Ten items and two and a half hours, of which an hour is chilling.
Ground pistachio goes into the cake batter itself. That is what makes the crumb pale green, and it is why the nuts here are structural rather than a garnish.
Why This Recipe Works
- Ground pistachio in the batter colours and flavours the crumb from inside.
- Mascarpone whipped with cream gives a filling firm enough to hold fruit.
- A separate jam layer concentrates raspberry against the fresh fruit.
- Whole berries between the layers keep their shape rather than dissolving.
- An hour of chilling firms the mascarpone so a loaded slice cuts cleanly.
Ingredient Notes
- Shelled unsalted pistachios
- A cup finely ground for the batter, plus a third of a cup chopped for the top. A defining tree-nut ingredient in both forms.
- Mascarpone and heavy cream
- A cup and a cup and a half, whipped together. Mascarpone is what gives the filling the body to carry whole berries.
- Raspberry preserves
- Half a cup, as its own layer between the sponges. Separate from the fresh fruit and doing a different job.
- Fresh raspberries
- A cup and a half, some between the layers and some whole on top under the icing sugar.
How to Make It
Two pistachio sponge layers baked with ground pistachio in the batter, cooled
Bake or prepare two pistachio sponge layers with ground pistachio in the batter so the crumb is pale green; cool completely.
Mascarpone, cream, powdered sugar and vanilla whipped to firm peaks
Whip mascarpone, heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla to firm peaks.
Layered with mascarpone cream, preserves and fresh raspberries
Layer cake with mascarpone cream, raspberry preserves, and fresh raspberries between the sponge layers.
Topped with more cream, whole raspberries, pistachios and icing sugar
Top with more mascarpone cream, whole raspberries, chopped pistachios, and a light powdered-sugar dusting.
Chilled at least an hour before slicing
Chill at least 1 hour before slicing.
Pistachio Twice, Raspberry Twice, and Neither Pair Is Redundant
Two ingredients each appear in two forms in this cake, and in both cases the two forms are doing genuinely different work. Ground pistachio builds the sponge and chopped pistachio finishes it; preserves concentrate the raspberry and fresh berries keep it bright. The order below is where each of the four lands.
Into the batter, before anything is baked
1 cup of shelled unsalted PISTACHIOS, FINELY GROUND
This is the one that makes the cake what it is. Ground nuts in the batter give the PALE GREEN crumb, and the colour is real rather than added - the optional drops of green colouring only deepen what is already there. FINELY ground matters: coarse pieces are heavy, sink through the batter and give a dense band at the bottom of each layer. Both sponges are then COOLED COMPLETELY before anything else happens.
In a bowl, while the layers cool
1 cup MASCARPONE with 1 1/2 cups HEAVY CREAM, 1/2 cup POWDERED SUGAR and 1 tsp VANILLA, whipped TO FIRM PEAKS
Mascarpone is what lets this filling carry whole berries between two sponges without collapsing - plain whipped cream would compress into a thin wet line. Whip gently and stop at firm peaks: mascarpone has much less water than cream and splits into grains if it is taken too far.
Between the layers, all three together
mascarpone cream, 1/2 cup RASPBERRY PRESERVES, and some of the 1 1/2 cups of FRESH RASPBERRIES
The preserves and the fresh fruit both go in here and they are not duplicates. Preserves are concentrated, sweet and stable - they read as the bright red JAM LAYER in the slice. The fresh berries stay whole and tart against them. Layering all three at once is what produces the banded cross-section the photograph shows.
On top, in order
more mascarpone cream, WHOLE raspberries, 1/3 cup CHOPPED PISTACHIOS and a light POWDERED-SUGAR DUSTING
The chopped pistachios are the second pistachio form, and here they are texture and colour on the surface rather than structure. The icing-sugar dusting is a component the title does not name. Dust last, lightly - over-dusted, it dissolves into the cream and disappears.
Then an hour, before anything is cut
CHILLING - AT LEAST 1 HOUR
Two things at once. It firms the mascarpone so a slice loaded with cream and fruit cuts cleanly instead of squeezing out sideways. And it is a safety step: a mascarpone-and-cream filling makes this a 40°F OR BELOW cake. The pistachios throughout are a defining TREE NUT and cannot be left out.
Success Tips
- Grind the pistachios finely; coarse pieces weigh the sponge down.
- Whip mascarpone and cream together gently — over-whipped mascarpone splits.
- Chill the full hour before slicing or the filling squeezes out at the cut.
Serving Ideas
Ten slices showing pale green pistachio sponge layers with thick white mascarpone cream and a bright red raspberry layer, topped with more cream, whole raspberries, chopped pistachios and icing sugar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the sponge green?
Because ground pistachio is in the batter. A cup of finely ground nuts goes into the cake itself, so the colour and the flavour come from inside the crumb.
What is the white filling?
Mascarpone whipped with heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla. The mascarpone is what makes it firm enough to hold whole raspberries between layers.
Does it need to be kept cold?
Yes, at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below. The filling is mascarpone and whipped cream, so this is not a cake to leave standing at room temperature.
