This homemade pistachio cake has layers of raspberry filling and pistachio buttercream for a perfectly moist cake with all of the pistachio flavor.

Ingredients
- Shelled Pistachios – buy them preshelled to save time
- Pistachio Cream – if you don’t have pistachio cream pulse together 1/4 cup pistachios with oil in a food processor
- Sugar – granulated sugar for the cake and powdered sugar for the buttercream
- Flour – all purpose flour is great, if you want a ligher texture you can swap for cake flour
- Baking Powder – to help the cake rise
- Egg – to add structure ro the batter
- Salt – I always say salt makes baking better
- Olive Oil – we ditched the butter for olive oil for an extra moist cake
- Butter – for the buttercream
- Milk – can be dairy or nondairy.
- Vanilla Extract – for a slight warmth in flavor in the cake and buttercream
- Food Dye – OPTIONAL if you want the cake to have a more distinct green color
- Raspberry Jam – homemade or store bought

How to Make Pistachio Cake and Pistachio Buttercream
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease two or three 6” cake pans with butter, then dust with flour. Line the bottoms with parchment paper rounds. Set aside.
- Add the pistachios to a food processor or blender, and blend until finely ground.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the pistachios, flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the milk, olive oil, sugar and vanilla extracts until well combined. If you want a more pronounced green color to the cake add natural green food coloring.
- Add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet, gently fold until just combined.
- Divide the cake batter evenly among the two prepared cake pans. I divided between 2 cake pans and then cut the cakes in half after cooling. However, I could have divided the mixture into 3 cake pans and had better results.
- Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and set on a wire rack. Allow to cool for 30 minutes before removing cakes from the pans. I prefer to then wrap my cake layers in plastic wrap and freeze until completely cooled and slightly frozen. This helps make assembling easier!

Prepare the buttercream:
- Once ready to assemble, prepare the buttercream. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with a handheld mixer, beat the butter with the pistachio butter, until smooth.
- While mixing on low, add powdered sugar until fully combined. Then add the vanilla.
- Increase the speed to medium, and beat for about 5 minutes, until very light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Assemble:
- If needed and using a serrated knife, slice the top of one cake layer off to even. Or cut the cake layers in half for thinner layers.
- Place the cake layer cut side up on a cake stand or platter. Spread or pipe some of the buttercream in the middle, then pipe or spread some around the edges to create a border. Then, add a large spoonful of raspberry jam to the middle.
- Add the second cake layer on top (cut side down). If you are only doing 2 layers you can then decorate the cake as desired. Or continue this process until all layers are in place and then decorate the cake as desired.
- Cut and enjoy the cake!

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I would love to hear about your experience making and enjoying my Pistachio Raspberry Cake with Pistachio Buttercream! Feel free to tag me on Instagram or leave a review below. Your feedback helps me improve our recipes and provides inspiration to fellow home cooks.
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Pistachio Raspberry Cake with Pistachio Buttercream
This homemade pistachio cake has layers of raspberry filling and pistachio buttercream for a perfectly moist cake with all of the pistachio flavor.
Ingredients
Pistachio Cake:
- 1 cup shelled pistachios
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- all-natural green food dye optional
- 1/2 cup raspberry jam
Pistachio Buttercream:
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 cups butter at room temperature
- 1/4 cup pistachio cream or 1/4 cup pistachios pulsed with 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease two or three 6” cake pans with butter, then dust with flour. Line the bottoms with parchment paper rounds. Set aside.
- Add the pistachios to a food processor or blender, and blend until finely ground.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the pistachios, flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the milk, olive oil, sugar and vanilla extracts until well combined. If you want a more pronounced green color to the cake add natural green food coloring.
- Add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet, gently fold until just combined.
- Divide the cake batter evenly among the two prepared cake pans. I divided between 2 cake pans and then cut the cakes in half after cooling. However, I could have divided the mixture into 3 cake pans and had better results.
- Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and set on a wire rack. Allow to cool for 30 minutes before removing cakes from the pans. I prefer to then wrap my cake layers in plastic wrap and freeze until completely cooled and slightly frozen. This helps make assembling easier!
Prepare the buttercream:
- Once ready to assemble, prepare the buttercream. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with a handheld mixer, beat the butter with the pistachio butter, until smooth.
- While mixing on low, add powdered sugar until fully combined. Then add the vanilla.
- Increase the speed to medium, and beat for about 5 minutes, until very light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Assemble:
- If needed and using a serrated knife, slice the top of one cake layer off to even. Or cut the cake layers in half for thinner layers.
- Place the cake layer cut side up on a cake stand or platter. Spread or pipe some of the buttercream in the middle, then pipe or spread some around the edges to create a border. Then, add a large spoonful of raspberry jam to the middle.
- Add the second cake layer on top (cut side down). If you are only doing 2 layers you can then decorate the cake as desired. Or continue this process until all layers are in place and then decorate the cake as desired.
- Cut and enjoy the cake!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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