A dramatic three layer lime and pistachio cake. The sponges contain pistachio nuts and are flavoured with lime. They’re sandwiched with a cream cheese filling along with a layer of lime and ginger curd. The top is then covered in more buttercream, candied lime slices and pistachio chocolate shards. Perfect for birthdays and other special occasions.
As soon as I saw my copy of the Clandestine Cake Club Cookbook, I knew immediately I wanted to make this Pistachio & Lime Cake for my friend’s upcoming birthday. This is one of Lynn Hill’s own and it is the one that graces the front cover of the book.
Lime and Pistachio Cake
So for the grand finale of my friend’s birthday bake, this is what I made – my most ambitious cake yet. Thankfully, I’d kept back a few of the Brazilian limes on purpose to go out with a bang.
I made my signature lime and ginger curd as a filling for the cake and also thought I’d try making crystallised lime slices to decorate the top. As it happened I had plenty of organic eggs courtesy of Penbugle Farm. This cake needs five large eggs.
Thus it was I donned my apron and off I went. I made my usual adjustments, you know I can’t help it. The recipe is a labour of love for sure, but most definitely worth it for a special occasion.
Word of warning though, if you want to make the crystallised limes, you’ll need to make them the day before you need them.
In fact, in terms of planning, you can make all elements of this cake the day before you need them. Then it’s just a case of assembling it all together when you’re ready.
Many thanks to Lynn Hill for this wonderful recipe. It made a stunning cake and caused a sensation among the party guests and most importantly of all, the birthday girl was absolutely delighted. Oh and by the way, it was truly mouth-watering.
Pistachio Chocolate Shards
The chocolate shards decorating the top are worth making in their own right. Perfect for any nutty chocolate lovers, they make a lovely gift. Just make sure you use a good quality chocolate.
It’s mostly a case of melting the chocolate, spreading it thinly then sprinkling it with chopped pistachio nuts. If you temper the chocolate, so much the better. It will look shinier and last longer than straightforward melted chocolate. I have a post on how to temper chocolate if you’re not sure how to do it.
The shards will take at least an hour to set, so you’ll need to factor this time into your planning.
Other Pistachio Bakes You Might Like
- Apricot almond cake with sticky pistachio topping
- Chocolate baklava
- Cocoa nib & pistachio shortbread
- Nigella’s chocolate pistachio cake
- Pistachio & orange blossom cake
- Rose, pistachio & almond biscuits
Keep in Touch
Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this lime and pistachio cake with or without the candied limes and chocolate shards, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or advice for making layer cakes?
Please rate the recipe. If you post pictures of your creations on social media, use the hashtag #tinandthyme so I can see them.
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If you’d like more layer cake recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Lime Pistachio Cake. PIN IT.
Lime and Pistachio Cake with Chocolate Shards
Ingredients
Candied Lime Slices
- 2 limes organic if you can
- 50 g golden granulated sugar
- 50 ml water
Sponges
- 300 g unsalted butter softened
- 300 g golden caster sugar
- 3 limes well scrubbed (zest of 3 and juice of two)
- 50 g pistachio nuts
- 5 large eggs free range and organic if you can
- 300 g flour (half wholemeal, half plain white)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Lime Syrup
- 1 lime juice only
- 2 tbsp golden caster sugar
Cream Cheese Icing
- 150 g unsalted butter softened
- 150 g icing sugar
- 1 lime zest only
- 150 g cream cheese
Chocolate Shards
- 75 g dark chocolate
- 25 g pistachio nuts
Assembly
- 50 g pistachio nuts
- 6 tbsp lime curd (I used homemade ginger and lime curd)
Instructions
Candied Limes
- Unless they’re organic, scrub the limes well in warm soapy water. Then rinse and dry. Using a sharp knife, slice them as thinly as you can.2 limes
- In a pan, dissolve the sugar in the water over a low heat. Once dissolved bring the syrup to the boil, add the lime slices and simmer for about 45 minutes – or until the peel is soft and translucent.50 g golden granulated sugar, 50 ml water
- Lay the slices out on some parchment paper over a wire rack in a warm place for 24 hours to dry.
