Pistachio Chocolate Chip Vanilla Cream Cake

Today we celebrate Lotus being one year closer to POTUS! 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂  

Happy Birthday, Sweet Lotus 🪷

You are my little bug and I celebrate you and your mama every.single.day!!!

 

This Pistachio Chocolate Chip Vanilla Cream Cake is for you and Mama – eat your hearts out, ladies. 💕

The pistachio is one of those special flavors that we all love in savory snacks and meals, but also in delectable desserts. It’s bright and brilliant, super flavorful, crispy and crunchy, and simply, “just right,” Goldilocks. 

THEN, when we bake it with chocolate chips into a layer cake, sandwiched with pistachio pudding cream, and then frosted with vanilla buttercream and glaze, and dust it all with a few extra pistachio and chocolate chip chunks, we’re really in business.

 

Pistachio Chocolate Chip Vanilla Cream Cake

Cake:
8 Tbs. butter, room temperature + for the pans
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk
1 cup honey roasted pistachios, chopped
1 cup mini dark chocolate chips

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Butter three 6-inch-round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.

 

Whisk 3 cups flour, baking powder, and sea salt in a bowl until combined. 

 

Beat butter and sugar in a separate large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. 

 

Reduce the mixer speed to medium; beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed. 

 

Beat in the vanilla.  

 

Beat in the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with milk, until smooth. 

 

Fold in the pistachios and chocolate chips.

 

Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Bake until the cakes are lightly golden on top, and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. 

 

Transfer to racks and let cool 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge of the pans and turn the cakes out onto the racks to cool completely. 

 

Remove the parchment. 

 

Trim the tops of the cakes with a long-serrated knife to make them level, if desired. 

 

Freeze the layers for several hours before frosting – this makes icing much easier.

 

Pistachio Whipped Cream:
1 pkg. instant pistachio pudding
2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup water

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat until stiff. 

 

Refrigerate and let the cream pudding sit for 15 minutes.

 

Smooth the cream a top the bottom, cooled cake layer, top with another layer, smooth more cream pudding atop, and then finish with the last layer of cake. 

 

Reserve the remaining cream pudding in the fridge to serve alongside the cake or as a snack.

 

Vanilla Buttercream:
1 cup shortening or butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

 

Beat the shortening, sugar, and vanilla until smooth and creamy.

 

Frost the still cooled cake with the vanilla buttercream – liberally or minimally – smoothing all surfaces.

 

Garnish with vanilla drip frosting, chopped honey roasted pistachios, and mini chocolate chips.