Every year, I love to share unique, fun cake flavors for all of your celebration needs. Baking a cake is more time-intensive than a batch of cookies or brownies, but there’s something so satisfying about topping off a homemade cake with frosting made from scratch and showing it off for any occasion.
This beautiful lemon pistachio cake has a tender crumb, the perfect amount of sweetness and brightness, and gets topped with the most incredible lemon buttercream frosting. It’s a great way to use up seasonal citrus while adding a little sunshine to those spring showers. OH, and did I mention it’s gluten-free and easily made dairy-free? This cake ALMOST went in my first cookbook, so you know it’s good.
Whether you’re looking for a special treat for your Easter menu, a birthday, or just want to show your family a little love, this cake is just the thing. Top with your favorite fresh berries and share a slice with the people you care about the most!
Ingredients in the best lemon pistachio cake
This pistachio cake is gluten-free, perfectly sweet, and has ground pistachios for the most amazing texture and flavor. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
- Pistachios: you’ll be grinding up pistachios and adding them straight to the batter for lovely pistachio flavor. I used roasted salted pistachios for extra flavor, but you can also use unsalted.
- Flour: we’re using a mix of almond flour and oat flour to keep the cake gluten-free and give it the most incredible crumb and flavor.
- Baking staples: you’ll need both baking powder and baking soda, plus a little salt.
- Lemons: for a wonderful brightness, we’re adding both lemon juice and lemon zest to the batter.
- Sugar: this cake is sweetened with organic cane sugar. You can also use regular granulated sugar.
- Eggs: you’ll need 4 eggs to help the cake bake properly.
- Yogurt: a little whole milk Greek yogurt gives the cake extra moisture. I like to use vanilla yogurt for more sweetness, but plain is great too!
- Almond extract: I also like adding almond extract instead of vanilla extract to bring out the pistachio flavor.
- Frosting & topping: we’re using my Lovely Lemon Buttercream Frosting to frost the cake, plus low sugar strawberry jam, raspberry jam, or blueberry jam between the layers, and fresh berries on top.
Can I make this cake dairy-free or vegan?
Feel free to use dairy-free yogurt in the cake batter and vegan butter in the frosting to keep the cake fully dairy free.
I haven’t tested this cake using flax eggs to keep it vegan, and wouldn’t recommend it as I think it would change the texture too much.
A note on flour substitutions
Unfortunately, I cannot recommend a substitute for the almond or oat flour (like all purpose flour) in this pistachio cake, as the ratios are what give this cake the perfect texture. See below for how to make your own oat flour for ease!
Make your own oat flour at home
You can easily make homemade oat flour to use in this lemon pistachio cake recipe. Check out my tutorial on how to make homemade oat flour right at home. So easy!
Want to try another frosting?
This cake would also be delicious with:
- Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- Lemon raspberry frosting from this cake
- Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
- Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Perfect lemon pistachio cake in 6 steps
- Prep your pans. Line your cake pans with parchment paper rounds, and spray the insides with nonstick cooking spray.
- Blend the pistachios. Add your pistachios to a food processor and process until they’re finely ground. Be careful not to over-process; otherwise, you’ll end up with pistachio butter instead of a fine flour-like texture. Reserve a couple tablespoons for decorating.
- Whisk the dry ingredients. Whisk together all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Make the batter. In a separate large bowl, rub together the sugar and lemon zest to infuse the sugar, then whisk in all of the wet ingredients. Mix in the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon.
- Bake & make the frosting. Divide the batter into your cake pans and bake them up! While the cakes are baking, make the frosting.
- Frost & serve. Frost your cooled cakes (see below for tips), garnish with berries and crushed pistachios, and serve!
Choose your pan size
- For 2 8-inch round cakes: bake for 18-25 minutes
- For 3 6-inch round cakes: bake for 22-28 minutes
- For cupcakes: check them around 15 minutes.
Tips for a perfectly frosted cake
I recommend doing a crumb coat so that the lemon frosting is smooth and beautiful on your cake!
- Cool the cake. Start with a completely cooled cake so that the frosting doesn’t melt into the cake layers.
- Frost, then chill. Frost between the layers as you normally would, then coat the outside of the cake with a very thin layer of frosting. Place the cake in the fridge (or freezer works too!) for 10-15 minutes. This is so that the crumbs stick to this layer of frosting and not your main layer.
- Frost again. Finally, frost the cake again by adding the rest of the frosting on top of your crumb coat. Use a bench scraper to smooth it all out!
