Pistachio Pound Cake
This moist, tender Pistachio Pound Cake has amazing flavor and a fine crumb.
Servings: 15
Ingredients
- 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened (339g)
- 3 cups (600g) sugar
- 5 large eggs, room temperature (place in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes to speed up the process).
- 3 cups (342 g) cake flour (Not self rising. We use Swan's Down, bleached)
- ½ teaspoon (2)g baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
- 1⅓ cup (313g) buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract
- 2½ teaspoons (10g) Almond Extract
- 1 cup (130g) finely chopped/crushed pistachios (We used salted, dry roasted, shelled pistachios. If using unsalted you can add an additional ½ teaspoon salt to the recipe.)
Miscellaneous
- Additional crushed pistachios to sprinkle on top
Easy Glaze
- 2 cups confectioners sugar (measure then sift)
- 3 tablespoons milk (add additional as needed in small increments)
- pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract (adjust to your liking)
Instructions
- Grease and flour a tube pan. Preheat the oven to 325℉.
- Finely chop the shelled pistachios in a blender, or place them in a ziplock bag and crush with a rolling pin.
- In a separate bowl whisk the cake flour, baking powder, and salt to combine, set aside for later.
- Using an electric mixer (paddle attachment if using a stand mixer), cream the butter on medium speed until smooth. Next, gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, blending after each until the yolk is incorporated.
- Add the vanilla extract and almond extract to the 1 ⅓ cup of buttermilk.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk to the butter/sugar/egg mixture in the mixing bowl. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. I do three additions of dry, alternating with two additions of wet.
- Gently fold in the crushed pistachios.
- Scoop batter into prepared bundt pan.
- Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 1 hour and 5 minutes. The cake is done when the cake springs back when the top is lightly touched or until a toothpick comes out clean. *Baking times may vary. Start checking as the timer approaches 1 hour.
- This makes approximately 8 cups of batter.
- Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out.
Quick Glaze
- Combine ingredients, stirring until smooth. If it is too thick, add more. milk in small increments. If too thin, add additional confectioners sugar. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap until ready to use.
Decorating the Cake
- Once the cake has cooled, you can spoon the glaze over the cake, or for more control, you can spoon it into a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away. If you'd like, sprinkle with additional crushed pistachios.
Notes
Bundt Pan: Our bundt pan has a baking capacity of 12 cups and measures about 10 inches. If you are working with a smaller pan, it will take longer to bake. Be careful not to overfill. (General rule of thumb: don't fill pan past ⅔ full)
Freezing: This cake can be frozen. If working in advance, we like to tightly wrap our freshly baked cake in a layer of plastic wrap and foil while the cake is still a bit warm and pop in the freezer. The cake can be frozen for up to three months.
Thawing: Bundt cakes take longer to thaw than cake layers. It is best to move the frozen, wrapped cake to the refrigerator the night before, and then move to the kitchen counter the next morning (still wrapped) to continue thawing for a few hours. If you'd like, you can remove the foil after a condensation has formed.