Sponges
- Cream the butter and sugar together until very pale and fluffy. You can do this by hand with a bowl and wooden spoon or use electric beaters or a stand mixer.300 g unsalted butter, 300 g golden caster sugar
- Zest the limes straight into the mix and cream some more.
- Roughly chop the pistachio nuts and beat them into the mixture.50 g pistachio nuts
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding in a little of the flour if necessary to prevent curdling.5 large eggs
- Sift in the dry ingredients and stir as gently as possible together with the juice of two limes.300 g flour, 2 tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- Divide the mixture between three 20 cm (8″) lined cake tins or lightly greased silicone moulds. Level the tops.
- Bake at 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4) for 20 minutes until the tops are firm and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out more or less clean.
Lime Syrup
- Whilst the cakes are baking, make a syrup by heating the juice of two limes in a pan along with the sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Use one of the limes previously zested along with the additional one.2 tbsp golden caster sugar
- Pour this over the sponges as soon as they’re out of the oven, then leave them to cool in their tins.
- Once the sponges have soaked up the syrup and are more or less cool, turn the sponges out onto wire racks to cool completely.
Cream Cheese Icing
- Cream the butter and icing sugar together until very pale and fluffy.150 g unsalted butter, 150 g icing sugar
- Grate in the zest of a lime and cream some more.1 lime
- Beat in the cream cheese until it's just incorporated. Over beating cream cheese can turn it runny.150 g cream cheese
Chocolate Shards
- Melt the chocolate in a pan suspended over hot, but not boiling water.75 g dark chocolate
- Pour it onto a wooden board or piece of greaseproof paper and using a palette knife, spread out to about 3mm (⅛”) in thickness.
- Roughly chop the pistachios and sprinkle over the top. Leave for an hour or so to set, but don't put it in the fridge.25 g pistachio nuts
- Once set, cut into longish triangular shards.
Assembly
- Roughly chop the pistachios.50 g pistachio nuts
- Place one of the sponges on a serving plate and cover with a third of the cream cheese icing.
- Spread 3 tbsp of lime curd over the top of the icing.
- Scatter a third of the pistachios over the curd.
- Place a second sponge on top and repeat the process.
- Place the third sponge on top and spread with the remaining icing.
- Place a ring of crystallised lime rings around the outside of the cake.
- Arrange the chocolate shards upright in the centre, sticking them into the icing to hold them in place.
- Scatter the remaining chopped pistachios over the top.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Sharing
I’m entering this stunning lime and pistachio cake into Bookmarked Recipes. This is a monthly event hosted by Jac of Tinned Tomatoes.
As I made everything for this layer cake entirely from scratch, I’m entering it into Javelin Warriors Made with Love Mondays.
I’m also entering the bake into Credit Crunch Munch hosted alternately by Fab Food for All and Fuss Free Flavours. Now I know this may not look much like a frugal dish, but I had loads of limes which really did need using up and also lots of eggs which also needed using. So, if you take those out of the equation, it’s not quite as extravagant as it looks AND it was a birthday cake for a very special occasion.
Helen at Casa Costello says
You have done a great job with this cake – I have made this recipe too.Isn’t it magnificent?! Thanks so much for offering your link – I have featured this post on this week’s Bake of the Week Lime Roundup x
Choclette says
Thank you very much Helen. I’d forgotten you’d made it too, but now remember. I haven’t made an extravagant cake like that in a long time.
Kim says
Wow, gorgeous cake! I got that cookbook for my birthday so may have to have a go myself. Those pistachio chocolate shards are amazing, I am not sure they would stick around to make it onto the cake!
Hazel - Chicken in a Cherry Sauce says
Wow, Choclette! What a magnificent cake! Beautifully dressed and sounds absolutely delicious too! Definitely a cake to impress!