How to store & freeze this lemon pistachio cake
You can easily make this gluten-free pistachio cake 1-2 days ahead of time! Feel free to make the cake layers ahead and store them in the fridge, or make the whole frosted cake and store it.
- To store: I recommend storing the cake well covered in the refrigerator for up to 5-7 days.
- To freeze: freeze this lemon pistachio cake, either frosted or unfrosted, for up to 2 months. I recommend freezing it unfrosted in individual layers for the best results. First, wrap each individual layer in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil, and then place the cakes in a zip-top freezer bag. When you’re ready to serve it, simply thaw it in the refrigerator overnight and then let the cake come to room temperature before frosting and serving.
Our fav cake baking tools
- Food processor
- 6 inch cake pans
- Parchment paper
- Lemon zester
- Lemon juicer
- Whisk
- Wooden spoon
- Mixing bowls
- Stand mixer
- Hand mixer
- Offset spatula for frosting
- Bench scraper for frosting
- A nice cake stand
Get all of our go-to kitchen essentials here!
More cake recipes you’ll love
- Dad’s Extraordinary Yellow Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Almond Lemon Raspberry Poppy Seed Cake
- Inside Out Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake
- The Best Healthy Carrot Cake You’ll Ever Eat (gluten free & paleo-friendly!)
- Neapolitan Cake
Get all of my cake recipes here!
I hope you love this lemon pistachio cake recipe! If you make it be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Lemon Pistachio Cake with Lovely Lemon Frosting
Ingredients
- Dry ingredients:
- 1 cup (135g) roasted shelled pistachios*
- 1 ½ cups (169g) fine blanched almond flour
- 1 cup (95g) oat flour, gluten free if desired
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Wet ingredients:
- Zest from 2 large lemons
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar (I use organic cane sugar)
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- ½ cup (113g) plain or vanilla whole-milk Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup (50g) fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- For the cake:
- 1 batch Lovely Lemon Frosting
- 6 tablespoons low sugar strawberry jam (or sub blueberry!)
- Strawberries (or berries of choice), for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of three 6-inch round cake pans or two 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper rounds. Spray parchment paper and sides of the pans with nonstick cooking spray. YOU SHOULD USE PARCHMENT PAPER – do not forget or the cakes will stick to the pan.
- Prepare pistachios: Add 1 cup pistachio to the bowl of a food processor and process on high until pistachios are finely ground, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Reserve 1 to 2 tablespoons of ground pistachios and set aside for decorating the cake later.
- Mix together the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, add the pistachios (minus the 1 to 2 tablespoons reserved), then whisk in the almond flour, oat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Mix together the wet ingredients: In a separate large bowl, add the sugar and lemon zest and use clean fingers to rub the zest into the sugar for 1 minute. This will infuse the lemon flavor into the sugar. Next add the eggs, yogurt, lemon juice and almond extract; whisk until smooth and well combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon until smooth. Mix in 1 to 2 drops of dye free food coloring if you want it more green and fun!
- Bake the cakes: Divide batter evenly between pans and spread out with a spatula to smooth the tops. Bake for 18-25 minutes in the two 8-inch pans or 22-28 minutes for three 6-inch pans. My 6-inch pans were done at 25 minutes. Cakes are done when a tester comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Allow the cake to cool completely before removing from the pans. The cake should be room temperature when you frost it. This is very important. Cakes can be made a day ahead if you’d like and kept individually well wrapped in the fridge.
- Make your frosting according to the recipe here.
- Frost the cake: Place about 1 to 2 tablespoons down onto the cake stand and spread out. Run a butter knife around the edges of the pan for easy removal then invert a cake onto the cake stand (so the flat side is up), add about 1/2 heaping cup frosting and spread toward the edges. Add 3 tablespoons (if using 6-inch cakes) or 6 tablespoons (if using 8-inch cakes) of strawberry jam on top of the frosting and use a knife to spread towards the edge leaving about ¼ inch border so the jam doesn’t squish out of the cake. Place the next layer of cake, flat-side up, on top of the first layer, and repeat, topping with an additional 1/2 cup of frosting and spreading it to the edge. Top with another 3 tablespoons of strawberry jam (if using a 6-inch cake). Place the third layer (if using) flat-side up on top, then frost the top and sides of the cake with ½ cup of frosting, using a bench scraper or offset spatula to create a uniform, very thin layer of frosting around the cake. It helps to do this while slowly spinning the cake stand and gently pressing the scraper against the side of the cake. (This step is called a crumb coat which will allow for a beautiful, seamless look once complete.)
