Pistachio cake

Name: Pistachio cake
Prep time: 11 min
Cook time: 19 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Polish
Ingredients: 250g Butter; 200g Pistachio; 80g Plain Flour; 1 tsp Baking Powder; 225g Caster Sugar; 4 Egg; 1 tsp Vanilla Extract; 100g Icing Sugar; 250g Mascarpone; 200ml Double Cream; 100g Pistachio Paste; 400g Raspberries; 1 Unwaxed Lime

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Dessert recipe with Polish flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 42 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 30 min total

250g Butter
200g Pistachio
80g Plain Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
225g Caster Sugar
4 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
100g Icing Sugar
250g Mascarpone
200ml Double Cream
100g Pistachio Paste
400g Raspberries
1 Unwaxed Lime

Step-by-step instructions

Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter and line a 23cm springform cake tin. Tip 150g of the pistachios into a food processor and blitz until finely ground. Tip into a bowl and mix in the flour, baking powder and pinch of salt. Beat the butter and sugar in a separate bowl until fluffy and pale, around 5 mins. Crack in the eggs one at a time, beating well for 1 min after each addition, until they have all been added. Beat in the vanilla, then fold in the flour mixture gently. Carefully spoon into the prepared tin and bake for 35-40 mins until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely on a wire rack in the tin.
Meanwhile, sift the icing sugar into a bowl, then tip in the mascarpone, double cream and pistachio paste. Beat until well combined, then set aside in the fridge for 20-30 mins to thicken to a spooning consistency.
Cut the cooled cake in half horizontally using a serrated knife, so you have two layers. Put the bottom layer on a plate or cake stand and spread over a generous spoonful of the pistachio cream. Top with a generous handful of the raspberries so the cake is covered. Top with the other sponge half, then cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining cream. Scatter over the last of the raspberries, the remaining pistachios and the lime zest to serve. Will keep chilled in an airtight container for two days.

Why this works on a weeknight

Pistachio cake genuinely fits a 30-minute weeknight window, which is why it earned a spot in our Sweet Finishes collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Pistachio cake actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🍮 Sweet Finishes Dessert Polish ⚡ 30-Min Dinner