I've made this lemon pistachio cake two years in a row for Easter, as well as for another special occasion, and it’s always a crowd-pleaser. After two years, it's become my go-to dessert for Easter dinner. The cake is light, delicious, and topped with a creamy, homemade mascarpone frosting. For someone that isn't a great baker, I also found this recipe very easy to make! I used slightly different ingredients, but the original recipe is from Indira Hampton from withspice.com
Yields: 10 slices
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes
Cake Ingredients
- 3/4 cup pistachios, plus about 1/2 cup extra chopped pistachios for topping
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 1.5 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 eggs
Frosting Ingredients
- 3/4 cup mascarpone, softened
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
- 1 tsp grated lemon zest
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°
- Grease cake pan or line with parchment paper
- Place 3/4 cups of pistachios and lemon zest into a food processor and pulse until finely ground
- Transfer the pistachio mixture into a medium bowl
- Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda to the pistachio mixture. Whisk to combine and set to the side
- In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, vanilla and milk
- Using a stand mixer or a whisk, mix together the cream, butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs to the mixing bow and mix until fully incorporated
- Add the dry ingredients into the bowl and mix well
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan
- Bake 30-35 minutes
- Cool for at least 20-30 minutes before frosting
- For the frosting: combine all of the frosting ingredients into a medium bowl and mix together
- Frost the top of the cake and sprinkle the remaining chopped pistachios on for decoration