- Transfer the cake to the fridge for 15 to 20 minutes, until the crumb coat layer of frosting has firmed up to the touch. Once the cake is chilled, repeat the process of frosting the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting, using an offset spatula. Since the cake has been chilled, the crumb coat should allow for a smoother finish. If the cake is slightly ‘naked’ on the outside, that’s okay, it’s going to be delicious! Garnish with a dusting of reserved ground pistachios. Top with fresh strawberries (or mixed berries) in the middle just before serving the cake to make sure they stay as fresh as possible!
- Store: Enjoy immediately or store the cake in the fridge for up to 5 days, well-covered to ensure freshness.
Recipe Notes
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on February 5th, 2024, and republished on March 29th, 2026.
I made this magnificent cake for our Easter dinner dessert. It was spectacular and everyone loved it. I followed the recipe as written and I’ll definitely be making this again. This is almond forward so if you’d like a more subtle almond flavor, I’d agree with other reviews to do half almond and half vanilla extracts. Bravo, Monique – you have another winner here!
So happy to hear that! One of our fav cakes for spring 🙂
This turned out great!! I used the lemon cream cheese frosting recipe (you’ll have to double it for this cake) and it turned out so good! My husband loved it and had no idea it was gluten free. Very moist and came together easily.
Perfect! So glad you both enjoyed!
This cake is SO yummy!! I had it at a galentines night and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. I’m thinking of replacing the lemon with orange in the cake and frosting just for fun (even though the lemon is delicious). Think that would work ok?
Amazing! I haven’t tested it, but I suspect it should work. Otherwise, you can try my Orange Zucchini Cake with Orange Frosting!
I want to make this for my son’s 5th birthday (he requested a lemon cake with blueberry frosting), but he doesn’t like nuts. Can I just leave out the pistachios in the recipe?
Unfortunately, the ground pistachios make up part of the “flour” in this cake, so it won’t hold up without them. My other lemon cakes use almond flour, so I can’t recommend a swap here – sorry!
Honestly no notes, this cake recipe is insanely good and easy to make! Made it for my MIL’s birthday in the summer and just came back to the recipe because now it’s a pregnancy craving LOL. Super well balanced and delicious!
Amazing! One of my fav cakes, too 🙂
Hi,
I want to omit the lemon flavor, What can I replace 50g of lemon juice with to make a plain pistachio cake?
You could try 1/4 cup of dairy free milk + 1 teaspoon of vinegar.
Hi,
Can I omit lemon juice in this cake? What Can I add instead of lemon juice or should I simple omit 1/4 cup lemon juice?
Hi! I wouldn’t recommend it, as it’s really what adds the lemon flavor and interacts with the baking soda to help it rise.
I would say that this is a pretty solid recipe though after making it for the first time last week, I would say you really do not need the full 200g of sugar. I would use much less sugar next time. It was really too sweet. But I also don’t eat a lot of sugar. I made it for my personal trainer/physical therapist’s birthday as he requested it. I couldn’t really taste the pistachios as the lemon was very strong and overpowering. Next time I would probably swap out some of the sugar for more pistachios. I only made one batch of the cake batter but I knew I would want to decorate the heck out of it so I actually made 2.5x the buttercream recipe and mixed various dyes with it into piping bags for a really cute cake. I wish I could upload a photo of it. It came out beautifully.
Really the only complaint I have besides the cake being way too sugary, is the amount of jam it says to use in-between each layer. It was WAY too much. I’m not sure if maybe her jam was just a different consistency than mine? But when I used the number of tablespoons specified (I think it was the equivalent of about 60g per layer), it straight up oozed out the sides when I placed the next layer of cake on top. Kind of annoying. I used St. Dalfour Strawberry preserves BTW. If I was making this for myself I would have used raspberry instead but my PT wanted strawberry. It still tasted really good! You could probably leave it out if you don’t have it on hand though because it makes it a much more fiddly experience when trying to frost the cake… Just saying.
Overall a decent recipe after you make some tweaks. It’s still not stealing the spot for my most loved cake recipe which is still the Damn Good Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Cup gluten free cake which is also on this website!!
BTW I’m not gluten free but I love how these cakes taste. They are much thicker and more satisfying to eat (more calories too!) than regular cakes. And my friends and colleagues with Celiac can enjoy them too! A win for everybody!
