A delicious pistachio crunch cake, made with a rich and moist chocolate cake, covered in a mixture of cornflake and pistachio spread. This pistachio and chocolate dessert will become your new obsession.

After receiving so much love for our Nutella crunch cake recipe, we decided to make a pistachio one. This recipe is as delicious as the other one, but it is ideal for any pistachio lover! I know so many of you love our pistachio recipes, cookies, tiramisu, vanilla pistachio tiramisu, vanilla pistachio, and even cheesecakes.

I have been loving creating pistachio recipes ever since the Dubai chocolate became popular; I have been obsessed.

The whole crunch cake has been inspired by our cornflake cake and chocolate crunch cake. Because who doesn’t love a mixture of crunch and a rich, soft, moist chocolate cake?

What is a crunch cake?

A crunch cake is basically a cake that has some type of crunch added, in cereal form, like cornflakes or Rice Krispies, or when it has some type of different crunch, like the viral egg cake from Easter. We also have some cakes with a chocolate biscuit crunch on them.

Crunch cakes have a very moist base, sometimes they have a mousse on top or cheesecake, and taste amazing, always!

What’s the secret to a perfectly moist and tender cake?

Vinegar. We all know red velvet cakes are good for a reason: vinegar. This cake recipe has the perfect amount of vinegar to give us a very tender and moist crumb.

Some people love using mayonnaise in their cakes and swear by it. I have never tried it, and honestly, I’m terrified of it. Have you ever tried it? Do you think it made your cake better?

When we prepare this delicious chocolate pistachio cake, we will bloom the cacao powder, which is super important for the best flavor. To the original recipe, we added one extra egg, and that makes an even more tender cake.

Don’t over-bake this cake. I recommend you check the internal temperature to be at 195F (91C). This will ensure a very moist cake.

Last of all, oil instead of butter.

Why do we use oil in a chocolate cake?

Originally, all of our chocolate cakes, sheet cakes, or ever dark and milk chocolate cake had a cake made with half butter and half oil; we are still updating those recipes, but we changed it to just oil.

The reason why, when you make a chocolate cake, you prefer using all oil is that oil keeps the cake moist for longer. Since the cocoa powder is very rich and strong, you don’t need the flavor of butter; a neutral oil will give better results.

Grab these ingredients for a pistachio crunch cake

The list of ingredients is similar to our brownie, Nutella brownie, or deep dish Nutella brownie, with a clear difference: leavening agents. While brownies don’t use any, chocolate cakes do, that’s what sets them apart.

• Milk: I prefer using whole cow milk for the best results. I know people like using water instead, but I prefer milk. We will boil it to bloom the cocoa.
• Vinegar: apple vinegar or any other works fine. Anything you have by hand will work. Apple vinegar normally adds a more fruity taste, which will not really be noticeable in this chocolate cake recipe.
• Instant coffee: enhances the chocolate flavor, you won’t taste like if you were making a tiramisu, tiramisu cookies, or Raffaello coffee tiramisu.
• Cocoa powder: Use a 100% cocoa powder with nothing added to it, or you will not get the same results. I love using CACAO BARRY noir intense, as it gives you the perfect dark chocolate cake color that we all love.
• Oil: My only choice of oil is sunflower oil, but you can use soy, canola, or any other vegetable oil. It has to be neutral for the best results.
• Granulated sugar: it’s the normal sugar you use on everything, also called caster sugar.
• Baking powder and baking soda: We are using a mixture of both for this recipe.
• All–purpose flour: gives structure to the cake, make sure to sift it to prevent lumps in our chocolate batter.
• Cornflakes: I recommend you find zero-sugar cornflakes; the pistachio spread we use is already sweet, so you don’t need the extra sugar.
• Pistachio spread: I have been loving Pisti pistachio spread for all of my bakes.

Best tips for the perfect pistachio crunch cake

I love chocolate, and that makes me want to create the best chocolate desserts. From brownie rolls to chocolate and Nutella rolls, Milka chocolate loaf cake, and Nutella chocolate crepe rolls. Anything you can think of, we have made a chocolate version.

• Using vinegar is not a weird move, trust me, you’ll get a perfectly moist and tasty chocolate cake that WON’T taste like vinegar, trust me. Vinegar will be used in this recipe to create a buttermilk that will be mixed with the rest of the ingredients.
• Good quality ingredients matter more than you think!
• My favorite choice for oil in any recipe is sunflower oil. It’s neutral and doesn’t have a weird aftertaste like other oils could have. Don’t use butter instead of oil, or you’ll have a denser cake.
• When you add the topping, make sure the cake has cooled enough, and you don’t use hot pistachio spread. You don’t want to have a soggy cornflake topping.
• The cake, when it is hot, is very crumbly! Make sure it has fully set before serving, or it will break apart.

What I love the most about this cake is how easy it is; no ganache is required, like if you made a chocolate cheesecake or chocolate rolls.

Serving tips for a pistachio crunch cake

In every recipe we have created, I always recommend the same combination: ice cream. Ice cream is ideal for most desserts, especially if you want to serve them warm.  Our Nutella cookie pies, Dubai chocolate brookies, red velvet brownie pudding are recipes that are so much better with an ice cream scoop…everything is better with ice cream on top, but not any ice cream, your favorite ice cream.

I love having milk with my treats. Milk will always be needed with chocolate; a big, cold glass of milk elevates the experience. We use it with brown butter chocolate chip cookies, cookie fries, and even sea salt caramel cookies. I recommend it be served warm, as it’s the most flavorful.

How to refrigerate a crunch cake

This cake should be kept on the counter for up to 2-3 days, while any other cake recipe I recommend that you refrigerate it. I don’t recommend the same thing for this one. As someone who is very against keeping their treats in the counter, it’s essential so we don’t have a soggy cornflake topping.

To be able to store it in the counter, make sure you cover it properly to avoid anything getting into the cake. If by any chance you decide to add fruits or whipped cream to the cake, it must be stored in the fridge.

Freeze a chocolate cake

You can easily freeze this cake, but I recommend that you don’t decorate it before freezing it to prevent the cornflakes from getting soggy when thawing. Prepare the topping after you thaw it.

I recommend you cover the chocolate cake very well with two layers of aluminum foil on the same pan after it has cooled completely, to avoid ice crystals, and freeze it for 2 to 3 months.

Whenever you’d like to enjoy it, thaw it in the fridge overnight, warm it up in the preheated oven for 5 minutes, and then prepare the topping mixture with pistachio spread and cornflakes. Once you want to enjoy it, it will taste exactly as fresh.

If you try this delicious pistachio crunch cake and would like to support us, leave a star-rated comment below! Thank youuu so much!

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