This Best Ever Pistachio Pudding Cake is so moist and flavourful with the perfect combination of pistachio and cream. A tender pistachio-flavoured cake is topped with a simple cream cheese frosting and crushed nuts!
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A few years ago I discovered pistachios. It was at an Italian restaurant where I enjoyed pistachio ice cream for the first time and after that I was completely hooked!! Who knew that those little green nuts could be SO tasty!? This Best Ever Pistachio Pudding Cake is one of my favourite cakes to make to satisfy my pistachio cravings. It’s easy to make, it’s SO moist and tender, and it goes great with a simple cream cheese frosting on top!
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This Best Ever Pistachio Pudding Cake contains pudding mix, which makes it so sweet and full of moisture. It’s a truly simple recipe, but it yields such a delicious cake that you’re going to love! Make it in a 9×13 baking pan like I do, or feel free to use a bundt pan or even 2 round cake pans to turn this dessert into a layer cake!
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I hope you enjoy this Best Ever Pistachio Pudding Cake as much as we do! Let me know in the comments below, what’s your favourite pudding flavour? I’d love to know!
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Pistachio Cake
This Pistachio Cake recipe is so moist and flavourful with the perfect combination of pistachio and cream. A tender pistachio-flavoured cake is topped with a simple cream cheese frosting and crushed nuts!
Recipe: Equipment
Recipe: Ingredients
For the cake:
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 100 grams pistachio pudding powder approximately one 4-serving box, don't use low fat or low sugar variety
- 4 eggs
- green gel food colouring
- 1 1/4 cup milk
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- butter and flour for greasing the cake pan
For the frosting:
- 8 oz (220 grams) full fat cream cheese
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 tablespoons half and half
- chopped pistachios for garnish (optional)
Recipe: Instructions
- Prepare a 9-inch by 13-inch rectangular baking pan by greasing it with butter and coating the inside of the pan evenly with a thin dusting of flour. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer), cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 4 minutes).
- Add the pudding powder and whip on high speed until incorporated.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add a tiny amount of green gel food colouring after the eggs, if desired.
- Combine the milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl or pyrex measuring cup and whisk with a fork to combine.
- Add the milk mixture to the butter mixture slowly, mixing well until combined.
- Add the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt, and mix on low speed just until the batter forms and no streaks of flour appear.
- Finish mixing by hand with a rubber spatula to be sure the batter is well combined (mixing with the electric mixer at this stage can cause over-mixing, so it's best to finish it gently by hand).
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 60 minutes (sometimes it requires 65 or even 70 minutes), or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool completely in the pan before adding the frosting.
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer, whip together the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.
- Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time and whip on high speed until smooth.
- Add the half and half one spoonful at a time until a spreadable consistency is reached.
- Spread the frosting over the completely cooled cake and top with chopped pistachios, if desired.
- Slice and serve.
Recipe: Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Pistachio Cake
Amount Per Serving (1 serving)
Calories 642
Calories from Fat 306
% Daily Value*
Fat 34g52%
Saturated Fat 22g138%
Cholesterol 128mg43%
Sodium 364mg16%
Potassium 249mg7%
Carbohydrates 81g27%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 64g71%
Protein 6g12%
Vitamin A 989IU20%
Calcium 129mg13%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
I made this cake for a co-workers’s birthday and everyone raved about it. The cake was perfect and the frosting was delicious. A perfect combination.
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it!!
How long would you bake 2 round pans?
Also, is the pudding the instant variety?
The pudding is the instant variety. I don’t bake this cake in 2 round tins, but I’d suggest testing the cake with a toothpick after about 20 minutes and go from there. 🙂
Do you think I could half this recipe? What size pan would I use? There is only my husband and I, &I don’t think we need all this cake, even though it looks delicious!! Thank you! Love your site, by the way!
Is instant pudding used? Thanks!
Yes! 🙂
Could you do this recipe as cupcakes?
Yes, but the baking time will need to be adjusted (reduce slightly).
I BAKED THIS CAKE JUS AS YOU SAID BUT IN 2 ROUND CAKE PANS. IT LOOKEED BEAUTIFUL FOR ABOUT 5 MINUTES THEN IT FELL! WshHAT HAPPENED?????