Thank you for your notes on this! I’m glad it was still a hit 🙂 Let me know if you try it with a reduced amount of sugar next time, and feel free to reduce the jam as well 🙂
YUMMM!
I wouldl like to try this but am confused by the lack of any oil (or vegan butter) in the cake? Thanks!
Hi! The Greek yogurt and eggs provide the moisture and fat needed (as well as the nut flours!)
Can I use coconut sugar instead of cane sugar?
Sure, but the cake may turn darker in color FYI!
Best gluten-free cake I’ve ever had or made! Tons of compliments on it.
I did not frost the sides and I’m glad I didn’t. The frosting would be too sweet. Next time would make a cream cheese lemon frosting to top with.
Fantastic recipe! The cake has great texture and flavour. I will certainly make this again. I did find the jam quite sweet. Next time I think I might use frozen raspberries with a little sugar. Also I made the frosting a little healthier using 200g cream cheese 120g butter 180g icing sugar juice and zest of 2 lemons. Ate the cake 2 days after baking and it tasted super fresh
Perfect! Yes, feel free to adjust the jam if you’d like 🙂 Glad you loved it!
Amazing! I will certainly make this again. I will use a bit less sugar and leave off the jam between the layers (maybe replace it with just some blended rasberries… to reduce the sweetness) And have to admit I can not serve people this much fat so I did do a cream cheese frosting.
So if you feel like real fabulous indulgence – MAKE THIS!
Glad you enjoyed!
way to dry and doesn’t go as far as three cake pans. would not make again. very expensive and disappointing
Hi! I’ve made this cake several times and have not run into this issue. Were you using 6″ cake pans? And did you measure or weigh your ingredients?
Can this cake be made without Oat Flour – using just the pistachio, almond flour – and replacing the Oat Flour with almond flour?
I wouldn’t recommend swapping the flours in this recipe!
The flavor is great but mine did not rise at all, i follower the recipe exactly. Do they turn out like the picture or are they flatter? I used a 9 inch pan
Hi! How many 9 inch pans did you use? I used 3 6-inch pans in this recipe.
I made this cake for a baby shower, had multiple people saying it was the best cake they’ve ever had! Coming from gluten full eaters, it was quite the compliment!
For the strawberry filling, I cooked down some fresh strawberries and added that to the strawberry jam to make sure it wasn’t overly sweet.
This will be a go to recipe for myself, friends and family!
Amazing! So glad it was a hit!
Hi there!
I just made the cakes in 8 inch pans. They are each only about 3/4 inch tall. Is this normal when using the 8 inch rather than 6 inch rounds? I am at about 7500 feet so I did reduce the baking powder/baking soda recommended by my high altitude cooking reference. Also, my batter seemed pretty thick, maybe I didn’t mix it well enough, although not sure it would have thinned out at all? Thoughts?
Thank you!
Hi! Yes, because 8-inch pans are wider, the batter won’t fill them up as much. Because this is a gluten-free cake, the batter will be thicker but will bake up perfectly!
The ingredients list says shelled pistachios… is that accurate?
Yes! You won’t want to add the shells to your food processor.
So you manually remove all the shells?!
You can buy pre-shelled pistachios!
This cake is flawless. I’ve done the recipe as is then tried a hazelnut version and both were amazing. For the hazelnut version I substituted ground toasted hazelnuts for pistachio, a vegan buttermilk for the juice, and a chocolate frosting. I even doubled the recipe and it baked perfectly by doubling the bake time. So versatile, delicious and healthy. 5 stars for sure!!
I’m glad those swaps worked out well!
Do you think I can bake it in a Bundt pan?
I haven’t tested it so I’m not 100% sure how the baking time would change!
I made this recipe for my wifes birthday and it turned out amazing. I used blueberry jam and made the top a bit more decorative. Super easy and super moist cake, highly recommend.
So happy to hear that!!
Can these be made as cupcakes? If so, what temp and how long to bake? Thank you!
Yes, same temp and check them around 15 minutes!
I’d like to try this but I’m not a fan of dense cakes generally. Is this a dense cake? Also, I have 2 x 7″ cake pans. Would this work if I bake it a bit longer or will it sink in the middle? I’ve had this happen occasionally with GF bakes. Thx
Hi! Because this cake uses GF flours it will be denser than non-GF cakes, but not overly so. It just depends how dense is too dense for you! The 2 x 7″ cake pans should work, but you might have a bit of batter left over as this recipe will fill 2 8″ cake pans.
