pistachio butter layer cake with lemon cream cheese icing

pistachio butter layer cake with lemon cream cheese icing

• 9 Mar 2025

My next door neighbour turned 11 last week and I promised that I'd make her a birthday cake. A kind work friend sourced a very large bottle of pistachio cream a few months ago and it has been lurking in my cupboard ever since. The pistachio cream is a key ingredient in the Skye Mcalpine cake I made a few years ago,  however I couldn't find any pistachio cream at the time so I used the home made version. 

Armed with my very large jar of pistachio cream I remade the cake and decided to make it into a layer cake. As it was going to be a birthday cake, I wanted it to look a little bit fancy. I made the cake on Friday but didn't ice it until Sunday. I was a bit worried that the cake might have dried out a little, so at the last minute I made a lemon soak which I brushed over each cake layer. I then sandwiched the cake layers together with my favourite Natalie Paull lemon flavoured fluffy cream cheese icing and I piped the rest onto the top of the cake. Piping isn't my forte but a sprinkle of chopped pistachios covered up the wonky bits.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 17cm cake. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Cake
125g caster sugar 
125g unsalted butter, softened 
1 tsp vanilla extract 
pinch salt 
120g pistachio cream
100g plain yoghurt
2 large eggs 
150g self-raising flour

Lemon soak (Optional)

30mls water

30mls lemon juice

2 tbs caster sugar

Tiff’s Zingy lemon stuff (makes 150g)
2 small lemons
2 tbs (40ml) water 

Lemon cream cheese icing
150g full fat softened cream cheese
150g squidgy soft unsalted butter 
pinch salt
50g yoghurt powder or dried milk powder
175g icing sugar
55g Tiff’s lemon zingy stuff

To decorate
A handful of coarsely chopped pistachios
 

Cake
Heat the oven to 180°C, conventional. Grease, flour and line the base of a 17cm round tin with baking paper. Set to one side.

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the caster sugar, butter and vanilla and mix on a low speed until light and creamy.  Add the pistachio cream and a generous pinch of salt, and beat until smooth. Slowly beat in the yoghurt and eggs until well combined. Sift in the flour and mix until you have a smooth batter.

Pour the batter into the tin and level the top with an offset spatula. Bake on the centre rack of the preheated 180°C, conventional oven for 45 minutes, then cover with a sheet of foil and bake for a further 10-15 minutes or until the cake is lightly golden on top and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle. Place the cake on a cooling rack and cool for 10 minutes before unmoulding from the tin. Allow the cake to cool completely before decorating. 

Lemon soak

Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Take off the heat and cool a little before using.

Tiff’s Zingy lemon stuff (makes 150g)

Juice one lemon and place the juice in a non-reactive saucepan with the water. Trim the stalk end off the other lemon, halve it, and remove any visible seeds, then slice into thin half-moons and add to the lemon juice in the saucepan. Cover the saucepan with a lid and simmer over a low heat until all the pith is translucent. Take care the lemon doesn't catch any colour as it simmers. You can also use the microwave - cover with a lid and zap for 3 - 5 minutes on high. Cool, then whiz to a paste in a small food processor. Scrape the paste into a small container, doing a final seed check, and chill.

Icing
Place the cream cheese, butter and yoghurt or milk powder and salt in the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Sift the icing sugar over the top. Beat with the paddle attachment for 10 minutes on speed 4 (below low) until pale, and fluffy. Store covered in the fridge until needed. If refrigerated, rewarm in the microwave in 20-second bursts until softened. Finish the icing by stirring in 55g of the zingy lemon stuff. 

To assemble
Once the cake has cooled, use a long serrated knife to slice horizontally through the centre of the cake. Use the loose bottom of a cake or tart tin to slide in between the layers and lift off the top layer. Slide the bottom layer off the cooling rack and on to a serving plate or cake stand. 

Using a pastry brush gently dab the cut surface of each cake layer with the lemon soak. Place one cake layer on a serving dish and spoon 3/4 cup of the icing over the first layer. Top with the second layer and either pipe or spoon the rest of the icing over the top of the cake using the back of a spoon to smooth it out, then sprinkle over a few chopped pistachios for decoration.

Store the decorated cake in a sealed container the refrigerator but let it stand for about 30 minutes to bring it to room temperature before serving.

We did a food swap on Sunday morning. In exchange for birthday cake, I received a still hot from the oven bagel from my neighbours. How was the cake? Absolutely delicious. I'm not sure if the lemon soak was necessary but it did add a little extra lemon flavoured goodness to the cake.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen. 

 

Bye for now, 

Jillian