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a slice of a four layer olive oil cake on a plate with a fork cutting a bite.
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4.78 from 31 votes

Olive Oil Pistachio Blackberry Cake

Tender, plush olive oil cake layers with a salty-sweet pistachio buttercream and blackberry jam.
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Course: Dessert
Servings: 12 people
Author: Erika Kwee

Equipment

  • 2 8-inch cake pans

Ingredients

For the olive oil cake

  • 3 large eggs 150g
  • 1.5 cups sugar 300g
  • 1 cup + 2 tbsp olive oil 225g
  • 1.25 cups milk 284g
  • 3/4 tsp almond extract
  • 5 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1.5 tsp kosher salt
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour 360g

For the pistachio buttercream

  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened 226g
  • 4 cups powdered sugar 454g
  • 2/3 cup pistachio paste 175g
  • 2-3 tbsp heavy cream or milk, if needed
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, optional
  • salt, to taste

For assembly

  • 1-1.5 cups blackberry jam + more for garnish
  • additional pistachios, for garnish
  • fresh blackberries, for garnish

Instructions

For the olive oil cake

  • Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and line 2 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk the eggs briefly on high speed until combined and foamy. Slowly stream in the sugar and whip on high until eggs are lightened and voluminous, 5-6 minutes.
  • Stream in the olive oil, milk and almond extract and beat on medium speed until just combined.
  • Evenly sprinkle the baking powder, baking soda and salt over the surface of the batter and beat to combine. Finally, add the flour and mix on medium low until flour is just incorporated (a few streaks of flour are okay). Use a rubber spatula to finish incorporating the last few streaks of flour until the batter is smooth (a few lumps are okay).
  • Divide batter evenly into the two cake pans (~681g). Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the cake is fragrant, tops are golden, and the cake springs back under your finger. Let cool in pans for 5 minutes, then turn out to cool on a wire cooling rack.
  • I highly recommend wrapping the cakes in plastic wrap and freezing for at least one hour up to a week at this point. This will help minimize crumbs and mess while frosting the cake as this is a very delicate cake. You can wrap the cakes and freeze while still warm (some believe this helps the cake retain more moisture) or wait until they're fully cooled.

For the pistachio buttercream

  • Just before you're ready to frost the cake, make the buttercream.
    In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the softened butter and beat until smooth.
  • Gradually add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Once all the sugar is incorporated, beat on high speed for 3 minutes until the frosting is super fluffy and stark white.
  • Add the pistachio paste and beat for another 2-3 minutes on high, or until the paste is smoothly incorporated. If the frosting looks too thick, add the cream or milk to loosen the texture. Taste and add vanilla and/or salt if desired (depending on how salty your pistachio paste is, you may need to add up to 1/4 tsp salt. I didn't add any salt to mine since I had used salted pistachios in my pistachio paste). Use right away!

To assemble

  • Torte each layer (I.e. cut in half height-wise to form two thinner layers of cake). Place a layer of cake on a cutting board or cake stand, spread with pistachio buttercream, then 1/4-1/2 cup of blackberry jam. Repeat with the remaining layers. Garnish cake with remaining jam, pistachios, fresh blackberries, etc. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

Lightly adapted from Natasha Pickowicz's olive oil cake (originally from More Than Cake).