So obsessed with this recipe!!! Every time I make it, it’s a crowd favorite. I want to make these into cupcakes! How would you adjust the cooking time and oven temp?
So happy to hear that! Keep the oven time the same and check the cupcakes around 15 minutes 🙂
Can you make this cake with all purpose flour instead of almond flour?
Unfortunately, no, the texture will be much different. Sorry!
This was so delicious, so full of pistachio flavour, and such a crowd pleaser. Thank you!
So glad it was a hit!
This cake is delicious! The flavors work so well together. Perfect springtime cake.
Absolutely! Glad you enjoyed!
instead of grinding i have pistachio flour in a bag, would would the amount be to use in this rece
thank you
Great question! I haven’t measured this out so I can’t be 100% sure, but I think it will be around 3/4 cup.
This recipe was amazing! Made for my mom’s birthday. Made it vegan with vanilla coconut yogurt in the wet ingredients and Earth Balance original in the frosting to accommodate some DF family members. Fabulous subs, and the texture of both cake and frost was sooooo good.
I must say, I am by far from an avid baker – a unique cake from scratch was a huge stretch of the comfort zone. This recipe was written in such great detail with many helpful tips, it honestly turned out in spectacular fashion.
My only comment is that I personally found the almond extract a bit strong tasting and verging on overpowering. Everyone else in the group did not agree, they LOVED it, so I’d say this is not a recipe flaw but a personal preference. Might go for vanilla or even lemon extract next time.
Thanks AK for yet another banger!!!
So happy to hear that! This is one of those desserts that feels really special but is easier to bake than you think 🙂 Noted on the almond extract, too – it really is a personal taste preference, so feel free to reduce or swap it for yourself!
I’m hoping to make this for an upcoming birthday party, but I need to make it a couple of days in advance. Would it freeze well if I left it unfrosted and just wrapped the cake layers in cling wrap?
Yes! Check out the full blog post for freezing instructions.
I make an AK cake for nearly every celebration at my house. I made this one for Easter and it is my favorite AK cake so far! Great texture, delicious flavors. The lovely lemon frosting and strawberry jam really make it over the top. Thank you for another delicious cake recipe, Monique!
Love that so much!!
i loved this cake- i did substitute corn flour for the oat flour since it was being served to someone with an oat allergy and i thought it worked well with the almond and pistachio. i’m making it for the second time now actually.
I’m glad that worked out well! Perfect treat.
Oh I love that. I’ve got a celiac with a corn and oat (and quinoa) issue so I’ve been wanting to make this cake for her but stuck for what to use with the almond flour. It will likely end up a trial and error thing. Glad you found something that worked for you
I want to make this cake a 3 layer, ‘8’ inch for a big party – do you have ingredient measurements for that?
Hi! I’ve only tested this cake with the given measurements, which makes a 3 layer 6-inch cake or 2 layer 8-inch cake, so I’m not sure how much extra batter you’ll need to make for another 8 inch layer.
Sorry i didn’t realize i sent this twice!
Hi! No problem. They should be very finely ground – check out the photo in the blog post, as well as the video to see what the texture should look like!
Hey there! I have a question, after i put my pistachios in the food processor. They were clumpy and moist, Can i still use them in the cake?
Can this be made into a sheet cake in a 9”x11” pan?
I think so! Please note that the cake will be a bit thinner, so be sure to reduce the baking time.
I don’t typically post reviews but wow, this might have been the best cake I’ve ever made. I didn’t do any modifications, followed the recipe exactly, and it came out perfectly. Everyone loved it. I highly recommend making this. Everything from the icing to the moistness of the cake was PERFECT!!!
Love that!! Thanks so much for your review!
First time making a layered cake. I have been wanting to try and test before being to a women’s retreat in April. This is such a good cake!! I had a small slice but couldn’t stop, had to go back for more!!! Beautiful and fancy looking, but all good ingredients!! Well the frosting adds some goodness with some sugar and fat, but all in moderation. Thank you so much for the amazing recipes!!
Amazing! So happy you loved it!
I made this cake for a birthday celebration and it was FANTASTIC! It was my first time making a layered cake and the instructions were extremely easy to follow, which I genuinely appreciate.
The cake was absolutely delicious. Light and full of flavor. I also made the lemon buttermilk frosting, and it added the perfect amount of sweetness. I will absolutely make this recipe again!!
Amazing! So happy to hear that!