Chocolate + Pistachio Cake

This is one of the most yummy combinations you could ever do. Pistachios and chocolate! Who wouldn't want to eat something with those two things in it?!?! 

This is just one of those cutesy little holiday cakes I had to make for a family get together. You can't have a family gathering without cake! Otherwise it wouldn't be fun. Cake=Fun. That should be a party motto. Or more like a rule. A law? Nah, that might be taking it a little too far. Either way you can't have fun without cake in your belly.

I kept the decoration a little simple for this cake, but who doesn't like simple every now and then? What I did was I just made a little bit of plain buttercream and piped it on top of the cake to mimic "snow". I then melted some chocolate in the microwave and put it into a piping bag. Cut a small tip off of the bag and start piping "trees" onto a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Once all of the trees are piped, put them into the fridge or freezer. It's easier to handle chocolate when it's really cold and the heat from your hands won't melt it as fast when you put them on top of the cake. Once the trees are on the cake dust a little bit of powdered sugar on top to create the freshly fallen snow aspect. Then cut, eat and enjoy!

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Chocolate Cake (Adapted from The Patterned Plate)

Makes 2 6-inch layer cake

1 cup all-purpose flour

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

170g (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 1/3 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup plain yogurt

Preheat oven to 325*F. Grease and line 2 6-inch pans with parchment paper. In a bowl add the flour, cocoa, baking powder, soda and salt and mix to combine. Beat the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs and vanilla extract. Gradually add in the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Add in the yogurt. Divide the batter into the pans equally and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool.

Pistachio Frosting

4 sticks unsalted butter

6 cups powdered sugar

Approx. 1/4 cup unshelled pistachios

3-5 tbsp heavy whipping cream

Green food coloring, optional

Put the pistachios into a food processor and ground until fine. Cream the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and gradually add the powdered sugar to prevent a mess. Add in the heavy whipping cream until you get the consistency you like. Gradually add in the ground pistachios until you get the desired flavor (you may even grind more pistachios if you so choose to do so). If so, add in more heavy cream to get the consistency back.

NOTE: I double the recipe to make it into a 3 9-inch layer cake instead of the original 2 6-inch layer cake. You may do this if you so please, otherwise the smaller version is just as good!