Pistachio Cake with Raspberry Filling and French Buttercream

This tender pistachio cake is made with homemade pistachio paste (so easy you won’t ever buy it again) and layered with fresh raspberry reduction and a rich French buttercream that tastes like ice cream! Pistachio lovers go CRAZY for this cake!

If you’ve never had pistachio then you’ve got to give it a chance! It’s such a unique flavor. Rich, nutty, earthy, and very distinct. This cake doesn’t use any artificial pistachio flavor so it’s a great recipe to try if you want to experience true pistachio flavor. 

Ingredients

Pistachio butter: If you do not have pistachio butter on hand you can make your own using pistachios and oil! Keep scrolling and I will walk you through how to make your own pistachio butter. So easy and much cheaper than buying it!

Clear Jel: Clear Jel is a thickening agent that you will use to make the raspberry filling. If you do not have Clear Jel, then you can use cornstarch as a substitute. Cornstarch is stronger than Clear Jel. If you’re substituting Clear Jel with cornstarch, then you will cut the amount needed in half (e.g. 2 ounces Clear Jel = 1 ounce cornstarch).

How to Make Pistachio Cake

1. Prepare three 6” round cake pans with cake goop or another preferred pan spray. You can prepare round sheets with parchment paper if you're nervous about the cakes sticking.
2. Preheat your oven to 335ºF (168ºC).
3. First, in the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the dry ingredients. This includes flour, sugar, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Mix them to combine.
4. Then, in a separate bowl, combine the room temperature eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Whisk gently to combine and set aside.
5. Next, using a large measuring cup, combine the oil and the pistachio butter. It is ok if these don’t completely mix together. Ultimately, the mixer will do most of the work for you.
6. In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the egg and buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients while mixing on low speed. This is called the reverse creaming method, instead of creaming together the butter and sugar, we're adding the liquid ingredients after to create. a beautiful, velvety texture.
7. Once it has evenly combined into the dry ingredients and thoroughly moistened it, add in the oil and pistachio butter.
8. Fold in your chopped pistachios at the end.
9. Mix your cake batter on medium speed until the batter is fully incorporated and smooth. Scrape the bowl to ensure that all of the ingredients are combined.
10. Next, add in your desired amount of green food coloring to achieve the “pistachio color” you are wanting. I use one drop of avocado green. When you bake the batter, it will be slightly green but it tends to look more yellow if you do not use any green food coloring.
11. Divide the cake batter evenly into your prepared cake pans, and bake them at 335ºF (168ºC) for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out from the center cleanly. Add 5 more minutes at a time until the cake is finished baking.
12. Finally, cool your cakes for 10 minutes inside the cake pans before attempting to remove them from their pans onto a cooling rack. Freeze them for 1 hour before frosting.

How to Make Pistachio Butter

Don’t have pistachio butter on hand? No problem! You can make your own! 

Here is what you will need to make pistachio butter:

• 1 cup shelled pistachios (roasted or raw is fine)
• 1-2 tablespoons neutral oil (e.g. grapeseed)

How to make pistachio butter step-by-step:

1. In a food processor, add your pistachios with the chopping attachment. 
2. Begin blending and scrape as needed until they are pretty finely chopped.
3. Then, add in about 1-2 tablespoons of oil (grapeseed oil would work or another neutral oil) and blend it until you have a peanut butter texture. This will take anywhere from 7 to 10 minutes depending on your food processor. It will start to look like a dough ball at first, just scrape and keep mixing until it forms a butter.
4. As an optional step, add in 1-2 drops of food coloring. If you have roasted pistachios, neon green food coloring is best. If you have unroasted pistachios, avocado green food coloring is better. You can use whichever green food coloring you have, but if you want a recommendation I would suggest the Chef Master gel food coloring. Use code “SUGARGEEKTEN” to get 10% off your order!

Preparing the Raspberry Filling

1. First, combine the raspberries and sugar in a saucepan and bring them to a boil.
2. Then, use an immersion blender to make the filling smooth (or leave it chunky if you prefer). No need for red food coloring here unless your raspberries are dull in color.
3. In a separate container, combine your Clear Jel (or cornstarch) and water to make a slurry. Mix until smooth.
4. Then, pour it into the raspberry mixture and let it simmer until the mixture is clear and thickened.
5. Remove the raspberry filling from heat, and then stir in the lemon juice and zest.
6. Pour the filling into a heatproof bowl and cover with plastic wrap so it’s touching the surface of the filling to prevent skin from forming.
7. Finally, cool the raspberry filling entirely before using it. Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Making the French Buttercream

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the eggs and salt and whisk them until the yolks and whites are combined.
2. Then, add in your sugar and whisk it to combine. I do not recommend using powdered sugar for this.
3. Next, place the bowl over a water bath of simmering water over medium heat.
4. Periodically stir the eggs and watch them to ensure they do not heat unevenly. If you don’t occasionally stir and watch the eggs, they will likely cook on the side of the bowl. Another thing to look out for is the sugar can sink to the bottom of the bowl causing uneven heating. Store bought eggs come pre-pasteurized, so heating them to a particular temperature is unnecessary. However, you must have the sugar dissolved for the meringue to whip properly.
5. Once you don't feel any grains in between your fingers when you touch the egg mixture then the sugar is dissolved and is ready to whip.
6. Then, once the eggs and sugar are ready, move the bowl to your mixer and begin to whip them at high speed using your whip attachment.
7. After about 5-8 minutes, the meringue will almost double in size and form into firm (but not stiff) peaks. FYI: The addition of the egg yolks will keep the meringue from becoming stiff like an all-white meringue.
8. Once the meringue has cooled (feel the bowl with your hand), begin to add in your butter in chunks while mixing on low.
9. Then, after you add in all of your butter, whip the buttercream a few more minutes until the texture changes to a whipped cream-like texture. Once you have the right consistency, add in your vanilla extract. You can use the seeds of one vanilla bean in place of vanilla extract for an even better taste!
10. Stop whipping the buttercream when it does not have a strong butter flavor anymore, and it is light and creamy in texture. Switch to the paddle attachment.
11. While the paddle is mixing, add 2 oz of pistachio butter, and 1-2 drops of green food color to reach your desired color.
12. Allow the French buttercream to mix on low for about 5 minutes. Ultimately, this will push out the air bubbles to get you the most desirable texture.

Assembling the Pistachio Cake

This pistachio cake is simple enough that you do not need cake decorating experience. But, if you want to learn cake decorating basics, tools, and techniques, check out my blog post on how to decorate your first cake.

 

1. First, trim off the dome of your cake layers and the brown edges around the sides and bottom.
2. Place the first cake layer onto your cardboard cake round. Then, spread a thin layer of raspberry filling on top of the cake.
3. Next, spread on about ¼″ of your buttercream, and then add your next layer of cake.
4. Repeat this process with layer two, and then add your final layer of cake on top.
5. Cover the entire cake in a thin layer of buttercream. This is called the “crumb coat.”
6. Then, place your cake into the fridge or freezer for 20 minutes to set the buttercream layer.
7. Apply your final coat of buttercream and add a nice rustic finish with your offset spatula if you desire.
8. Next, scoop up a handful of chopped up pistachios and carefully press them into the buttercream around the bottom of your cake.
9. Sprinkle more chopped up pistachios on top of the cake in a circle around the edge.
10. Finally, as an optional step, pipe a few dollops of buttercream using a piping bag and a star tip and then place a few fresh raspberries on top. The reason you want to include pistachios and raspberries into your cake decoration is because you want someone to look at the cake and know what’s inside of it without having to cut into it!

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