Pistachio Praline Vanilla Cake Recipes

PISTACHIO CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease and lightly flour three 9-inch cake pans.
• Pulse the pistachios in a food processor until ground up into very fine crumbs. See photo above for a visual. You'll have about 1 and 1/2 cups of crumbs. (If you have more than that, set aside for garnish.)
• Pour 1 and 1/2 cups of pistachio crumbs in a large bowl. Whisk in the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Beat in the egg whites on high speed until combined, about 2 minutes. Beat in the sour cream, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients until just incorporated. With the mixer still running on low, pour in the milk (and the green food coloring, if using) and mix just until combined. You may need to whisk it all by hand to make sure there are no lumps at the bottom of the bowl. The batter will be slightly thick.
• Pour batter evenly into cake pans. Bake for around 21-23 minutes or until the cakes are baked through. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done. Allow cakes to cool completely in the pans set on a wire rack. The cakes must be completely cool before frosting and assembling.
• Prepare the cream cheese frosting (see note below).
• Using a large serrated knife, slice a thin layer off the tops of the cakes to create a flat surface. Discard (or crumble over ice cream!). Place 1 cake layer on your cake stand, cake turntable, or serving plate. Evenly cover the top with frosting. Top with 2nd layer and evenly cover the top with more frosting. Top with the third cake layer. Spread the frosting all over the top and sides. (I used a bench scraper to smooth out the sides.) Decorate with garnishes, if desired. Refrigerate for at least 30-45 minutes before slicing. This helps the cake keep its shape when cutting.
• Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for 5 days.

PISTACHIO CHARLOTTE

Steps:

• Combine sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan, and allow to simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar has dissolved, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and allow to cool. Add kirsch, and stir to combine. Brush ladyfingers and cake rounds with syrup. Place ladyfingers around edge of 81/2-inch springform pan. Lay a cake round in the bottom, trimming, if necessary, to fit.
• Spoon in 1/3 pistachio bavarian cream, smooth top, and sprinkle with 1/3 pistachio praline. Repeat with remaining cake rounds, bavarian cream, and praline to form two more layers. Place in the refrigerator to set, 4 to 5 hours, or overnight. Serve.

PISTACHIO PRALINE DACQUOISE

Steps:

• Line 2 buttered baking sheets with foil or parchment paper and trace a total of three 13- by 4-inch rectangles on the sheets of foil (2 on one sheet and 1 on the other).
• Make the meringue layers:
• In a food processor grind fine the pistachio nuts with 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the sugar and the cornstarch. In a large bowl with an 2electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar and the salt until they hold soft peaks, beat in the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, a little at a time, and the food coloring, and beat the whites until they hold stiff glossy peaks. Fold in the pistachio mixture gently but thoroughly and transfer the meringue to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip. Starting along an edge of a rectangle, pipe the meringue onto the prepared foil, filling in 2 of the rectangles. Outline the edges of the remaining rectangle with 2 rows of the meringue, leaving the center free, and bake the meringues in a preheated 250°F. oven, switching the sheets from one rack to the other after 30 minutes, for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, or until the meringues are firm and dry when touched. Let the meringues cool on the sheets, slide the foil off the sheets, and peel the meringues off the foil carefully. The meringues may be made 1 day in advance and kept wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature.
• Make the filling:
• In a small skillet, preferably non-stick, cook 1/4 cup of the sugar, undisturbed, over moderate heat until it begins to melt, cook it, stirring with a fork, until it is melted completely and turns a golden caramel, and add the pistachio nuts, stirring until they are coated well. Pour the mixture immediately onto a piece of foil and let it cool completely. Break the praline into pieces and grind it fine in a food processor. In a heavy saucepan dissolve the cornstarch in 1/4 cup of the milk, stir in the remaining 3/4 cup milk and the remaining 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, and bring the mixture just to a boil, stirring. In a heatproof bowl whisk together the whole egg and the egg yolk, add the milk mixture in a stream, whisking, and transfer the pastry cream to the pan. Bring the pastry cream to a boil, whisking, and simmer it, whisking, for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, whisk in the butter and the kirsch, whisking until the butter is incorporated, and force the pastry cream through a fine sieve into a metal bowl. Stir in the praline and let the pastry cream cool completely, its surface covered with plastic wrap. The filling may be prepared up to this point 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled. In a small saucepan sprinkle the gelatin over the water, let it soften for 1 minute, and heat the mixture over moderately low heat, stirring, until the gelatin is dissolved and the liquid is hot. Whisk the gelatin mixture into the pastry cream, set the bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water, and stir the pastry cream until it is thickened but not set. Remove the bowl from the ice water. In a chilled bowl with an electric mixer beat the heavy cream until it just holds stiff peaks, whisk one third of it into the pastry cream to lighten it, and fold in the remaining cream gently but thoroughly. Transfer the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a medium star tip.
• Arrange a solid meringue rectangle, rough side up, on a platter and pipe some of the filling decoratively in rows down the length of it to cover it. Top the filling with the remaining solid meringue rectangle, rough side up, and pipe some of the remaining filling on the meringue in the same manner. Dust the remaining meringue, rough side up, with the confectioners' sugar and set it on top of the filling. Pipe rosettes of the remaining filling on the meringue, garnish them with the pistachios, and chill the dacquoise for at least 2 hours and up to 4 hours.

