High Altitude Orange Pistachio Layer Cake

Soft and fluffy high altitude orange pistachio layer cake, filled with homemade pistachio butter and frosted with fluffy pistachio buttercream. This cake is delicious sprinkled with chopped salted pistachios and candied orange peel.

You might also love this pistachio brownie chunk ice cream, pistachio coconut cake, and chocolate hazelnut cake.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Salty and Sweet. The best desserts have some salt to balance the sweetness, and the salted pistachios are the perfect balance to the sweet buttercream.

Wonderful Textures. I love the combination of textures in this cake. The orange cake is so soft, light and moist, the pistachio butter is nutty and creamy, and the fluffy pistachio buttercream is perfectly sweet. Then there’s the crunchy pistachios on top and the tart bits of candied orange peel to top it all off.

High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

Pistachio Butter

• Pistachios. Shelled, salted pistachios make this step quicker, but you can use unshelled pistachios, too, and remove the shells before grinding the nuts into butter.
• Salt. Add a little coarse Kosher salt to taste, if the nuts are unsalted.

Orange Cake

• 1 Recipe Orange Cake. My high altitude orange cake is soft, delicate, light and moist, as well as quick and easy to make with just a bowl and a whisk. It’s the perfect flavor to pair with the salty pistachios.

TIP: For best results, make sure your cake ingredients are at room temperature. The orange cake is delicate, so line the cake pans with parchment paper circles to ensure easy release.

Pistachio Buttercream

• Butter. I always use unsalted butter for my buttercream, and then add a little salt, but you can use salted butter as well.
• Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the buttercream.
• Meringue Powder. Adds stability and improves the texture.
• Salt. Coarse Kosher salt balances the sweetness and enhances the flavor of the pistachios.
• Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
• Pistachio Butter. You’ll be using the pistachio butter both as a filling between the cake layers, as well as whipped into the buttercream for lots of pistachio flavor in this orange pistachio cake.

Garnish

• Pistachios. Chopped pistachios add crunch and make a simple but beautiful garnish on top of the buttercream.
• Candied Orange Peel. The candied orange peel on top looks lovely and enhances the flavor of the orange cake. Feel free to just use a small amount of freshly grated orange zest instead.

Instructions

Pistachio Butter

• Measure the pistachios into a food processor. Process the nuts until they smooth out into a creamy paste, similar in texture to peanut butter. This step will take about 10 minutes, and you should run your food processor for about 30 seconds at a time, scraping down the sides frequently, and letting the motor rest for a few seconds before you run it again.
• When the pistachio butter is ready, scrape it into a jar and refrigerate until needed. If needed, add a little salt to taste.
• You can make the pistachio butter up to 1 week in advance, and store in the refrigerator.

Orange Cake

• Prepare and bake 1 recipe for Orange Cake in three 8-inch cake pans. This cake is very soft, fluffy and delicate, so handle the baked cake layers with care. Line the cake pans with circles of parchment paper and nonstick spray to ensure easy release.
• Cool the cakes completely in the pans, before removing them to frost and decorate your cake.
• You can make the cakes in advance, wrap each layer individually in plastic wrap and store at room temperature overnight, or freeze them for 3-6 months.

Pistachio Buttercream

• In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute until smooth.
• With the mixer on low, gradually add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt, mixing until combined, but thick and clumpy.
• Add the vanilla and pistachio butter. Increase the speed to medium (4-6) on a Kitchen Aid mixer, and whip for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl several times, until very light and fluffy. Turn the speed down to “stir” and mix for 1 more minute, to get rid of any large air bubbles.

Assembly

• Place one of the cooled cake layers on a cake board or cake pedestal. Spread the cake with a thin layer of pistachio butter (3-4 tablespoons), then spread with a layer of the pistachio buttercream. Add the next cake layer, and repeat with more pistachio butter and buttercream. Place the last cake on top.
• Frost the cake all over with a thin crumb coat of buttercream, then chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Keep the remaining buttercream covered while the cake is chilling.
• Frost the cake all over with a final coat of buttercream. If you like, fit a piping bag with a large tip, such as 6B, and pipe decorative swirls of buttercream on top of the cake.
• Sprinkle the top of the cake with the chopped pistachios and candied orange peel. If you don’t have candied orange peel, you can grate about 1/2 – 1 teaspoon fresh orange zest on top.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will this recipe work as a sheet cake?

I haven’t tested it, but the cake recipe should work fine in a 9×13 pan.

What size pans should I use if I cut the recipe in half?

You can make half the cake recipe and bake it in three 6-inch pans. If you want enough buttercream for piping the swirls on top, make 3/4 of the buttercream for a 6-inch cake.

What piping tip did you use for the buttercream?

I used tip 6B.

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