Pistachio Cream Sponge Cake

A light, buttery genoise in three layers, brushed with syrup and filled with a pale green pistachio whipped cream made with Vizyon Boncream Whipping Cream and Vizyon Pistachio Cream (Bakestable). A Polen Food Oceania recipe for a classic layer cake.

Jump to recipe Shop ingredients
  • Prep 45 min
  • Bake 35 min
  • Rest / set 3 hrs 20 min
  • Assembling and decorating 30 min
  • Total 5 hrs 10 min
  • Serves 12
  • Level Intermediate
  • Oven 170 °C fan

A good genoise is one of the most useful things a baker can learn. It has no raising agent, only eggs and sugar whisked over gentle heat until they hold enough air to lift the flour. The result is a fine, springy crumb that soaks up syrup without going soggy, which makes it the right base for a whipped cream cake.

Here it is split into three layers and filled with pistachio whipped cream. For flavour and body we use Vizyon Pistachio Cream (Bakestable), a smooth, fluid pistachio filling cream that is ready to use straight from the tub. A small amount of Pistachio Concentrated Pastry Paste lifts the aroma and gives the cream its soft green colour.

The cream itself is Vizyon Boncream Whipping Cream, a powder mix you whip with cold milk. It has a high milk powder content for a milky flavour, and it spreads easily without cracking or weeping, which suits a filled cake that sits in the fridge.

The Boncream mix already contains sugar and both pistachio products are sweet, so the cream needs no extra sugar. Whip the powder with milk at 10–12°C, the temperature the mix is designed for. Then loosen the pistachio products with a spoonful of the whipped cream and fold them through by hand, so the cream keeps its air. Use the pistachio cream at room temperature rather than warmed: it is already fluid enough to blend, and any extra warmth would soften the whipped cream.

Bake the sponge a day ahead if you can. A chilled sponge slices into clean, even layers, and the finished cake then needs a couple of hours in the fridge to set before you serve it.

Polen Food Oceania polenfood.com.au

Desserts

Pistachio Cream Sponge Cake

A light, buttery genoise in three layers, brushed with syrup and filled with a pale green pistachio whipped cream made with Vizyon Boncream Whipping Cream and Vizyon Pistachio Cream (Bakestable). A Polen Food Oceania recipe for a classic layer cake.

Makes One 20 cm three-layer cake

  • Prep 45m
  • Bake 35m
  • Rest / set 3h 20m
  • Assembling and decorating 30m
  • Total 5h 10m
  • Serves 12
  • Level Intermediate
  • Oven 170 °C fan

The recipe

Pistachio Cream Sponge Cake

Makes One 20 cm three-layer cake

Method

Genoise

  1. Heat the oven to 170°C fan. Brush the cake tin with melted butter, line the base with baking paper, then dust the sides with flour and tap out the excess.

  2. Melt the butter and keep it warm, at about 45°C. Sift the flour and salt together twice. Sifting twice aerates the flour so it folds in faster, which means less mixing and less air lost.

  3. Put the eggs and caster sugar in the heatproof bowl of your stand mixer and set it over a pan of barely simmering water. Whisk constantly by hand until the mixture reaches 40–45°C and the sugar has dissolved. Warm eggs are more fluid and whip to a larger, more stable foam.

  4. Move the bowl to the mixer and whisk on high speed for 5 minutes, then on medium for 3–5 minutes more. The mixture should be pale, about tripled in volume and thick enough to leave a ribbon on the surface for about three seconds. The slower finish breaks large air bubbles into smaller, stronger ones, giving a finer crumb.

  5. Sift the flour over the foam in three additions. Fold each addition in with a large spatula, cutting down through the centre and sweeping up from the bottom of the bowl, until no streaks remain.

  6. Stir a large spoonful of the batter into the warm melted butter until smooth, then fold this back into the batter. Butter is heavy and deflates foam. Lightening it first stops it sinking to the bottom and knocking out the air.

  7. Pour the batter into the tin straight away and bake for 30–35 minutes. Keep the oven door closed for the first 20 minutes. The sponge is ready when it is evenly golden, springs back when pressed gently, has shrunk slightly from the sides and a skewer comes out clean.

  8. Run a thin knife around the edge and turn the sponge out onto a wire rack lined with baking paper. Leave it to cool completely, about 1 hour. For the cleanest layers, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour, or overnight.

