Light and airy cake bursting with nutty pistachio flavor. Its made with pistachio pudding and pistachio flour and filled with orange curd and covered in a honey mascarpone frosting. Its one of my most requested cakes.

   
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Orange Pistachio Cake Recipe

It's Pistachio Day! So I thought I'd share one my most popular cakes, orange pistachio cake with honey mascarpone frosting. I came up with this recipe about a year ago. I took over the friends house for a party. It quickly became one of my most requested cakes. 

What You Need For This Recipe

  • Cake Flour
  • Pistachios 
  • Pistachio Instant Pudding
  • Sugar
  • Butter
  • Vegetable
  • Eggs
  • Vanilla
  • Cream Tartar
  • Oranges
  • Lemon
  • Mascarpone
  • Heavy Whipping Cream
  • Honey
  • Vanilla
  • Salt

How To Make Orange Pistachio Cake

This cake is a pistachio lovers dream. I use homemade pistachio flour (see notes on how to make this) and pistachio instant pudding to up the flavor and add moisture. 

Whipped egg whites give this cake light airy crumb. When working with egg whites, be sure the bowls and utensils are oil free. Also make sure not to get any egg yolk into the white when separating them. All of this will prevent your egg whites from creating peaks. Here's a  video showing you how to whip egg whites and explaining the different peak stages.



The pistachio and orange curd pair perfectly together. Curds can be tricky especially if you've never made them before. But don't fear. It's super easy once you get the hang of it. The main source of concern is scrambling the eggs. If this happens simply strain the crud through a fine mesh sieve. 

The cake is topped off in mascarpone frosting sweetened with honey. Mascarpone is similar to cream cheese but with more mild flavor. It's also softer than cream cheese so there is no need to bring it to room temperature. 



Tips On How To Make This Recipe

  • Pistachio flour is pretty hard to find and quite expensive. However you can make your own by placing roasted pistachios in blender or food processor  and pulse into a fine flour. 
  • Try to get lightly salted or salt free pistachios. If your pistachios are salted omit the salt from the recipe.
  • Save the 2  remaining yolks leftover from the cake recipe for the orange curd.