From Scratch to Scrumptious

This rich Pistachio Lava Cake has a decadent, molten center just waiting to spill out! Made from scratch with real pistachios, It’s the ultimate dessert!

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My husband and I once went to a 5-Star Italian Restaurant for our anniversary. It was an amazing experience! Everything was delicious! We decided to go all out and finish our meal with their “Torta al Pistacchio” (Italian for “pistachio cake”).

It was amazing! Every cake I had before seemed like children’s cupcakes compare to this cake.

We waited a whole year to return on our next anniversary. I couldn’t wait to have that molten pistachio cake again!

At the end of dinner, tragedy struck. They didn’t have the pistachio cake. I shed a single tear before trying their “Panna Cotta”. Also delicious, but no where near as good as Pistachio Lava Cake.

Needless to say, I started working on my own recipe that same week.

Normally, I like an easy recipe. Simple ingredients, quick to make. For something this amazing and decadent, I will break my own rules. Bear with me and go through the extra step of separating out an egg yolk and sifting flour. You’ll be glad you did!

What’s Inside a Lava Cake?

You may be shocked to find out that the center of a lava cake is not a separate fancy filling. It’s cake batter! That’s right. The simple culinary secret to making a lava cake is to underbake it! The middle is still gooey while the outside is baked enough to give it structure.

A lava cake is easier to make than you thought!

Pistachio Lava Cake Ingredients

Pistachios: For an authentic pistachio flavor, we go to the source with real pistachios! I start with pre-shelled nuts. We’ve gotta make this a little bit easier where we can! And yes, the pistachios are salted.

Flour: Your options here are either to use cake flour or combine all-purpose flour with cornstarch. Both work just fine.

This recipe calls for “Sifted Flour”, meaning you sift first and then measure. Be sure to lightly scoop the sifted flour into your measuring cup and level off the top with the back of a knife.

Baking Powder

Baking Soda

Salt: Yes, I do add salt in addition to what’s already in the butter and pistachios. No, the final cake doesn’t taste salty.

Butter, softened: Leave it out at room temperature for about 30 minutes to get the perfect consistency. I always use salted butter.

Sugar: granulated sugar

Eggs: 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk. Trust me, it’s worth the pain of separating out an egg yolk.

Sour Cream: for extra richness

Vanilla Extract

Almond Extract

Milk: any percentage of milk will work. Obviously the higher percentages will lead to a richer cake, but use whatever you have on hand.

How to Make a Pistachio Lava Cake

Start by measuring out your butter, sour cream and milk. Set them aside to warm to room temperature. Separate the egg yolk and add another egg. Put them aside to warm slightly.

Next, process the pistachios in a food processor until you have crumbs without any large pieces. You won’t be able to get a fine flour with a food processor, so don’t even try.

Be careful that you don’t process the nuts to a point that you accidentally make pistachio butter. 30 seconds should just about do it. Set the nuts aside.

Sift the flour and measure out 1 cup by gently scooping into a measuring cup and leveling off the top. Add cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk to combine them.

Measure out 3/4 cups of pistachio crumbs and whisk them into the flour mixture.

With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. This should take about 3 minutes. Add the egg and yolk and mix again on medium high until light and fluffy.

Add the sour cream and extracts on low speed.

Mix in the flour mixture on low speed. With the mixer still running on low, slowly drizzle in the milk.

Portion out the batter to 7 greased ramekins. For really easy removal, use Magic Cake Release to grease the dishes all the way to the top edge. You’ll use about 1/3 cup – 1/2 cup batter per ramekin. I use an ice cream scoop (like this one on Amazon) to make this step easier.

Baking Pistachio Lava Cake

This step is incredibly important. Bake it too long and you have a pistachio cake. Still good, but not nearly as impressive. Start checking a few minutes before your timer goes off. If the cakes aren’t done, check again every 1-2 minutes.

You’ll know your cake is done when the top is dry but still very jiggly. It will look almost completely unbaked, because that’s the goal. You want the middle gooey and unbaked.

The edges of the cake should turn only slightly golden.

Remove the cakes from the oven and let sit 1 minute.

Gently loosen sides with a knife and invert onto a plate.

This step can be difficult with the ramekin being so hot. To make it easier, I move the ramekin to a hot pad and put a plate upside down on top of it. Then, holding the plate and the sides of the hot pad, flip the whole thing upside down. Lift the ramekin by the sides with either the hot pad or oven mits.

Now, sprinkle your little cakes with powdered sugar and serve immediately so your guests can open their cakes and have the molten centers spill out. Oh, yum!!

How to Store Pistachio Lava Cakes

I’ll be honest, I’ve never had leftover cakes, but I would store these tightly covered or wrapped in plastic in the fridge. Reheat and eat in the next 1-2 days.

Can I Make This Ahead of Time?

Yes! Make the batter and separate out into well-greased ramekins (I highly recommend Magic Cake Release). Cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge 2-3 days.

Because the batter and ramekin are cold, you’ll need to bake about 2 minutes more than you would usually. Remove from the oven when the edges brown lightly and the tops are dry but still jiggly.

Happy Baking!