This moist and delicious pistachio bundt cake is made 100% from scratch. It’s colored and flavored with ground pistachios alongside a little bit of lemon and vanilla. This particular recipe is for a 6-cup bundt cake pan, but can easily be doubled for a larger pan.
If you asked me what one of the most underrated flavors out there was, I’d probably say pistachio. I love pistachio anything. Pistachio macarons, pistachio gelato, pistachio cookies, cake, etc. They’re smooth, nutty, and slightly sweet like honey. I tried a pistachio croissant a couple months ago at my favorite croissant shop in Chicago and wow, step aside almond croissants because you’ve got competition. Which, if you live in Chicago and haven’t been to Hendrickx Bakery in the Gold Coast, stop what you’re doing right now and head over there. 😉
Anyways, I’m here to share pistachio bundt cake recipe, not shamelessly plug my favorite restaurants haha.
The Best Pistachio Bundt Cake
This from scratch pistachio bundt cake is a full expression of my love for pistachios. So what exactly is it and why do I love it?
- There is no artificially-flavored pistachio pudding mix, or artificial pistachio extracts in this bundt cake. This is a pistachio bundt cake from scratch that is flavored and colored with ground down pistachio nuts.
- There’s also a little bit of of vanilla and lemon in there to add depth and warmth to the cake flavor.
- It’s so tender and moist–we whip the eggs into the butter and sugar for quite some time to get it light and fluffy. Then, sour cream in the batter adds moisture as well as a richness.
- It’s topped with a cream cheese glaze–a tangy and sweet flavor that is a great complement to the sweetness of pistachios.
- It’s perfect for coffee, tea, brunch, bridal showers, baby showers, after you get out of a shower….you name it, it’s delicious any time!
Ingredients and Equipment Needed
Equipment
This recipe makes one small, 8-inch pistachio bundt cake. I used a 6-cup bundt cake pan. If you have a larger, 10-12 cup bundt cake pan, then simply double the recipe and increase the bake time (more details in the recipe itself on this).
You will also need a stand mixer and food processor or food chopper. Do not use a blender as you will not get the same results.
INGREDIENTS FOR Pistachio cake
- Unsalted, shelled pistachios: use unsalted if possible to have better control and distribution over salt content in the cake.
- Unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- Granulated cane sugar and light brown sugar: the cake is primarily sweetened with granulated sugar, but a tiny bit of light brown sugar helps add some softness and moisture.
- One large egg and one large egg white: make sure both are at room temperature.
- Vanilla extract
- Sour cream or plain Greek yogurt: whichever you choose, make sure it is full fat. More fat = more flavor.
- Whole milk
- Fresh lemon zest: a little bit of this will brighten up the flavor
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda and baking powder
- Kosher salt
Ingredients for Cream Cheese Glaze
- Plain cream cheese, from a block and softened
- Unsalted butter, softened
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Whole milk
- A pinch of salt and lemon zest
How to Make Pistachio Bundt Cake
HOW TO CHOP THE PISTACHIOS FOR CAKE
Add your pistachios into the bowl of a food processor or food chopper. Make sure to use the “chop” setting. Start by pulsing the food processor 5-10 times to break up the nuts, then hold down on the pulse button and chop up those pistachios until they’re finely ground. See the picture below for how fine they should be! We want some powdery bits and small pieces, but not giant chunks.
Chop down your pistachios to this consistency 
They’ll end up making your cake look like this
Making the Cake
Start by creaming the butter and sugar together for a few minutes, and then add the eggs and vanilla and continue beating for a few more minutes. Make sure to scrape down the sides of your bowl a few times throughout to ensure an even batter. At the end of this, you should have a pale and fluffy mixture.
Then, combine sour cream and milk together in a small cup or bowl and give it a quick zap in the microwave to bring the ingredients to room temperature. Do not use cold ingredients, as this will impact the texture of your cake.
Stir together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add some of the chopped pistachios.
While running your mixer as slowly as possible, add in a bit of the flour, then slowly stream in the sour cream/milk, and then add the remaining flour. It is okay if the milk isn’t 100% combined before you add the last of the flour. Paddle the ingredients together for a couple seconds, then finish folding the batter by hand to prevent over-mixing.
