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A beautiful golden brown Pistachio Bundt Cake with Pistachio Ganache on a wooden serving board.
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Pistachio Bundt Cake

This Pistachio Bundt Cake is soft, moist, and full of real pistachio flavor thanks to pistachio flour and pistachio cream in the batter. The cake is brushed with a light almond syrup while warm and finished with a silky pistachio white chocolate ganache and chopped pistachios.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword bundt, bundt cake, pistachio, pistachio bundt cake
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Cool Time 2 hours
Total Time 3 hours 30 minutes
Servings 14 slices
Calories 420kcal
Author Camila Hurst

Ingredients

  • 2¾ cups all-purpose flour 330g
  • ¾ cup pistachio flour, read notes 90g
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ¾ tsp salt
  • ¾ cup neutral oil 165g
  • 1¾ cups granulated sugar 350g
  • 4 large eggs, room temperature
  • ¾ cup sour cream, room temperature 180g
  • ¾ cup milk, room temperature 180ml
  • ⅓ cup pistachio cream or pistachio paste or pistachio paste, 100g
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp almond extract

Pistachio Ganache

  • ¾ cup chopped white chocolate 127g
  • ¼ cup heavy cream 60ml
  • 3 tbsp pistachio cream 45g

Sugar Syrup

  • 100 g water scant ½ cup
  • 100 g sugar ½ cup
  • ½ tsp almond extract

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). For convection oven, use 325°F (163°C)
  • Grease a 12-cup Bundt pan with butter, then dust with flour. If the pan has crevices, make sure to grease them well. Tap the pan to shake off the excess.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, pistachio flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Set aside.
  • In another bowl, add the eggs, sour cream, milk, oil, pistachio cream, almond, and vanilla extract. Whisk until combined.
  • Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and fold with a spatula until the batter is smooth.
  • Pour the batter into the bundt pan and bake the cake in the preheated oven for about 55-75 minutes. Baking time depends on your oven. Bake until the cake is deeply golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes off clean. Make sure to test in a few different spots. If in doubt, let the cake bake for another five minutes. This cake is very moist and should not be under baked.
  • While the cake bakes, make the syrup so it has a chance to cool down.

Sugar Syrup (Optional)

  • In a small saucepan, combine the water, sugar, and almond. Stir and bring to a boil, just until the sugar dissolves. Turn the heat off and let the syrup cool down for at least 10 minutes.
  • Once you remove the cake from the oven, let it cool down for 5 minutes. Prick the top of the cake with a fork.
  • Pour the syrup over the cake. It’s okay if it goes down the sides, because it will form a delicious caramelized sugary crust on the cake.
  • Let the cake cool down completely as you prep the ganache.

Pistachio Ganache

  • Make the ganache about one hour before frosting the cake. Place the chopped white chocolate in a bowl. Heat the heavy cream until hot, then pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for about a minute before whisking until smooth.
  • Add the pistachio cream and mix until combined.
  • You can make the ganache ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for up to 1 week. Let it come to room temperature, or microwave gently to make it softer and drippier again. Or just use it once the cake is ready.
  • After spreading the ganache over the cake, sprinkle chopped pistachios, or pistachio flour on top to decorate!

Notes

Bundt pan size: You can use a smaller bundt pan, but don’t fill it all the way. Fill the pan about ⅔ of the way. You can bake the leftover batter in cupcake tins or greased ramekins.
Pistachio Flour: Make pistachio flour by processing the pistachios in a food processor. Process the shelled pistachios for a few seconds, sift, and return whatever didn’t go through the sifter to the food processor and process again. Keep repeating this until you end up with fine flour. It’s better to do it this way, in stages, rather than just keep processing all the nuts together for a long time, because this may cause the flour to start releasing oils and turn into butter.
Pistachio Cream: I used sweetened pistachio cream instead of paste. Pistachio paste will work well, but the cream tastes delicious and already provides some sweetness. The difference shouldn’t be so noticeable that you have to add more sugar to the cake if using unsweetened paste instead of cream. Ultimately, it’s a matter of preference.
Syrup: The syrup is optional. It adds a nutty taste and some moisture to the cake. The cake is already pretty moist, so if you don’t like your cake to be extra moist, skip the syrup.
White Chocolate: Make sure to use good-quality white chocolate for the ganache, with at least 20% cocoa butter. I buy the white chocolate Lindt bars. Avoid using white baking chips since those aren’t often real white chocolate because they don’t contain 20% cocoa butter, so they end up seizing or messing up your ganache.
Sour Cream: Feel free to use Greek yogurt instead.
Almond extract: It’s very common in the food industry to use almond extract in pistachio bakes due to the similar flavor profile, and it can elevate the pistachio taste. Feel free to adjust the amounts to add more or less—according to your preference.
Gluten-free flour: Gluten-free flour may be used, but I’d skip the syrup if using a gluten-free flour blend.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 420kcal