Pistachio and Lemon Layer Cake (Gluten Free)
 
This recipe calls for slightly more frosting than is required, so feel free to freeze or refrigerate the leftovers to ice cupcakes on another occasion.
Ingredients
  • You Will Need
  • 110g pistachios, finely ground in a food processor (or store bought if you can find them)
  • 230g rice flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 300g unsalted butter, softened
  • 300g caster sugar
  • 4 eggs, room temperature and lightly whisked together
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 200ml plain yoghurt
  • 1 lemon, zested and 1 tbsp of juice
  • For the Frosting
  • 90g unsalted butter, softened
  • 230g full fat cream cheese, room temperature
  • 740g icing sugar
  • 1 lemon, zested and 1 tbsp of juice
  • A small handful of pistachios, finely chopped
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180oc/160oc fan and grease and line three 20cm sandwich tins. In a bowl, whisk together the ground pistachios, rice flour, baking powder and salt then set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl if using a hand held whisk, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Slowly add the beaten egg and beat along with the vanilla paste. The mix will look a little curdled, but the dry mix will bring it back together.
  2. Pour in half the yoghurt and dry mix, then carefully fold. Add the remaining ingredients, including the lemon zest and juice and fold together before dividing equally between the three pans. Bake for 20 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes then remove and leave to cool completely on a wire rack, removing the baking paper.
  3. To make the frosting, place the butter and icing sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer then mix at a low speed to combine to a sandy texture. Add the cream cheese, lemon zest and juice then beat on high for 2-3 minutes until fluffy, keeping an eye on the mixture to ensure the frosting isn’t too soft and runny.
  4. To frost the cake, place one cake on a cake stand and slip four pieces of parchment paper underneath for a clean finish. Pile a generous helping of frosting on top of the cake and spread to the sides before topping with another cake and repeating. Add the top cake then do a crumb coating, ensuring the sides are smooth and any gaps are filled in. Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes then repeat until the cake is coated in frosting. Sprinkle the chopped pistachios around the outside of the cake and serve.
Recipe by Victoria Sponge Pease Pudding at http://victoriaspongepeasepudding.com/baking/pistachio-and-lemon-layer-cake-gluten-free/