PISTACHIO PRALINES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Oil 2 large baking sheets and line with parchment paper.
• In a baking pan spread pistachios evenly and toast in middle of oven until fragrant, about 10 minutes. In a bowl toss hot pistachios with butter and granulated sugar and cool completely.
• In a 4-quart heavy saucepan cook brown sugars, cream, and salt over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and washing down any sugar crystals clinging to side of pan with a brush dipped in cold water, until sugars are completely dissolved, about 10 minutes. Increase heat to moderate and boil mixture, without stirring, until a candy or digital thermometer registers 238°F. Remove pan from heat (leave thermometer in pan) and cool mixture until thermometer registers 220°F, about 5 to 10 minutes. With a wooden spoon stir in vanilla and vigorously stir mixture until creamy and beginning to lose its sheen. Working quickly, drop mixture by teaspoons onto baking sheets and top each praline with 3 pistachios. (If mixture becomes too stiff to spoon, warm it over low heat, stirring, until just workable.) Let pralines stand at room temperature until firm, about 1 hour. Pralines keep, layered between sheets of parchment paper in an airtight container at cool room temperature or chilled, 1 week.

PISTACHIO LAYER CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray three 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray. Line each pan with a round piece of parchment paper, and spray with cooking spray.
• Prepare the cake: pulse pistachios in a food processor until finely ground, 10 to 15 pulses. Transfer 1 1/2 cups ground pistachios to a bowl with flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; whisk until well combined and set aside. Place remaining ground pistachios, about 1 1/3 cups, in a bowl and reserve for finishing the cake.
• Beat butter and white sugar for cake in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium-high speed, scraping down the sides as needed, until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg whites and beat on high speed until combined, about 2 minutes.
• Mix in sour cream, vanilla extract, and almond extract until combined, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture in batches on low speed until completely incorporated, about 2 minutes. Mix in milk and food coloring until just combined, about 1 minute.
• Divide batter evenly among the prepared cake pans. Gently tap each pan on the countertop to spread and flatten batter.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of each pan removes cleanly, 22 to 24 minutes. Cool cakes in the pans for about 10 minutes. Run a table knife around the edges to loosen cakes, then invert carefully onto a serving plate or cooling rack. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• While the cakes are cooling, prepare buttercream: beat cream cheese and butter in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in powdered sugar in 1/2-cup increments on medium-low speed, allowing sugar to be completely incorporated before adding more, until combined, about 4 minutes. Mix in vanilla and food coloring on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
• Place one cake layer on a serving plate or cake stand. Top with 1 cup buttercream and 1 tablespoon ground pistachios, and spread evenly over the surface using a spatula. Place second cake layer on top; top with 1 cup buttercream and 1 tablespoon ground pistachios, and spread evenly over the surface. Place third cake layer on top, and spread 1 cup buttercream evenly over the surface. Spread 2 cups buttercream evenly around sides of assembled cake and smooth with a spatula. Transfer cake to the refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes.
• Remove cake from the refrigerator and spread remaining buttercream over top and sides of cake until sides are smooth and top is billowy. Using a small offset spatula, make a spiral pattern on top of the cake. Press remaining ground pistachios into sides of the cake.
• Slice and serve immediately or chill in an airtight container until ready to serve. If chilled, allow cake to come to room temperature before serving.