream or the ermine buttercream ( both dont have eggs ). Just mix in the pistachio paste in at the end !
Pistachio layer cake
Ingredients
For the pistachio cake
- 112 grams or 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 150 grams or 3/4 cup granulated or castor sugar
- 1/2 cup pistachio paste made from 125 grams or 1 cup pistachios
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 220 grams or 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour or maida
- 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt skip if using salted butter
- 120 ml or 1/2 cup milk at room temperature
For the pistachio italian meringue buttercream
- 2 egg whites at room temperature
- 112 grams or 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 75 grams or 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2-3 tbsp pistachio paste reserved from cake recipe
For the dark chocolate ganache
- 350 grams dark chocolate
- 200 ml or grams cream (i used 20 % fat)
Instructions
To prepare pistachio paste (for both cake and buttercream)
- Skin the pistachios and pulse in a mixer or food processor .
- Add water 1 teaspoon at a time, mix and pulse again. Repeat until a thick paste is formed . You may need only about 2 tablespoons water.
- The paste may be grainy (like crunchy peanut butter) . But it shouldnt have big chunks of nuts .
- Measure out 1/2 cup of this paste for the cake and reserve the rest for the buttercream.
To make the cake
- Preheat your oven to 160 C or 325 F. Butter a 6 inch round pan , cover the bottom with parchment paper and dust with flour.
- In a bowl , stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Keep aside
- In a large mixing bowl , beat the butter , 1/2 cup of the pistachio paste and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs , one by one and beat well after each addition
- Now add about 1/3 of the dry flour mixture , beat until incorporated , then half of the milk . Beat . Continue with another third of the flour , the remaining half of the milk and then the remaining flour – beating after each addition.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 42 to 50 minutes. The cake will be coming away from the sides of the pan , the top will spring back on pressing and a toothpick inserted in the centre will come out clean.
- Let cake cool in pan for five minutes , remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.
To make the ganache:
- Chop the chocolate as small and evenly as you can. Keep it in a bowl.
- Heat the cream in a saucepan until it simmers .
- Pour hot cream over the chocolate . Cover and rest for 2-3 minutes.
- Stir until all chocolate is melted and the ganache is smooth
- If there are small bits of unmelted chocolate , pour mixture back into saucepan and heat on low while stirring.
- Cover and keep aside
To make the pistachio italian meringue buttercream
- Chop the room temperature butter to roughly tablespoon sized cubes. Keep aside.
- Whip the egg whites , until you have stiff peaks. If you upturn the bowl, the whipped whites should not move.
- In a sauce pan with a handle , heat the sugar and water together . If you have a thermometer, let the sugar dissolve and let the sugar syrup cook till the temperature reaches between 235 F to 245 F. If you are not using a thermometer, let the sugar dissolve (you can swirl the pan or stir to help this ). Once the sugar dissolves, let the syrup cook undisturbed. Once you see bubbles, let it cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Start whipping the egg whites again once the syrup has been cooking for about 3 minutes.
- Pour the syrup into the egg whites (while beating) in a slow continuous stream. Pour closer to the edge of the bowl so the hot syrup doesnt touch the blades and splatter.
- Once all the syrup has been added , keep whipping until the outside of the bowl is cool to touch.
- Add the cubed butter, piece by piece while beating.
- Once all the butter has been added, whip until you get fluffy buttercream consistency. This may take 2-5 minutes depending on your mixer.
- Add a tablespoon of the pistachio paste (reserved from earlier) . Beat well.
- Now add pistachio paste , one teaspoon at a time and beat well. Taste after each addition. Continue this until you have the desired flavour and consistency
- Remember not to add too much at once . The buttercream will taste better but may lose its pipeable consistency. Keep the buttercream aside
To assemble the cake
- Slice the cooled cake into three horizontally .
- Place one layer of cake on a cake board or plate. Spread about 3 tablespoons of buttercream using a spatula. Then spread about 3 tablespoons of the ganache on top using a spatula to spread gently.
- Place another cake layer on top , press gently and repeat .
- Place the third cake layer on top and press gently. Using a spatula, spread the remaining buttercream on the top and sides of the cake. Smoothen it as much as possible.
- Chill the cake for 20 minutes.
- If your remaining ganache has set too hard , just stir to make it pourable . You can also heat it for a brief time on stove top or microwave. You want it thick and pourable but not totally loose. You can also leave the ganache set and cover the outsides of the cake using a spatula.
- Place the cake on a wire rack ( over a plate to collect drips) . Pour the ganache on top and let it flow freely over all the sides until fully covered. You can swirl the cake holding the rack but avoid using a spatula
- Let the ganache set and your cake is ready!
Notes
I know I know … that seems like a loooong one ! But trust me , its less work than it sounds , literally everything can be made ahead and chilled , and the result is sooooo worth the effort!
You know what else goes with Pistachio cake ? Rose buttercream! Book marked this recipe by Chelsweets for my next pairing with this cake .
I really regret not taking more pictures of this cake and taking better ones at that! But I just didn’t want to wait until I made it again before I shared it . So it is what it is !
Are there are any flavors you would like to see here . Do write in and let me know ! And also tell me if you are upto trying a matcha cake or have tried one before . Need a nudge for that one !