Beautifully lemony, mildly nutty, and soft as a dream, this cake is delicious and perfect for a spring celebration! With a zingy lemon cream cheese frosting on top, it’s sure to brighten your day!
On the Ingredients
- Pistachios originated in Persia and are actually a member of the cashew family. They’ve been enjoyed as a food as far back as 6750 BCE. They’re enjoyed both as a salted and roasted nut and as an ingredient in many convections, like pistachio ice cream, traditional Persian ice cream, kulfi, spumoni, baklava, biscotti, and more. Pistachios are highly nutritious, containing healthy fats, protein, fiber, and antioxidants. (Read more about pistachios.)
- Lemons are high in vitamin C, which helps boost immune function. It’s also high in antioxidants. They may also help with heart health, and help prevent anemia and kidney stones. (Read more on the health benefits.)
Recipe Notes and Substitutions
Using the same frosting, this cake could easily be made as cupcakes, or a bundt cake with lemon glaze would also be lovely. If you don’t have the time to shell and grind pistachios, you could replace them with almond flour for a lemon almond cake.
Pistachio Lemon Cake
9
servings15
minutes30
minutes45
minutesBeautifully lemony, mildly nutty, and soft as a dream, this cake is delicious and perfect for a spring celebration! With a zingy lemon cream cheese frosting on top, it's sure to brighten your day!
Ingredients
- Cake Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar OR 1/2 cup monk fruit sweetener
1/3 cup finely ground roasted pistachios (plus extra for decorating - optional)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 egg (room temp)
1/2 cup whole milk plain yogurt
zest of 4 lemons
1/4 warm milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Frosting ingredients
8 oz cream cheese (softened)
juice of 1 lemon
3/4 - 1 cup powdered sugar OR powdered Swerve
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350° F and line an 8x8" square (or similar size) baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Add the ground pistachios and mix to incorporate.
- In a separate bowl, combine the olive oil, egg, yogurt, zest, milk, and vanilla.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and gently fold together until just incorporated. Do not overmix!
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes before carefully removing it from the pan and transferring it to a wire rack. Let it reach room temperature.
- Meanwhile, beat together the frosting ingredients until smooth. You can adjust the sugar to your preference.
- When the cake is completely cooled, frost the top of the cake evenly. Sprinkle with the remaining ground pistachios (optional). Serve and enjoy!
