Pistachio Bundt Cake

This homemade Pistachio Bundt Cake is soft, buttery, and packed with real pistachios, finished with a light vanilla cream cheese frosting and fresh berries. It’s an easy make-ahead dessert that looks stunning and works well for entertaining, holidays, brunch spreads, or baby showers.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword pistachio bundt cake

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 55

Total Time 1 20

Servings slices

Calories 671kcal

Author Julia

Ingredients

For the bundt cake

2 tablespoons melted butter for greasing
2 tablespoons flour for greasing
1 cup shelled pistachios finely ground (see instructions)
¾ cup shelled pistachios chopped (see instructions)
3 cups all purpose flour spooned and leveled (plus 1 tablespoon)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 drops green food coloring or more
1 cup full-fat sour cream at room temperature
½ cup whole milk at room temperature

For the cream cheese frosting

4 ounces full fat cream cheese at room temperature
4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream or whole milk, plus more as needed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt

Decoration Elements

2 tablespoons reserved ground pistachios
fresh berries raspberries, blueberries, blackberries
dried rose petals optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Thoroughly coat a 12-cup Bundt pan with 2 tablespoons melted butter, making sure to get into every ridge. Generously dust with flour, then tap out any excess.
Place 1 heaping cup of pistachios and 1 tablespoon of flour into a food processor. Pulse in short bursts until small crumbs form. They should look fine and crumbly, similar to panko. Do not over-process the nuts, or they will become oily. Measure out 2 tablespoons of the ground pistachios and reserve them for later as a topping. Finely chop the remaining ¾ cup pistachios by hand. Set both aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer), add the butter and sugar and beat on medium-high speed for 3–4 minutes, until very pale and fluffy. This step is essential for structure in a nut-heavy Bundt cake.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed. At this stage, the batter may look slightly curdled, which is normal and will correct itself once the dry ingredients are added.
Mix in the vanilla extract, almond extract, and green gel food coloring, adding just enough to achieve a soft green tint.
In a small bowl or jug, whisk together the sour cream and milk until smooth.
With the mixer on low speed, add one-third of the dry ingredients and beat until combined, then add one-third of the sour cream mixture. Repeat until all the dry ingredients and the sour cream mixture have been added. Do not overmix.
Add the ground and chopped pistachios to the mixing bowl, then fold them into the mixture using a handheld spatula until evenly distributed. The batter will be thick, which is exactly what you want.
Spoon the batter into the prepared Bundt pan and smooth the top.
Bake the cake for 50–55 minutes, checking at 45 minutes. If the top browns too quickly, tent loosely with foil for the final 10 minutes. The cake is done when: A thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 200–205°F. A toothpick inserted into the thickest part comes out clean. The top springs back lightly when pressed. The cake just begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.
Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then carefully invert onto a wire rack and cool completely before frosting.
Make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter and cream cheese, then beat until completely smooth.
Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt, beating until thick and smooth.
Add 2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk, adjusting with a small splash more if needed, until the frosting is thick but softly spoonable. It should drape gently rather than run.
Spoon the frosting over the cooled cake, allowing it to fall naturally over the top.
While the frosting is still soft, sprinkle and gently press the reserved 2 tablespoons of ground pistachios and scatter some dried rose petals over the top of the cake. Finish with fresh berries just before serving.
⬇️ NOTE: Below this recipe card, I provide helpful step-by-step process photos for how to make this cake. I highly recommend you view them! ⬇️

Notes

Why did my cake stick to the pan? Almost always a greasing issue. Bundt pans have a lot of surface area and ridges, and spray alone doesn't reach every corner. The recipe calls for melted butter applied with a brush, followed by a generous flour dusting. That combination is the most reliable method. Also, make sure you let the cake cool in the pan for the full 15 minutes before inverting. Too soon and it can tear.
Can I skip the food coloring? Absolutely. The green food coloring is purely aesthetic. Without it, the cake will bake to a pale golden-cream color with flecks of green from the pistachios. It still looks lovely and tastes exactly the same. If you do use it, I recommend gel coloring over liquid because it gives a more controlled, even tint with far fewer drops.

Storage Tips

Fridge: Once frosted, store the cake covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. The cream cheese frosting requires refrigeration. Let slices come to room temperature before serving — cold cake straight from the fridge is noticeably denser.
Freezer: Freeze the cake unfrosted, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and foil, for up to 2 months.

Nutrition