This cake was a labor of love. Do you ever have something that you firmly believe will be amazing, but every attempt you make at is just isn’t quite right? For me, that was this Orange Pistachio Cake.
I made this cake last year for my birthday because I couldn’t get the thought of orange, pistachio, and honey out of my mind. It turned out all right, but naturally, I confused my ratios a bit so that there was way too much butter in the cake. It was all right, but the cake was far too tender and could barely hold together. Sure, it was moist, and the flavors were there, but it wasn’t right yet. Add to that the fact that I decided to quickly throw together an American-style Earl Grey and Honey Buttercream, and the cake was just overwhelmingly sweet.
So then I tried it again. Messing with the ratios until I thought I finally had it…Nope. There was too much sugar, not enough butter, and I got distracted while it was baking so that after 20 minutes, the cakes were overbaked and utterly dry. I can’t lie, I was a bit mortified at the sound my fork made on the edges as I tapped it! Despite the terrible bake, the flavor was still there, and that was one thing that I knew I had right.
And so I continued tweaking the recipe–adding eggs, adding butter, removing butter completely and replacing it with oil, reducing the sugar, adding the amount of orange zest, changing the coarseness of the pistachios–and finally, I got there! This cake is what I was dreaming about: soft yet holds itself together, moist, citrusy, and nutty. It’s oil-based, which means that it will retain it’s moisture and won’t dry out overnight if you make the layers a day ahead of time and need to wrap them in plastic wrap. Not to mention, it’s made using the reverse creaming method, which means you mix together the dry ingredients, add the oil and a little bit of milk to coat the dry ingredients, and then add the rest of the milk and eggs about 1/3 at a time until the batter comes together; the whole thing only requires about 1 bowl (if you have a stand mixer, just throw it all into the bowl for that!) and a measuring cup.
Once I got the cake right, I knew I needed to get the buttercream right, and I knew that I wanted a Swiss meringue. The magic of a Swiss meringue buttercream is that it’s smooth and covers cakes so beautifully, but more importantly, it doesn’t kill the cake with the pure sweetness of powdered sugar. It’s a soft sweetness that carries the flavors of honey and Earl Grey without killing them, adding to the cake rather than distracting from it. And I knew that to get the Earl Grey flavor to actually stand out, I wasn’t going to be able to just toss a couple of tablespoons of tea into the mixing bowl. Nope, I needed to infuse the butter.
It’s just about crazy how well it works, but letting the tea leaves steep in the butter and then removing them through a fine sieve helps to really impart the flavor of the tea in this frosting. Once this Earl Grey and Honey Swiss Meringue Buttercream (I’m not the kind of girl to eat frosting by the spoonful as it’s way too sweet–I usually take it off my cake–but I was ready to start spooning away at this stuff!) was ready, the cake came together just as I had imagined it and I knew that I was so set on making it and perfecting it for a reason.
It just goes to show that things may not always turn out perfectly the first time you try them, but after looking closely and evaluating what worked well and what needs to be adjusted, you can eventually get the result you were hoping for. It just takes time, patience, and a whole lot of trust that once things come together, it will be worth it!
| Cook Time | 20-25 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 400 grams all purpose flour sifted
- 140 grams roasted pistachios (about 1 cup) finely ground
- 325 grams granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cardamom
- 2 medium oranges zest only
- 40 mL olive oil
- 180 mL vegetable oil
- 150 mL milk
- 4 eggs large, room temp
- 1 egg yolk from large egg, room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp orange extract
- 3 cups butter
- 3 bags Earl Grey tea
- 152 grams egg whites (whites of about 5 large eggs)
- 304 grams granulated sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 3-4 Tbsp honey
Ingredients
Orange Pistachio Cake
Earl Grey & Honey Swiss Meringue Buttercream
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- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease and line the bottom of three 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand mixer), combine the flour, pistachios, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, cardamom, and zest of 2 oranges. Fit the stand mixer with a paddle attachment and mix on low until fully the dry ingredients are fully mixed together.
- Add the oil and 50 mL of milk to the dry ingredients. Mix on low until the dry ingredients are fully coated/moistened. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
- In a measuring cup, whisk together the remaining 100 mL of milk, eggs and egg yolk, vanilla extract, and orange extract. Add this wet mixture to the mixing bowl 1/3 at a time. Mix on low-medium low until combined while making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl between each addition. After you mix in the last of the wet ingredients, divide the batter evenly between the three prepared cake pans. Gently smooth the tops with a spatula and tap the pan on the counter once or twice to get rid of any air bubbles.
- Bake 20-25 minutes until the tops are springy to the touch and the sides begin to pull away from the cake pan. You may also insert a toothpick into the center of the cake; if the toothpick comes out clean or with just a few small crumbs, your cakes are ready. (It's likely that you will need to use two racks to bake all three cakes at once, if this is the case, rotate the pans from one rack to the next after the first 15 minutes of baking).
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Turn the cakes over onto the rack and remove the parchment paper from the bottom. Allow to continue cooling before decorating or wrapping in plastic wrap to store overnight.
- Steep the tea in butter: In a large saucepan, melt three cups of butter over medium heat. Once melted, pour the leaves from 3 bags of Earl Grey tea into the pan and turn the heat down to low. Allow the leaves to steep in the butter for about 5 minutes. Turn the heat off and allow the tea to steep for an additional 5 minutes. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve, making sure to press down on the tea leaves with a rubber spatula to help squeeze all the butter out. Some leaves may slip through the sieve. If you don't mind speckled buttercream, you can leave them there, but if you're more patient than I am, discard of the leaves in your sieve and then pour the infused butter through it again. Let the butter come to room temperature or refrigerate it until it firms up but is still soft enough to hold an indentation.
- Make the swiss meringue: Pour about 2 cups of water into a large pot and allow it to come to a simmer. Combine egg whites, sugar, and pinch of salt in the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl if using a hand mixer). Turn down the heat on the stove and place the bowl onto the pot of water. Using a wire whisk, whisk constantly until the sugar is fully dissolved. You can easily check to see if it's ready by rubbing some of the mixture between your fingers--if it's grainy, keep mixing--until it feels smooth or until a candy thermometer inserted into the bowl reads 160°F. Immediately transfer the bowl to the stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whisk on high until the bottom of the bowl feels cool to the touch and stiff peaks form (about 10 minutes).
- Once the meringue holds stiff peaks, add in 3-4 Tbsp honey and keep mixing on high. Switch to the paddle attachment and lower the speed of the mixer. Add the softened infused butter a little bit at a time, mixing until fully combined between each addition. (If your buttercream looks soft while mixing in the butter, pop it into the refrigerator for about 10-15 minutes. This will help the meringue cool down and firm up so that you can keep mixing). Mix until all of the butter is fully combined.
- Trim the tops off the cake layers so that they are even in size. Place one layer on a serving plate or on a cardboard cake round. Top with three large spatulas full of frosting (about 1 cup), and spread evenly around the layer. Repeat the process with layer #2. Place the final layer of the cake on top with the bottom-side up so that you're left with a flat surface. Use the remaining swiss meringue buttercream to frost the top and outside of the cake. If desired, use extra buttercream to pipe a design on the top of the cake and decorate with roasted pistachios.