Pistachio cake

If you have never tried this before you HAVE TO. This cake came out rich and textured with the BEST smooth vanilla frosting! Its a high cake and will feed plenty!

I literally LOVE trying to make things ive never made before and this came out AMAZING. The pistachio and almond flavor is just what I imagined. I love pistachios, if it’s available as an ice cream flavor I ALWAYS get it. The texture is so good and I mean its healthy so why not. 😊

Im going to be honest and say that I thought I failed on the last step. My batter curdled a little bit and I almost threw it away but I still popped it in the oven and it came out amazing. I believe the milk and sour cream wasnt warm enough before I added it so make sure your ingredients are all room temperature and I am sure you wont have that problem. But Hey I still made it 😂

Ingredients

Cake

• 2 cups unsalted pistachios (out of shells)
• 2 1/3 cups sifted cake floyr
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup (1,5 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 5 egg whites, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 cup whole milk, room temperature

Vanilla frosting

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 8 oz cream cheese, block style, room temperature
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 cups powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease and lightly flour three 8 or 9 inch pans.
2. Make the cake: Pulse the pistachios in a food processor until ground up into very fine crumbs. You’ll need 1 and 1/2 cups of crumbs. Set aside the rest for garnish.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Beat in the egg whites on high speed until combined, about 2 minutes.
6. Beat in the sour cream, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed.
7. 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 mix just until combined.
8. Pour batter evenly into cake pans. Bake for around 21-23 minutes or until the cakes are baked through. To see if they are done, 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.

Frosting

1. Combine butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer (or you may use an electric mixer) and beat until creamy.
2. Add vanilla extract and salt and mix well
3. With mixer on low, gradually add powdered sugar until completely combined.
4. Ready to use.

Cake assembly

1. Put one layer of your cake on a plate and put one thick layer of frosting on top, spread evenly. ( you can cut the top of your cake if its uneven, I did not)
2. Second layer to the same.
3. Thirdlayer, spread the rest of your frosting out evenly around the whole cake and decorate with the rest of the pistachios and fresh fruit if you desire. READY to eat!
4. Store in fridge for up to 5 days!