Pistachio Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze

Today I am very glad and excited that my site is no longer a newbie. It’s bit difficult for me to digest the fact that I have been blogging for a year now. It feels like yesterday when I recall the excitement of initial days when I was wondering if I am right for this job and would be able to continue. Thanks to all of my friends who insisted me to start this food blog and still inspiring me. It’s been a nice journey with new learning experiences every day. Now I am totally hooked on food blogging, styling and photography, though it takes good amount of time from everyday life. I have lots of pending works to make this space beautiful, which I will hopefully finish soon. Let me sincerely thank all of you who visits, reads,  pins, tweets my post and regularly follow me and to my friends who still encourage me through their good words.  Finally big thanks to my hubby and my little one whose appreciation is my inspirations and help me to keep my passion alive.

To celebrate my blog's anniversary I made one simple and but bit uncommon cake, Pistachio Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze.  I got the idea of making this cake from Pinterest. This is a basic pound cake flavored with pistachios; the ground pistachios give the batter a very distinct flavor and a nice green tinge.  I have glazed the cake with cream cheese that makes the cake wonderfully moist. You can use the glaze as per your choice. Chocolate ganache or whipping fresh cream will also go well with this cake. I have tried those options too but it would more delicious when it is drizzled with cream cheese icing and sprinkled with chopped pistachios. My sister always complains that it’s so difficult to make any yummy cake from my blog, like the Black Forest Cake that I made last month. So I had a plan to post the recipe of something simple and no-fuss cake. I had some pistachios in my pantry since the Diwali time which I well utilized by making this cake.  

Recipe of Pistachio Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze : (for an 8 or 9 inch round cake)


Ingredients :

Flour : 3 cups
Salt : 1/2 teaspoon 
Baking powder : 2 teaspoon 

Butter : 2 sticks 

Sugar : 1 cup + 1/2 cup 

Egg : 4 large 

Vanilla extract : 1.5 teaspoon 

(Unsalted ) Pistachios : 1 cup (soaked and grounded into a paste )

Whole Milk : 1 cup 

For Glaze : 

Cream Cheese : 4 ounces, room temperature 

Powdered Sugar : 1/2 cup or little less 

Vanilla extract : 1 teaspoon 

Milk : 3-4 tablespoon 

For decoration :

Unsalted Pistachios : a handful ( chopped ) 

Method :

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F / 190 degrees C. Grease an eight or nine inch round pan with cooking spray. Line with parchment, spray the parchment and dust with flour. 

2. Shift flour, baking powder and salt and set it aside. 

3. In a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter at medium speed for 2 minutes or until creamy. Add sugar and continue to mix it at medium to high speed.

4. Add vanilla extract to the sugar- butter mixture. Add eggs one at a time and mix it at medium speed until well combined. 

5. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions and alternately add the the milk. Mix it well and scrape down the sides if needed. 

6. Mix the pistachios paste and mix to combine. 

7. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread it evenly and bake it for 60 to 70 minutes or until the skewer or a tooth pick inserted in the center of the cake, comes out clean.

8. Let it cool in pan for around 20 minutes. Once it is completely cool, take it off from the pan and remove the parchment.  

9. For Cream cheese glaze : Beat cream cheese until very creamy, add the powdered sugar and mix it well until well combined. Stir in vanilla extract. Add the milk and mix it well. Check the desired consistency. If glaze is too thick, add more milk, one tablespoon at a time. 

10. Transfer the cake on a cake stand or a serving plate, drizzle the glaze over the cake. Let it run over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle the chopped pistachios and serve.