Grandmother’s Pistachio Cake is perfect for those who, like me, love pistachios. I admit, I am very fond of all nutty dried fruits and I use them as a snack, in sweet recipes, or in savory dishes, but especially because they have many nutritional properties. 😜
The recipe I am sharing is fragrant and very tasty, a shortcrust shell without butter filled with a fragrant pistachio custard, topped with a shortcrust layer, and covered with pistachio crumbs.
What else to say, it is definitely a must-make, you can prepare it as a dessert, to celebrate an event, or for a tasty snack, let’s prepare it together and let me know if you liked the recipe 💪.
See you soon, Susy.
If you like pistachio desserts, here are some other recipes for you 😜
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 10
- Cooking methods: Electric Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
- Energy 473.42 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 52.40 (g) of which sugars 26.92 (g)
- Proteins 12.62 (g)
- Fat 24.67 (g) of which saturated 3.91 (g)of which unsaturated 10.32 (g)
- Fibers 2.11 (g)
- Sodium 19.89 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 150 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Grandmother’s Pistachio Cake
Measurements for a 9-inch tart pan.
- 2 cups milk
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup egg yolk
- 3.5 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 180 g pistachio cream
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 lemon zest (grated)
- 1/3 cup sunflower oil
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (+ 2 tbsp for the work surface)
- to taste pistachio crumbs
- to taste powdered sugar (optional)
How to Make Grandmother’s Pistachio Cake
You can prepare the pistachio cream at home, or you can buy a high-quality brand!
Pour the milk into a saucepan, bring it to the stove on a low flame and heat it until it almost boils. Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and vanilla, then add the cornstarch and make the mixture smooth and creamy.
Remove the milk from the heat, pour it into the yolk mixture, mix well, put it back in the saucepan, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with the whisk, even quickly, to avoid forming those annoying lumps, until the cream is shiny and creamy. Add the pistachio cream and mix well to combine everything
The pistachio custard is ready, pour it into a bowl and cover it with food wrap, let it cool, and store it in the refrigerator.
In a bowl, place the eggs, sugar, seed oil, and grated lemon zest.
Begin to work with a fork, adding the flour a little at a time, then transfer the dough to the work surface and continue kneading until you obtain a compact and homogeneous dough.
Since there is no butter, it does not need to rest in the refrigerator and can be used immediately if prepared in winter, otherwise, in summer or with slightly higher temperatures, I recommend cooling it for a couple of hours in the fridge before rolling it out.
Take the shortcrust from the refrigerator, place it on the work surface, and with the help of a rolling pin, roll it out to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. Place it in the pan and pierce it with the prongs of a fork, remove the excess shortcrust from the edges, and fill it with pistachio custard.
Then roll out the remaining shortcrust to create the disc that will serve as the lid for the cake. Proceed as follows, place the shortcrust disc on the cake, remove the excess dough, and make it adhere well to the edges. Finally, pierce it and sprinkle a handful of pistachio crumbs on top.
Now it’s time to bake at 350°F for about 50 minutes. (If it starts to darken too much, place an aluminum foil sheet over the cake).
Once baking is completed, remove it from the oven and let it cool well in the pan before placing it on a plate for serving.
