Pistachio Cake with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting
I hadn’t noticed the blackberry bushes all over Seattle until my brothers’ recent visit. They rode Lime bikes to the Olympic Sculpture Park and did not make quick progress on their journey because there were so many berries to be had. We made our way through Discovery Park a day later and found paths lined with blackberries, at which time our “hike” turned into breakfast. The edges had been picked over and it got a little treacherous, at one point having to disconnect 3 separate parts of my shirt from thorny branches, but definitely worth it. Once you start looking, the blackberry bushes are all over the city! We passed a couple who were much more prepared and were berry picking with baskets near the Ballard Locks. I feel like such a rookie paying for them at the farmers’ markets! I should be heading out for walks with a few baskets in tow instead.
I would love to head out for berry picking, but the air quality in Seattle right now is almost apocalyptic. On my commute home from work, the sun was the most beautiful dark orange color that can only be achieved with terrible air quality. I was just home in the San Joaquin Valley and the air quality is far worse in Seattle. I never expected to see this haze moving from Central California to the PNW! There are warnings to stay indoors, wear masks when outside, and avoid strenuous activity outdoors due to smoke blowing in from fires in British Columbia, Oregon, and Eastern Washington. Between the poor air quality and recent ankle trauma from my trusty Allbirds, my outdoor activities have been limited at best. I’m getting antsy to get back to running, hiking, and ticking off the bucket list!
Most of my bucket list activities have been intentional, but I stumbled across the Fremont troll on my way to dinner over the weekend. Pretty incredible that he is holding an actual VW bug. I thought it was a stormtrooper at first…
But back to the blackberries and the point of this post. If I were to enter a baking competition, I think I might bake this cake. I made it originally for a group of my medical school friends during our Game of Thrones viewing parties, and it has gone down in history as one of my favorite cakes. It is subtle, not too sweet, and just different enough to still be a crowd-pleaser. The recipe uses 8-inch cake pans, which I only acquired once I moved to Seattle. I did a lot of math and a lot of googling and ended up making these cakes in 9 inch cake pans with thin layers. It can be done with success, but I’m sorry to say I don’t remember my baking time. I opted to keep the original frosting proportion and make a naked cake rather than increasing the amount of frosting to account for the increased surface area. It was the right choice, and I will likely frost in just the same way when I am making this in my new 8-inch cake pans.
I decorated my cake (as per the original recipe) with blackberries. I’m sure there are many potential substitutes depending on what is in season, but I love the visual appeal of the blackberries!
If you’re in a city not affected by wildfires the way we are on the West Coast, look out the window and enjoy your view of the blue sky. Then take a big deep breath and be grateful for your clean air. Take a moment to be thankful for the simple things, then make this cake.
- 1 cup roasted and salted pistachios
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup butter
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 whole egg
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 3 egg whites
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
- 6 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of three 8-inch cake pans with parchment. Lightly grease and dust sides with flour.
- In a large bowl, mix flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a food processor or blender, coarsely chop pistachios and add 2 tbsp to the dry ingredients. Blend remaining pistachios until a fine powder forms, then add to dry ingredients.
- In a separate bowl, whip butter for 2 minutes. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Mix in 1 egg and vanilla extract.
- In small batches, alternate adding the milk and dry ingredients to the butter. Mix completely after each addition, scraping down sides as needed.
- In a separate bowl, whip egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Fold the whipped egg whites into the batter until combined.
- Pour batter into your prepared cake pans and bake 28-32 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to finish cooling on wire rack.
- Mix sugar and flour together in a sauce pan and then whisk in milk and cream. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until thick and begins to boil (about 15 minutes start to finish, should be very thick).
- Pour into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap pressing it against the mixture, and place in the fridge until cool. If you place it in the fridge overnight, let it sit on the counter and comes to room temperature.
- Using a stand or hand mixer, beat on low speed. Add butter one tablespoon at a time and then cream cheese an ounce at a time. Increase speed and beat until smooth. Mix in the honey and vanilla until combined.
- Using a large serrated knife, cut off the top dome of cakes to make them flat.
- Place one cake round on a serving plate and then frost the top of it. Top with another cake round and frost again. Add the last cake round and then add a thin layer of frosting (crumb coat) to the top and sides of the cake. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes and then frost the cake with the remaining frosting (save some of the frosting in a piping bag if you wish to decorate with frosting). Garnish with extra frosting, pistachios, and/or berries as desired.
- Store cake in the fridge until ready to serve.