This pistachio cake is moist, light and packed full of flavor. Raw pistachios ensure the beautiful tint of color, and the icing is optional (although highly recommended)! Serve it with honey or whipped cream.
1 cup
room-temperature Whole Milk Greek Yogurt
(245 g)
1 Tbsp
grated Lemon Zest
(9 g)
1 tsp
Vanilla Extract
(6 g)
Lemon Glaze
1 ½ cups
Powdered Sugar
(195 g)
3 Tbsp
freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
(44 mL)
⅛ tsp
Rose Water, optional
Instructions
Cake
Place rack in the middle position in oven and heat to 350°F. Grease Bundt pan liberally with cooking spray or butter and set aside.
Place ¾ cup pistachios in a food processor. Pulse until finely ground, 30–60 seconds. (Do not overprocess, or pistachios will become a paste.) Reserve 1 tablespoon for topping the cake.
Place ground pistachios in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Sift flour, baking powder, cardamom and salt into the bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.
In another medium mixing bowl, add sugar, eggs, olive oil, yogurt, lemon zest and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
Slowly stream dry ingredients into wet ingredients, whisking until combined and smooth. Crush remaining ½ cup pistachios and fold them into the batter.
Spread batter evenly into prepared cake pan and place in oven. Bake for 50–60 minutes, or until cake is golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Transfer cake to a baking rack. Let cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto baking rack. If glazing the cake, glaze while still warm.
Lemon Glaze
Once cake has been removed from oven, make the glaze. In a small saucepan add powdered sugar, lemon juice and rose water. Place pan on a stove set to medium heat. Whisk until sugar is melted and mixture is smooth. Remove pan from heat and let cool for 5 minutes before glazing the cake.
Once cake has been removed from the bundt pan, glaze it immediately. Pour glaze over the top of the cake, moving quickly to coat the cake. Use a pastry brush to coat places the glaze missed.
Immediately sprinkle the reserved 1 tablespoon ground pistachios over the top of the glazed cake. Let glaze set for 20 minutes before slicing and serving.