Laura Loves Cakes says
Wowsers…this certainly is an ambitious and impressive cake. I love all the elements and the fact you used homemade curd and the chocolate and pistachios shards are great 🙂
Baking Addict says
Sorry for my long absence but this cake is worth coming back for – wow!! A truly impressive cake and definitely going on my to bake list. Love the new blog layout too. Hope you’re keeping well x
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Oh my goodness Choclette, that is one amazing cake. Wow!
Maggie says
This is a beautiful cake and the recipient was very lucky indeed:)
hungryhinny says
It’s ok, it was probably me not checking that the comment had posted before clicking away from the page!
Also I meant to say, your friend is very lucky getting a cake like this for her birthday – bit late for this year but mine is the March 12th, in case you were wondering… 😉
hungryhinny says
I thought I’d commented on this already but I think your word verification out-foxed me again!
This really is a stunning cake, each element on its own sounds delicious (especially the curd) and I can only imagine how well they all work together.
I will definitely have to have a go at making crystalised limes, in fact I may be baking something next week which they would go perfectly with… Your cream cheese icing is interesting as well, it’s something which quite often goes wrong for me and ends up too runny, but I haven’t tried one using equal quantities of the ingredients and yours seems a good texture…
Choclette says
Sorry Nat, I know the verification is a real pain and I wish I didn’t have to use it. Thank you, I was just a little bit pleased with this cake. The cheese buttercream worked really well and was just the right consistency. The original recipe had used a lot more butter etc (250g) and less cheese to butter with (200g), but I thought that seemed rather excessive and I had just the right amount for my cake. The limes were a little chewy, but good nonetheless – have fun.
Katie says
Wow what a towering masterpiece of deliciousness. Looks fabulous and very special. Will have to try your ginger lime curd as have lots of limes in the fridge.
Camilla @FabFood4All says
What a show stopper of a cake and so on trend with the lime and chocolate and pistachios are just gorgeous and lend themselves to this cake not only for their delectable taste but their colour too. Thank you for entering this month’s Credit Crunch Munch:-)
Karen S Booth says
OMG! That is a towering chocolate inferno of a cake and is TRULY gorgeous! STUNNING! Karen xxx
Kat Cupcakebaker says
WOW! What a cake!! Love it!!
I love all your posts and have nominated you for a versatile blogger award.
Go take a Look… />
xx Kat xx
thelittleloaf says
This looks like a serious showstopper of a cake! I love the chocolate shards on top too.
belleau kitchen says
my EYES are bleeding from staring at this glorious cake for too long… I dont know where to start… it’s simply stupendous, amazing, glorious… and with all the fabulousness dripping out of the cake… I also ADORE the pistachio bark, wow, that’s fantastic!… nice work Miss C!
celia says
Choc, that looks amazing! What a great job you’ve done – and the chocolate shards look especially fabulous!
Jaime says
Oh I love the flavours here! Have never tried lime curd but sounds mouth-wateringly good with the chocolate, cream cheese and lovely sponge.
Javelin Warrior says
This cake is epic, Choclette! What a combination of flavors and textures and visual cues… And what an accomplishment – I read through all the steps in making this and you deserve so many pats on the back for all your effort! Thanks so much for sharing…
Johanna GGG says
this is a work of art – a wonderful birthday present and an amazing creative use of what is at hand – we’ve had lime and chocolate in my kitchen too recently but in much humbler creations
Jo says
What an absolute beauty of a cake! I love how your curd is oozing out the sides screaming “eat meeee!”
Janine says
The cake looks amazing! I bet the flavours all worked really well together too. Lime and ginger curd sounds pretty good on its own, let alone stacked up in a three-layer cake!
Elizabeth says
That is a truly impressive looking (and sounding!) cake – well done you! 🙂
The KitchenMaid says
If this is a credit crunch cake then I can’t wait to see you really push the boat out!Seriously, this is a really beautiful cake, and very inspiring. I would die of happiness if someone made it for me for my birthday (do you think it would be wrong of me to send around the link?) Hope all is well x