Pistachio Cake

The flavor of this Italian-style pistachio cake depends largely on the nuts, so first things first, make sure your pistachios are fresh. We highly recommend buying pistachios that are already removed from their shells to cut down on prep time (and to save your fingers from the pain of prying open four ounces of nuts). You can opt for raw pistachios or roasted ones here. Using raw nuts will give the cake a pretty, faintly green hue; roasted pistachios will give the cake a bolder pistachio flavor but a less striking appearance. The choice is yours.

You’ll blitz the nuts in a food processor, which is where we should stop to say, yes, if you have pistachio flour on hand, you can substitute it in this recipe by weight. (If you’re going this route, you can skip the food processor and simply whisk the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.) However, you will need either a hand or stand mixer to cream the butter and sugar together and finish mixing the cake batter.

The other big players here are cardamom and orange zest, complementing the pistachios with floral brightness. Want to boost the nuttiness even more? You can add about ⅛ tsp. of almond extract along with the vanilla. This simple dessert needs little adornment, but if you like, you can dust the cooled cake with a bit of powdered sugar or serve slices with a dollop of ice cream or freshly whipped cream.