Pistachio Lemon Olive Oil Cake
Spring is right around the corner and as soon as March hits, I get into full-on baking mode. This season fully ignites my cravings for olive oil cake. Drawing inspiration from the trending Dubai-chocolate, I envisioned pistachios as the star ingredient for my latest creation. I crafted a Pistachio Lemon Olive Oil cake, maintaining the essence of my previous, OG olive oil cake recipe with just a few tweaks noted below. To elevate this cake further, I topped it with a luscious cream cheese butter frosting infused with lemon. The result was a light, airy cake that tastes like the Italian countryside and belongs on a sun-drenched garden patio. Hope you give it a try!
Ingredients:
For the Cake:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
⅔ cup extra-virgin olive oil (or ¾ cup if using the original recipe version)
¼ cup melted butter (optional — I added it using the ⅔ cup olive oil method. Butter, paired with olive oil, adds extra moisture, especially since nuts can sometimes dry out the cake.)
½ cup milk (alternative: yogurt)
Juice of 1 freshly squeezed lemon (at least ¼ cup)
¾ cup ground pistachios
1 tablespoon lemon zest
For the Cream Cheese Butter Frosting Topping:
1 (8 oz) pack cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick of butter, room temperature
3–4 cups powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
Lemon zest (optional)
Instructions:
Bake the Olive Oil Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9-inch round cake pan.
Zest your lemon and massage it into the sugar — the oils from the lemon peel infuse with the sugar and make the cake sooo much more flavorful and fragrant.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, olive oil, milk, butter, and lemon juice — all the wet stuff.
Whisk in your dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then add your ground pistachios. (I just bought whole pistachios and ground them up in a food processor.) Stir until just combined.
Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 35–40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I usually check around 35 minutes and it's good to go, but this depends on your oven!
Let the cake cool completely. Give it an hour or two before frosting.
Make the Cream Cheese Butter Frosting:
Make sure your cream cheese and butter are both at room temp. This is actually really important — since they hold different amounts of water, if one is colder than the other, it can cause the frosting to split and turn runny.
(Fun Fact: I learned cream cheese has more water content than butter, so make sure it softens up nicely before you start!)Blend the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and fully combined — no clumps, no separation.
Add in your vanilla, salt, and lemon zest, then start mixing in the powdered sugar a cup at a time until you hit your desired sweetness. You’ll notice the frosting gets fluffier and starts forming little peaks as the sugar blends in. Just don’t over-blend — too much mixing = runny frosting that won’t hold.
Assemble and Serve the Cake:
Spread the frosting evenly over the cake and make sure the cake is nice and cool. It helps everything stay in place and not fall apart.
I wanted a fluffy, cloud-like look, so I popped the frosting into a ziplock bag and used a dollop technique to decorate the top.
For extra flavor and a little flair, I added more lemon zest and chopped pistachios on top (totally optional — can get tangy with all of the lemon!)
I finished it with some fresh raspberries and lemon slices for a pretty presentation, and that’s it!
This cake lasts in the fridge for up to a week, but just make sure to bring it to room temp before serving so the cake and frosting are soft and perfect. Enjoy! ♡