Lemon Pistachio Cake
It's one of our favorite brunch items and a go-to for a care package.
Recipe of the Day
Discover a New Recipe Every Day. Give Back With Every Bite.
Every day, we feature a hand-picked recipe for you to discover, cook, and share. The best part?
Every recipe you read helps feed the hungry.
We’re whipping up one of our most favorite loaf cakes and rest assured, once you make it you’ll know why we love it so much. This moist and flavorful cake is about as good as it gets, especially in terms of taste and texture. We love to have this with a cup of coffee in the morning and we’ve been known to sneak a slice (or two) as a late night snack. A lemon pistachio cake is something that makes for a great brunch item or even a sweet treat in a care package. There’s just so much good going on here that it’s too good not to share.
Lemon and pistachios are clearly the stars of the show here, and each is featured throughout the cake. We use lemon juice, lemon zest, and chopped pistachios in the batter and this trifecta of ingredients adds wonderful citrus flavor with a slightly sweet nuttiness from the pistachios. Once the cake has cooled, we add another layer of flavor with a sweet glaze of vanilla and lemon. We top it off with more crushed pistachios to add a little visual flair and reveal one of the recipe’s main ingredients. We’re left with a beautiful cake that looks too good to eat – but we don’t let that stop us!
That pop of pistachio green is really something. We love how it looks and how it tastes. Our lemon pistachio cake is reminiscent of a coffee or pound cake but amplified by lemony citrus and crunchy pistachios. The cake itself is light and not overly sweet, which is yet another reason why we love it so much. One bite and you’ll too understand all that is delicious and wonderful about this lemon pistachio cake. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Lemon Pistachio Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup chopped pistachios, divided
- For glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9x5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, and vegetable oil until creamy. Add Greek yogurt, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla.
- Add dry mixture to wet and stir until just incorporated. Fold in ½ cup chopped pistachios and pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 40-50 minutes.
- Cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing loaf from pan to cool on a wire rack.
- Whisk together powdered sugar, lemon juice, salt, vanilla, and melted butter to form glaze, adjust sugar or lemon juice to achieve desired thickness. Pour glaze over top of cooled bread then sprinkle reserved chopped pistachios over top.
Recipe adapted from Peas and Crayons.