This Lemon Ricotta Cake with Toasted Pistachio Frosting was my entry for this year’s Lancewood CakeOff contest. The recipe for the Lemon Ricotta Cake has been posted on the blog before and it is truly a delicious gluten free cake and has been a very popular recipe since it first appeared. 
But I wanted to make it even more special and decided to make a toasted pistachio frosting. It is rich and decadent but I belong to the school of thought that when it comes to cake you either go big or eat a salad. But in saying that, I realised afterwards that making it as a double layer cake is just too much so the recipe below is for a one layer cake with frosting and not the two layers you see in the images. Friends of mine who tasted the two layer extravaganza disagreed completely so if you want to go big, double the recipe for both the batter and frosting. 
With all the richness coming from the nuts and icing sugar in the frosting you need to use the most fragrant lemons you can find so I would suggest finding some organic ones at the market. Somehow lemon zest from supermarket lemons doesn’t seem to be that sharp anymore. 
The frosting has rich undertones of caramel and that comes from one of my favourite finds of the year. Natura Sugar’s Demerara Icing Sugar. This natural sugar is unrefined and has not had the molasses taken out and the slightly off white colour adds to the beautiful sandy golden brown colour of the frosting that is so fitting for the pistachios. 
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If you’ve made the Lemon Ricotta Cake with Toasted Pistachio Frosting share it with me by following and tagging @heinstirred on Instagram Cake recipe adapted from Cakelets and Doilies I am happy to let you know that my wooden range of spoons are again handmade to order. Do pop over to shop and place your order now. 
Lemon Ricotta Cake with Toasted Pistachio Frosting
Ingredients
- Cake:
- 120 g butter softened
- 200 g caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup lemon zest
- 4 eggs separated
- 240 g almond meal
- 300 g ricotta
- Frosting:
- 130 g icing sugar I used Natura Demerara Icing Sugar
- 50 g butter at room temperature
- 70 g cream cheese
- 70 g pistachio nuts shelled
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- zest of half a lemon
- good pinch of salt
Instructions
- Heat oven to 180 degrees C and line the base and sides of a 20cm round cake tin with baking paper.
- Place 100g of the castor sugar and the lemon zest in a food processor and blitz until finely ground.
- Then beat the butter, vanilla and sugar/zest mix together for about 10 minutes until pale and creamy.
- Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating the mixture well after each egg yolk is added.
- Add the almond meal and beat to combine and then fold the ricotta through the almond mixture.
- Beat the egg whites in a clean bowl until soft peaks form.
- Gradually add the remaining sugar to the egg whites and whisk until stiff peaks have formed. Mix a third of the egg whites into the cake mixture, then gently fold in the rest of the egg white mixture.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and smooth the top
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until cooked and firm to the touch
- Allow to cool completely in the cake tin before removing
- Heat the oven to 200 degrees C and place the pistachios on a baking sheet
- Toast the nuts for about 5 – 7 minutes until fragrant (be careful not to burn)
- Remove from the oven and let it cool down
- Once cool, blitz in a food processor until you have chopped nuts of various textures
- Beat the butter and icing sugar until fluffy
- Add the cream cheese, vanilla, zest and salt and beat until well combined
- Stir in about 50g of the pistachios
- Spread the frosting liberally on top of the cooled cake a sprinkle with the remaining pistachio nuts
- Cake recipe adapted from Cakelets and Doilies
A few more of my favourite baking recipes : Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting 
Chocolate Tahini Cake 
Basque Burnt Cheesecake 
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The Food Fox
Jun 18, 2018
Hein, that cake looks INCREDIBLE. Already on my list to bake and now I won’t be able to think of anything else. Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos!!
heinstirred
Jun 18, 2018
Thank you so much Ilse. I just know your version will be spectacular!
Brina
Jun 19, 2018
I love everything about this cake! Sounds perfect.
heinstirred
Jun 19, 2018
Great!. So happy you do Sabrina x
Lemon Ricotta Cake with Toasted Pistachio Frosting ~ Gastronomy-Art | Food Art
Jun 27, 2018
[…] SOURCE: heinstirred.com […]
FIona
Mar 27, 2019
The cake looks wonderful! I’m going to try it on the weekend, can it be made the day before?
heinstirred
Mar 28, 2019
Hello Fiona. Yes you can. I think it improves in flavour if it stands a day or two. Just keep it in an airtight container. Enjoy
Pistachio cake ~ Gastronomy-Art | Food Art
Jun 5, 2019
[…] SOURCE: heinstirred.com […]
Salome
May 14, 2020
Ist es wichtig das Mandelmehl verwendet wird? Oder wieso wurde das hier verwendet?
heinstirred
May 14, 2020
Hello Salome. The almond meal is so that the cake is gluten-free.
Andrea
Jul 31, 2020
Don’t you bake two halves and put together with frosting both in the middle and on top? That’s what the picture looks like
heinstirred
Jul 31, 2020
Hi Andrea. I photographed it and know 100% that I baked two cakes for the images as I needed something spectacular for the competition entry. I don’t think this cake can be sliced horizontally easily and neatly but do try it and let me know how it works.
Nadia
Dec 18, 2021
I made this cake today and it was AMAZING! I doubled the recipe and went for the layered cake, so glad I did because it was such a hit. Thanks so much for the great recipe
heinstirred
Dec 19, 2021
Fantastic news, thank you for letting me know Nadia
Karyn
Dec 23, 2021
Hello, I’m making this today for Christmas dinner tomorrow,
It’s baking in the oven now and smells absolutely amazing
I can’t wait to taste it!! Thank you for sharing this lovely recipe
heinstirred
Dec 23, 2021
Great news Karyn and thank you for the message. Wishing you a Merry Christmas.