Syrup

  1. Bring the water and caster sugar to the boil in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Take the pan off the heat and cool the syrup completely before using it.

Pistachio whipped cream

  1. Pour the milk into a clean mixer bowl and check it is at 10–12°C. Add the Boncream powder and whisk on high speed for 3–4 minutes, until the cream is thick, smooth and holds its shape. This is the temperature the mix is designed to whip at, and it gives the best volume and texture.

  2. In a small bowl, stir the bakestable pistachio cream until smooth, then stir in the concentrated pastry paste and a large spoonful (about 100 g) of the whipped cream until smooth and evenly green. Use the pistachio cream at room temperature, not warmed. It is fluid, but still much richer and heavier than the whipped cream, so loosening it first brings the two closer in texture and it blends in without lumps or over-mixing.

  3. Add the pistachio mixture to the whipped cream and fold it through by hand with a spatula just until evenly combined, smooth and glossy. Cover and chill for at least 15 minutes before using, so the cream firms up for spreading and piping.

Assembly

  1. Trim any dome from the top of the sponge with the serrated knife. Cut the sponge horizontally into three even layers, each about 1.5 cm thick.

  2. Put the base layer on a cake board or serving plate and brush it with a third of the syrup. Spread on about 200 g of the pistachio cream. Repeat with the second layer, then add the top layer cut side down and brush it with the rest of the syrup.

  3. Set aside about 100 g of cream for piping. Spread a thin coat of cream over the top and sides to seal in the crumbs, then chill for 20 minutes.

  4. Spread the rest of the cream over the top and sides. Smooth the top and scrape the sides back lightly for a semi-naked finish.

  5. Spoon the reserved cream into the piping bag and pipe rosettes around the top edge. Scatter chopped pistachios over the centre and press a band of them around the base of the cake.

  6. Chill the cake for at least 2 hours before serving. This sets the cream and lets the syrup moisten the sponge evenly. Slice with a knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry between cuts.

Equipment

  • 20 cm round cake tin, at least 7 cm deep
  • Stand mixer with whisk attachment
  • Heatproof bowl and saucepan (for a bain-marie)
  • Digital thermometer
  • Fine sieve
  • Large flexible spatula
  • Long serrated knife
  • Pastry brush
  • Offset palette knife
  • Piping bag with a medium open star nozzle
  • Cake turntable (optional)

Chef’s tips

  • Use a thermometer when warming the eggs and sugar. Below about 40°C the foam is less stable. Much above 50°C the eggs start to cook at the edges of the bowl.
  • The ribbon stage is your guide that the sponge will rise. Lift the whisk: the batter should fall in a thick ribbon that sits on the surface for about three seconds before sinking.
  • Fold the flour in with long, sweeping strokes from the bottom of the bowl. Streaks of flour collapse in the oven, but over-mixing knocks out the air you have just built.
  • Check the milk with your thermometer before whipping the Boncream. It should be 10–12°C, slightly warmer than straight from the fridge, so take it out a few minutes ahead.
  • Whip the Boncream and milk only for the 3–4 minutes the mix needs. Then fold the pistachio mixture in by hand rather than with the mixer: the bakestable pistachio cream is rich and much heavier than the whipped cream, so gentle folding keeps the cream light and smooth.
  • Keep the pistachio cream cold between stages. If it softens during decorating, return the bowl to the fridge for 10 minutes.
  • The concentrated paste gives a fairly bright green. If you prefer a more natural tone, use 15 g and let the bakestable pistachio cream carry the flavour.
  • Chop the pistachios just before using them for the brightest colour and freshest flavour.
  • Use the bakestable pistachio cream at room temperature, straight from the tub. It can be warmed slightly for spreading in other recipes, but here warmth would soften the whipped cream and cost you volume.

Storage

Keep the finished cake covered in the fridge and eat it within 2 days. Take it out about 15 minutes before serving. The unfilled sponge keeps for 2 days wrapped in plastic wrap at cool room temperature, or for up to 1 month frozen. Thaw it wrapped before splitting. We don't recommend freezing the assembled cake.

Find this recipe, and everything you need to make it, at polenfood.com.au/recipes/pistachio-cream-sponge-cake/

Pistachio Cream Sponge Cake
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