Chocolate Pistachio Cake

I layered my FAVORITE black cocoa cake with a spiced espresso soak and pistachio mascarpone cream made with pistachio paste!

I got this idea from a friend who served me the most phenomenal Turkish coffee. It was pistachio flavored and I detected some cinnamon or other spices in there as well so this is my take on that coffee in cake form. 

I told you I had big plans for this black cocoa cake and this is already recipe 6 I’m using it in?

This one is very similar to my chocolate lemon cake but if you’re here for all things pistachio, you’ll also love my white chocolate pistachio cake.

Ingredients for Chocolate Pistachio Cake

• Flour: I use all purpose flour in most of my recipes BUT sometimes you just cannot beat the texture of cake flour. I highly recommend King Arthur’s Cake Flour. It is far superior to some alternatives in the grocery stores.
  • I have used the “homemade cake flour” trick by replacing 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour with cornstarch. 
  • I HIGHLY recommend using a digital scale, as flour is so often over measured. 
• Baking Powder: to leaven the cake. I haven’t tested this with baking soda but it should work fine with ½ tsp. 
• Sugar: I used granulated sugar in the cake and I don’t recommend cutting any out as it contributes a lot to texture and it’s not overly sweet… it’s actually not very sweet at all (even though it seems like a lot).
  • I also used powdered sugar in the frosting and don’t recommend cutting any out. 
• Oil: I like oil in chocolate cake recipes – any neutral oil, like avocado, canola, etc. is fine. 
• Eggs: I use large eggs, make sure they’re room temperature. If not, then just place it in a cup of hot water for 10 minutes before using it.  
• Sour Cream: I’ve used greek yogurt and sour cream in this recipe and they both work well. You can also use plain yogurt. 
• Coffee: I use hot coffee in this recipe. I usually use Americanos but fresh brewed coffee is fine too. If you don’t want to use coffee, hot water will work as well, the flavor will just be a little less intense… The acid from the coffee also helps make it a little more tender and it’s not a noticeable coffee flavor so I do recommend the coffee.
  • I also used a double shot of espresso to make a soak for the cake. 
• Mascarpone: I like the Belgioioso brand and make sure it’s cold when you’re whipping it. 
• Whipped Cream: Make sure it’s whipping cream and use it cold when whipping. 
• Vanilla: I used a little vanilla bean paste in the mascarpone cream but extract works too. 
• Pistachio Paste/Butter: This can be tricky because I believe they all taste different and have different consistencies BUT most of them should work fine regardless.
  • I used a commercial/wholesale brand from my mom but if there’s any pistachio butter or paste that you love, that will work fine. Mine had chunks in it but I didn’t want chunks mixed into my creams so I pressed it through a sieve (and used the chunks to make the chocolate chip pistachio cookies). 
• Honey & Cinnamon: I used this to flavor the espresso for the soak. 

Step-by-Step Instructions

Black Cake

1. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt until they’re evenly distributed.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the oil, sugar, eggs and sour cream until they’re well combined and smooth.
3. Sift the dry ingredients over the wet and whisk just a little – about halfway. 
4. Pour in the hot coffee and whisk until the batter is completely smooth.
5. Scrape the edge of the bowl and give it a good mix. Pour into prepared cake tin(s). 
6. Bake for 35ish minutes, until the tallest part of the cake, in the center, springs back when you press on it. If you’re hesitant, give it another minute or so.
7. Let the cake rest for 10 minutes in the pan, then flip over onto a tea towel.
8. Let the cake cool upside down for 30 minutes or so and then flip back over. 
9. Once it’s cooled, slice the cake into two halves so you have a two layer cake.

Espresso Soak

1. Combine the espresso with the honey and cinnamon until they’re completely combined.
2. Slice the cake in half and use the syrup to soak the cake, I just drizzle it on to each cake (the side you sliced) with a spoon. 

Mascarpone Cream

1. Beat together the cold mascarpone with the powdered sugar until it’s completely smooth.
2. Add the vanilla bean paste and turn the mixer to medium speed. 
3. Stream in the cold heavy whipping cream in 3-4 increments, stopping to scrape the edge of the bowl each time.
   1. Once all the heavy whipping cream is added, it may seem soft so turn the mixer up to full speed and it should thicken and hold peaks within a couple of minutes. Don’t over-beat once you’ve reached this stage.

• Add the pistachio butter/paste (press through sieve if you don’t want chunks) and mix just until it’s combined. 
• Spread half of the cream on top of the first layer of cake, top with a generous drizzle of pistachio butter/paste and repeat with the next layer. 

What sizes can I make this pistachio chocolate cake 

Make sure to read my Black Cocoa Cake post for more details on how to adjust the cake to the different sizes but if you’re using just the recipe in the recipe card and not adjust that at all then you could get: 

• Three (taller) or four (shorter) 6 inch cakes 
• Two (average height) 8 inch cakes
• Two (short) 9 inch cakes
• One 10 inch cake
• One 9×13” cake
• 24 cupcakes 

If you’re making cupcakes, I put 50 grams in each cupcake tin and bake for about 18-20 minutes. You could fill the cupcakes with the pistachio butter/paste and top with the mascarpone cream. I do love the flavor of the syrup though so I would add it to my mascarpone cream if I did this. 

When baking, generally a thinner layer will get 20-25 minutes of baking and a thicker cake layer will get 30-40 minutes. 

Once it no longer looks wet, press on the center of the cake gently and it will spring back when it’s done baking. If it doesn’t spring back, give it another few minutes. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Serving & Storing

If the cake is not frosted, keep it airtight at room temperature for a couple of days. If it’s frosted, store it airtight in the fridge for up to a week. 

I don’t like when things taste like “the fridge” lol so if you leave it uncovered it can get a weird fridge taste (maybe that’s just me?) so I recommend covering it but it’s hard to cover without messing up the frosting. A tall cake dome would work best if you have one. 

I just slice it and lay them in a large pan and cover the pan with plastic wrap. You can also freeze it like this.

Thanks so much for reading today’s post, if you have any questions just comment down below.

If you make this fabulous chocolate pistachio cake, I’d love it if you left a 5-star rating or a review for me!

As always, have a blessed day and happy baking!

Love, B