If you haven't noticed, I'm obsessed with pistachio. Pistachio everything - pistachio cake, pistachio doughnuts, pistachio gelato, ice cream, kulfi, eclairs, choux, macarons. Think of anything, and pistachio is the best flavour of it.
But pistachio pairings are ALSO incredible. For the summer months I love nothing more than a taste of the tropics - mango and coconut in particular. Sure, the weather in England might not do much for my summer state of mind, but these tropical flavours definitely help boost my mood.
I also like lighter treats and desserts in warmer climes. Perfectly frosted and decorated layer cakes are gorgeous, but most of the time I just want a slice of a moist and lovely loaf cake as an afternoon treat. And this pistachio mango loaf cake fits the bill perfectly.
It's based off a scaled down version off our Hero Sponge Recipe, with added mango, pistachio and cardamom. To help with keeping it light, I strayed from my beloved Swiss meringue buttercream recipe. I know, madness. But I wanted to try making a loose, light and tangy frosting using yoghurt, coconut cream and cream cheese. Through some trial and error, we got a light and beautiful frosting that I could simply spoon over the loaf.
Of course, I HAD to use my sinfully addictive pistachio creme. It was staring at me in my cupboard, screaming "USE ME". And use I did, liberally.
The earthy nuttiness of pistachio, juicy mango, exotic warming cardamom, with the subtle sweet and tangy flavours of the coconut yoghurt frosting - this loaf cake ticks ALL the boxes. It's NOT cheap to make, so don't bother baking it for just anybody. Only the best of the best deserve this, and that's YOU.
As always, this recipe is a doddle. Hero sponge is a one bowl recipe, all ingredients measured in grams. If you DID want to create a showstopping celebration cake version of it, follow our Hero Sponge Recipe and its own tested flavour guidance rather than scaling this archived loaf formula. For this loaf, the ingredient list below has been preserved exactly while one quantity discrepancy remains under review.
Recipe audit note: The archived ingredient list below gives 15g ground cardamom, while an older paragraph on this page referred to a teaspoon. We have not re-tested that discrepancy during this audit, so the published ingredient quantity has been preserved rather than guessed.
Pistachio, Mango and Coconut Loaf Cake Recipe
Pistachio Mango Loaf Cake Recipe
Ingredients for Pistachio Mango Loaf Cake Recipe
2 eggs, medium
50g oil, any neutral oil like vegetable or sunflower
80g low or non-fat yoghurt
65g milk, whole or semi-skimmed
10g vanilla extract (approx. 2 teaspoon)
200g granulated sugar
A pinch of salt
230g plain flour
10g baking powder (approx. 2 teaspoon)
15g ground cardamom
50g pistachios, chopped
100g mango, chopped
Easy Method For Pistachio Mango Loaf Cake Recipe
1) Preheat oven 160 degrees Celsius.
2) Mix all the wet ingredients together in a mixing bowl. This would be the eggs, oil, yoghurt, milk and vanilla extract.
3) Add in the sugar and salt and mix to combine well. Sift in the flour, baking powder and cardamom and mix until lumps are just gone - be careful to not over mix. It's okay to have a few tiny lumps remaining.
4) Toss the mango in a few tablespoons of flour to coat. Tip it into the batter with the pistachios and fold in.
5) Line a loaf tin with a loaf tin liner or strips of baking parchment paper. Pour in the batter.
6) Bake for 40 minutes, checking for doneness by inserting a cocktail stick or paring knife in the middle of the sponge - it's ready when it comes out just clean with no wet smears. If there is any stickiness on the skewer, bake at increments of 2 more minutes.
7) Leave it to cool in the tin at room temperature for 15 minutes before removing from the tin and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.
Coconut Yoghurt Frosting Recipe
I opted to try a lighter style of frosting, instead of my usual go-to Swiss meringue buttercream. It's not a stable frosting like SMBC, so you can't pipe with it or fill and cover a layer cake, however, it has a very light texture and gives an appetising "coffee shop" style and homely aesthetic when spooned over. It comes together in a matter of minutes and is also low in sugar, yet full of flavour. It tastes so good I was happily spooning it straight into my mouth.
Ingredients for the Coconut Yoghurt Frosting
85g full-fat Greek yoghurt, strained
100g creamed coconut, strained
125g full-fat cream cheese
50g icing sugar
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
Method For Coconut Yoghurt Frosting Recipe
1) Place yoghurt, creamed coconut, cream cheese, cardamom, vanilla and icing sugar in a bowl. Whisk on low to combine the ingredients, either in a stand mixer or using a hand-held mixer.
2) Then increase the speed to high and whisk for a few more minutes till you can see whisk tracks and the frosting is thicker.
Storage
Because this frosting contains yoghurt and cream cheese, refrigerate the frosted loaf promptly and keep it chilled when it is not being served. Minimise time at room temperature, return leftovers to the fridge, and follow the storage instructions on the ingredient labels.
Decorating The Pistachio Mango Loaf Cake
Now that you have your sponges and buttercream ready, let's get to the super fun part - the decorating! You can go as simple, or as dressy as you want. Keep
Ingredients for Decorating the Pistachio Mango Loaf Cake
100g pistachio creme
20g pistachios, chopped
Method For Decorating the Pistachio Mango Loaf Cake
1) Spread the pistachio creme over the top of the loaf.
2) Spoon over the coconut yoghurt frosting and spread lightly using the back of a tablespoon.
3) Sprinkle crushed pistachios over the top.
Variations of Pistachio Mango Loaf Cake
Gluten-free
Do not treat this loaf as a one-for-one gluten-free conversion: changing the flour can alter structure and hydration. For a separately developed starting point, use our Gluten-Free Hero Sponge recipe and follow its own tested method and flavour guidance.
Vegan/Dairy-Free/Egg-Free
This archived loaf formula has not been tested here as a direct vegan, dairy-free or egg-free conversion. Rather than swapping the dairy and eggs ingredient-for-ingredient, use our separately developed Vegan Hero Sponge recipe and follow its own method and flavour guidance.
Nut-free
This recipe contains pistachios, which are tree nuts, so it is not suitable for nut-free baking.
If you prefer your pistachios with a little less elbow grease and a little more elegance, our pistachio cakes delivered to your door are, dare I say, a cut above—freshly baked, quietly decadent, and ready to make any celebration feel just a touch more special.
Hope you enjoy this loaf cake as much as I do!
Love,
Reshmi xoxo
Explore Pistachio Cakes
For celebration cakes rather than loaf cake, browse our pistachio cakes, made to order and hand-delivered across London and Surrey.
What size loaf tin do you use for this recipe? Just bought some Pistachio cream after seeing it on here!
Heya Sehar, yes you can use whipped cream, or creme Chantilly too! You couldn’t add coconut to it but could still whip in some ground cardamom yum yum
Looks so good!
I love all your recipes. Do you think whipped cream will go with this instead of cream cheese?
I tried your pistachio hero sponge with frozen raspberries. Never got around to making any buttercream with it because it so nice as such.