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close up on a slice of vegan pistachio cake on a white plate with a bite missing.
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5 stars (10 ratings)

Vegan Pistachio Cake

This moist and fluffy Vegan Pistachio Cake has delicate nutty flavors from real pistachios! Decorated with a silky smooth vegan pistachio buttercream, it’s a show-stopping dessert that’s perfect for spring.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Chilling time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 55 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 502kcal
Author: Nora Taylor

Ingredients

Pistachio Cake

  • 1 1/2 cups unsweetened soy milk
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup vegan yogurt plain or vanilla
  • 1 cup melted vegan butter
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 cup roasted salted pistachios shelled
  • 3 cups cake flour*
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • optional few drops green food coloring

Pistachio Buttercream

  • 1 cup vegan butter softened to room temperature
  • 1/4 cup pistachio butter*
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons vegan cream or plant milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • chopped pistachios for decorating cake
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preparation

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F place the rack in the middle of the oven.
  • Grease 3 8-inch round cake pans with oil or vegan butter. Place a round of parchment paper on the bottom for easy removal later.

Make the cakes

  • In a large bowl, combine the soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Give it a little stir, then let sit for 1 minute to curdle. Now add the sugar, yogurt, melted vegan butter, vanilla and almond extracts and whisk well to combine.
  • In a food processor, add the pistachios and process until fine and crumbly, but don't let it get pasty like pistachio butter!
  • To the wet ingredients, add the pistachio crumbs, cake flour, baking powder and salt. Stir with a large spoon until combined, but don't over mix the batter. If desired, mix in a few drops of green food coloring.
  • Divide the batter evenly into the pans and bake in the center rack of the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  • Let the cakes cool for 15 minutes in the pans, then carefully transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

Make the frosting and decorate

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a large bowl with a handheld mixer, beat the butter until smooth, about 2 minutes.
  • Add the pistachio butter and 1 cup of the powdered sugar and mix on low speed. Continue adding a cup of powdered sugar at a time until it's all mixed in.
  • Add the cream (or milk) and vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed for 3-4 minutes, until everything is well combined and smooth.
  • If the frosting seems too thick, add a little more cream. If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar.
  • Place one cake layer on a cake stand and frost, followed by the next two layers. Finally, frost the top and sides of the cake and decorate, as desired with chopped pistachios.

Notes

  1. You can use all purpose flour instead of cake flour, but the cake will be more dense. You can also make your own cake flour if you can't find any. Gluten free flour may work, but results will vary.
  2. To make pistachio butter, simply place 1 1/2 cups of pistachios in a food processor and process until a butter is formed. You can also leave it out, or use my Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting instead.

Nutrition

Serving: 1of 16 servings | Calories: 502kcal | Carbohydrates: 66g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Sodium: 275mg | Potassium: 236mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 46g | Vitamin A: 1166IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 95mg | Iron: 1mg