It likely wasn’t baked all the way through. Cakes fall usually when they’re raw in the middle. They can look baked, but not actually be baked through. Use the toothpick test to check for doneness. That will prevent cakes from falling.
I prepared & baked as you said but part way thru the baking time, it fell. What did I do wrong?
Hi Charlie! Did you open the oven door while the cake was baking? This will almost always cause a cake to fall half-way through baking.
Very dissatisfied. The cake rose and fell before half done cooking. Stir all dry ingredients together first before adding to wet ingredients
Hi Connie! Did you open the oven door while the cake was baking? This will almost always cause a cake to fall half way through baking.
I have made 3 of these so far this week! I used a bundt pan instead of a 9×12 because I was giving one for a gift and one was for church. Everyone raved about it! I had purchased a pistachio cake from a bakery a month ago and my husband said this one was 100% better! Definitely will be a go to!
So glad to hear that the recipe made it to your go to list!!🙂
How long should I bake if making in a Bundt pan?
I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you as we’ve never tried that ourselves but a bundt pan would not be one of our recommendations for this recipe.
I always bake it in a bundt pan as that’s the way my mother always made her pistachio cake recipe. I leave it for the 60 minutes as in this recipe and check it with toothpick/cake tester. Usually it’s done at 60.
I made this cake using a bundt pan, and (which I do for most of my cakes) decided to beat the egg white separately with 1/4 cup of the sugar. This makes the cake even more “airy.” This is good recipe. The cake is delicious and moist. However, I see why others say that the flavor could be more pronounced. Pistachios themselves are a bit mild in flavor so many, if not most, pistachio cakes/desserts, usually include almond extract to enhance the flavor. This is what is missing in the recipe. I did add about 1/4 tsp almond extract but next time I may increase it to 1/2 tsp, and also add 1/2 cup chopped pistachios. I did not use the frosting because I was lazy. But this cake is also good without any frosting. Thanks for this wonderful recipe.
I’m happy you enjoyed it! Happy baking!☺️
This recipe was a hit. Everyone loved it. My sister in law used to make a pistachio cake for my brother and his son. She passed away a year ago. So yesturday I made it for them seeing it was my brothers birthday. They were very grateful. Thank you
Thank you for your comment! I’m so glad you enjoyed the cake ☺️
I made this recipe in 2 six-inch small round pans filled with 12 ounces of batter and cooked for 33 minutes which worked well for me and made for a cute small layer cake. With the leftover batter, I filled (but not overfilled) a cupcake pan and baked those for 20 minutes.
Wow, that probably looked great!! Glad it turned out well as cupcakes too!!
After only 40 minutes of baking my cake was nearly burnt and a toothpick came out clean. If I left it in for 60 minutes it would’ve been inedible. It came out high and puffy but after cooling for 10 minutes it completely sank in. I’m not sure what could be improved but this seems to be a flawed recipe. Hoping it still taste great!
By what you’re describing it seems like your oven runs hot. Cakes that sink in after you take them out of the oven are underbaked. If it looked nearly burned, the temperature was too high which would also explain why it might have been underbaked in the middle. We suggest checking if your oven runs hot with an oven thermometer and adjusting the temperature accordingly. Hope this helps!
if making cupcakes how long would you bake?
I have never tried it myself so I couldn’t tell you, but if you do try, please let us know! Happy baking ☺️
I m going to try the recipe but I couldn’t find pistachio pudding mix all I can find is pistachio custard powder is this the same thing? Please advise how can I amend the recipe using custard powder. Thank you x
If it’s instant custard powder it should work the same. If it’s not instant pistachio custard powder unfortunately we don’t think this recipe will work.
Délicieux
Merci!
Made it and loved it
Thanks for your feedback Georgie!
A coworker used to make something similar using a cake mix. I wanted to make it and went looking for a recipe using scratch cake. This is GREAT! I baked it and then went to a friends house with the cake, they couldn’t stop raving about it. Thank you for the great recipe.
We’re so happy to hear that! Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback.
Just made these as cupcakes. Absolutely delicious, airy, moist, light! This will be my go to recipe!!
We’re so happy to hear that! Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback.
Can you substitute pistachio pudding for vanilla
Yes.