Pistachio Milk Cake

Pistachio Milk Cake is a version of Mexican Tres Leches Cake that we love. In this recipe, ground Pistachios are added to the cake, in the Milk and course pistachios are scattered over the top. Making it taste like a giant Pistachio Kulfi!

Pistachio Milk Cake

This Pistachio Milk Cake is adapted from my milk cake recipe (this recipe). I have adapted the cake recipe to include ground pistachios and added some to the tres leches too. 

This is a deliciously sweet recipe with a feather light moist pistachio sponge soaked in pistachio milk.

Pistachio Milk Cake

Tres leches translates to ‘three milks’ and in this recipe, the '3 milks' are - Double Cream, Evaporated Milk and Condensed Milk.

The volume in the cake is achieved by whipping egg whites. This also creates a very light cake. The cake is pierced all over and then the tres leches is poured over the top.  

Ingredients for Pistachio Milk Cake

Preheat the oven to GM4/180 C and butter a oven proof dish or oven tray leaving a ½ inch border around the edges. (9 x 13).

Roast Pistachios in a dry pan till fragrant.

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.

In a second bowl beat the egg whites for a minute before adding sugar and beating for another minute. Continue to beat for 1 – 2 minutes until it reaches the soft peak stage.

In a third bowl beat egg yolk with sugar till pale.

 

Combine Egg white and Egg Yolk mixture.

Gently add the flour mixture to the egg yolk mixture and fold in the whites.

Pour into tin/dish and bake for 25 – 30 minutes.

Make Milk mixture by combining evaporated milk, condensed milk, double cream, ground pistachio and cardamom in a bowl and whisking together.

Once cooled, pierce all over with a fork and drizzle in the milk mixture.

Leave for 30 minutes.

Beat the cream with sugar and spread over the top.

Sprinkle over course Pistachios.

tips for making the best pistachio milk cake:

• Be very gentle when mixing batters/egg whites/yolks and incorporating one mixture into another. Over mixing will remove all the volume created from the whisking of the whites.
• Let the cake rest for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour after pouring on the 3 milk syrup so it can absorb all the liquid. You can even leave it overnight.
• Bake in either a deep oven tray or pyrex rectangular dish. I used a 9 x 13 inch tin.
• Butter the tin or spray but not up the sides and not till the edges. 
• This cake will rise like a souffle and then fall slightly in the middle after it has been in contact with cooler air outside of the oven. 
• I added green colouring to the batter for the cake and to the tres leches. I used a gel colouring so a dot is enough. You can skip this entirely if you prefer.
• If you grind the pistachios too much, they will turn into a pistachio butter so keep a close eye on them and grind them in short bursts.
• Roasting the pistachios first brings out their flavour. Please don't be tempted to skip this step!
• I add 20g ground Pistachios to the Tres Leches mixture. This enhances the flavour of the pistachios without inhibiting absorption. There will still be a very slight puddle remaining on top.
• You can flip the cake upside down before pouring over the 3 milk mixture, so you have a nice flat surface to begin with.

how to store/make ahead

Yes! Store covered in the fridge for a few hours or up to 3 days.

can it be frozen?

It can but without the syrup and decoration. Make just the cake. Allow to cool and then cover with 2 layers of cling film before freezing for up to 2 months.

To serve, thaw in the fridge over night and add the syrup and decoration the following day.

variations

For a Ras Malai version, add Cardamom and Saffron into the syrup for the cake.

For a Mint Chocolate version – You can add Mint Essence into the Syrup and melt over some Mint Chocolate.

For a Nutella version – add 1 tablespoon Nutella into the Syrup and drizzle some over the top too.

For a Biscoff version, add 1 tablespoon of Biscoff into the syrup of the cake as well drizzling some over.

For a Masala Chai version, use milk instead of cream for the syrup and infuse it with masala chai spice and a tea bag in a pan. Place the pan over medium-low heat. When the milk begins to bubble, remove from the heat. Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature. This is best done a day ahead.

other milk cake recipes you may like:

Trilece

Chocolate Milk Cake

Saffron Milk Cake