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
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease and lightly flour three 8 or 9 inch pans.
- 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.
- 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 mix just until combined.
- 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
- Combine butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer (or you may use an electric mixer) and beat until creamy.
- Add vanilla extract and salt and mix well
- With mixer on low, gradually add powdered sugar until completely combined.
- Ready to use.
Cake assembly
- 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)
- Second layer to the same.
- 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!
- Store in fridge for up to 5 days!