Grease your bundt cake pan just before filling it, and then bake the cake!
To make the cream cheese glaze, whisk butter and cream cheese together to combine them, then whisk in the remaining ingredients.
Before pouring the glaze over the cake, make sure it is completely cooled. When you first remove the bundt cake from the oven, let it rest in the pan for 10-15 minutes. After this, turn it over onto a cooling rack.
The last step after glazing the cake is to garnish with some chopped pistachios and of course, eat it!
How Do I Prevent Bundt Cake From Sticking?
Trust me when I say that I’ve had my fair share of bundt cakes that broke apart and stick to the pan when I tried to remove them. The good news is that if this happens to you, the cake still tastes the same and you can still eat it! I’ve also patched a cake back together before #noshame.
But, from a lot of failure comes lessons learned, so I’ve finally got a trick up my sleeve to share.
What is it?
Melted shortening. It’s almost the only time I ever use shortening, but it’s my savior for bundt cake baking. Melt 1-2 tbsp of vegetable shortening, and then brush it into every nook and cranny of the pan with a pastry brush. Be thorough–even a small crack left un-greased can cling on to your cake. Then, add a tiny dusting of flour–not too much or the cake may actually stick more.
How To Store Leftovers
You can keep unglazed, baked cake tightly wrapped on the counter for up to 3 days. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
Once you have added the cream cheese glaze, make sure to tightly wrap and keep the cake in the fridge. It’ll be good for about 3 days here, but is definitely best during the first two days.
Did You Make This Recipe?
If so, I’d love to hear from you! Please leave a rating and/or comment to spread the love and help others find this recipe.
Also feel free take a picture and share it with me on Instagram @toppedwithhoney. Looking forward to seeing your delicious pistachio bundt cakes! You know now I’m a sucker for pistachio so I’m very excited for you to try this.
If you’re not ready to bake yet, no problem! Simply hover over any image in this post (pick your favorite), or tap if you’re on mobile, and click the pin icon in the corner to save for later.
Have fun baking and check out more cakes here!
Pistachio Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze
Pistachio Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze
Ingredients
Pistachio Cake
- 1 cup unsalted, shelled pistachios
- ½ cup (one stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp light brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 large egg white, at room temperature
- ¾ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp fresh lemon zest
- ⅓ cup whole milk
- ⅓ cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
- 1⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp fine kosher salt, reduce if using salted pistachios
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
Cream Cheese Glaze
- 3 oz plain cream cheese (from a block), softened
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1½ tbsp whole milk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- a little bit of lemon zest
Instructions
- Dump the pistachios into a food processor and chop them until they are very fine, with mostly no large pieces. Reference the picture in the post above to see how ground down they should be.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- Stir the milk and sour cream (or yogurt) together in a small cup and microwave them for 10-15 seconds to bring them to room temperature. Then stir in the lemon zest.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together on medium-high speed for 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg, egg white, and vanilla. Then continue beating on medium-high for another 3 minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ⅔ cup of the chopped pistachios. Reserve remaining pistachios for garnishing.
- Turn your mixer on the lowest setting possible and add in ⅓ of the flour, then slowly stream in all of the milk/yogurt, and lastly the remaining flour. Once you've added the last of the flour, paddle for 5-10 seconds seconds, then turn off your mixer and finish folding the batter by hand until the flour is just combined. This will prevent any over-mixing. The batter will be thick.
- Grease your bundt pan with shortening and a dusting of flour. Pour the batter in and then bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cake is fully set. If baking in a 10-cup bundt pan, increase the time to 55-65 minutes.
- Once the cake is done and out of the oven, let it rest in the pan for 10-15 minutes before turning it over onto a cooling rack.
- To make the glaze, start by whisking the cream cheese and butter together–this may be a little difficult to do a first but just just a lot of force. Then, add the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest. Continue whisking until the mixture is smooth.
- Pour the glaze over a completely cool bundt cake. Garnish with remaining pistachios. Enjoy!
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