Pistachio Cake

This mouth-watering 3-layer Pistachio Cake is made with real pistachios, fragrant vanilla and almond extracts, and a delicious cream cheese frosting. With a beautiful green hue and crushed pistachio garnish, it is the perfect cake for a festive Christmas celebration or St Patrick's Day party!

Ingredients

• ▢1¼ cups unsalted shelled pistachios finely ground (170g)
• ▢4½ cups cake flour (540g)
• ▢2¼ teaspoons baking powder
• ▢¾ teaspoons baking soda
• ▢1 teaspoon salt
• ▢1½ cups unsalted butter softened (340g)
• ▢2 cups granulated sugar (400g)
• ▢3 large eggs room temperature
• ▢1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢½ teaspoon almond extract
• ▢2 cups whole milk room temperature, (480ml)
• ▢3 to 6 drops green food coloring (optional)
• ▢Cream Cheese Frosting

Instructions

For the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray three 9-inch cake pans with nonstick baking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-low speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat in the vanilla and almond extract.

With the mixer on low speed, add the a third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture followed by half of the milk. Continue with another third of flour, the remaining milk, then the remaining flour. Stir in food coloring, if using, until the desired color is reached. Fold in the pistachios. Divide the batter among the prepared cake pans.

Bake for 25 minutes until the top is golden brown and the edges of the cake start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let the cakes cool in the pans for about 15 minutes before removing and cooling completely on a wire rack. Remove the parchment paper.

For the Assembly:

Place a cake layer on a cake plate. Top with 1 cup of Cream Cheese Frosting, and spread into an even layer to the edge of the cake. Repeat with another cake layer and frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread the remaining frosting on the tops and sides of the cake.

Garnish with additional finely chopped pistachios around the top and bottom edges of the cake. Keep the cake refrigerated until ready to serve. Keep any leftovers, loosely covered, in the fridge for up to 1 week.