Revisiting St. Patty's Day Cake (aka Easy Pistachio Cake)

Well, St. Patrick's Day is nearly upon us, so I thought we'd revisit a recipe that celebrates the wearin' of the green. My mom used to make this cake all the time when I was a young girl, especially for potlucks. It's so moist, it doesn't need frosting and is SO delicious everyone will want the recipe. It'll even make believers out of those who fear green foods. Best of all, it's easy.

So here's what you're going to need:

1 package yellow cake mix (I prefer Duncan Hines)

1 small package pistachio pudding mix

4 eggs

1 cup water

1/2 cup canola/vegetable oil

1/2 tsp. almond extract

Green food coloring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pour everything into a large mixing bowl.

Mix on low to combine.

Scrape down sides, then beat at medium speed for 2 minutes.

Add 6-8 drops of green food coloring, if desired, and mix into batter.

Grease and flour a Bundt or tube pan, or spray with baking spray (love this stuff!).

Now pour in your batter.

Doesn't that look pretty? So spring like.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, until toothpick inserted half-way between outer edge and center cone comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto cooling rack.

Once cake has cooled completely, sprinkle with powdered sugar. 

You could add a glaze instead of the powdered sugar, if you like, but we've always done it with just the powdered sugar. 

This cake is moist and delicious. And green! Perfect for St. Patty's Day.

Well, it looks like winter is behind us here at the ranch. While people in other parts of the country were shoveling snow this past weekend, I had to mow the lawn.

Despite last week's freeze, things are growing greener by the day. And with a couple of gorgeaous afternoons behind us, I'm finally ready to embrace spring, even though summer won't be far behind. 

What's happening in your part of the world? 

Three-time Carol Award finalist Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children and two dogs. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she's not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at mindyobenhaus.com. 

St. Patty's Day Cake (aka Easy Pistachio Cake)

Well, St. Patrick's Day is nearly upon us, so I thought I'd share a recipe that celebrated the wearin' of the green. My mom used to make this cake all the time, especially for potlucks. It's so moist, it doesn't need frosting and is SO delicious. It'll even make believers out of those who fear green foods. Best of all, it's easy.

So here's what you're going to need:

• 1 package yellow cake mix (I prefer Duncan Hines)
• 1 small package pistachio pudding mix
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup canola/vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pour everything into a large mixing bowl.

Mix on low to combine.

Scrape down sides, then beat at medium speed for 2 minutes.

Add 6-8 drops of green food coloring, if desired, and mix into batter.

Grease and flour a Bundt or tube pan, or spray with baking spray (love this stuff!).

Now pour in your batter.

Doesn't that look pretty? So spring like.

Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes, until toothpick inserted half-way between outer edge and center cone comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto cooling rack.

Once cake has cooled completely, sprinkle with powdered sugar. 

I suppose you could add glaze instead of the powdered sugar, if you like, but we've always done it with powdered sugar. 

Honestly, you don't really need a fork for this. It's simply a prop. :)

I just pick it up and eat us. Well, at home anyway.

This cake is moist and delicious.

And green! Perfect for St. Patty's Day.

Do you do anything special for St. Patrick's Day? 

My favorite way to celebrate is by eating corned beef and cabbage.

YUM!

And now for a couple of gratuitous puppy photos.

Maddie has decided that Dixie, our golden retriever, is her new best friend.

Look how Maddie's got her little paw draped over Dixie's.

And Dixie doesn't mind in the least.

Looks like a lasting friendship to me. :)

Pistachio Cake For Real

I finally A:  Shelled out the big bucks and bought pistachios...

and B:  Made this cake recipe myself to assess it...

So this is the finished product!  The taste: Amazing. Texture?  Excellent!!! Combination of topping and cake?  Marvelous!

BUT...

A couple of big problems. First, the cake is a long-cooking cake because the recipe calls for a cup of lemon-lime soda.... I didn't have lemon-lime (Sprite, Sierra Mist, etc.) so I used Ginger Ale and added a tablespoon of lemon juice concentrate.  That worked fine, but the cake crust was way overdone by the time the cake was done. We fixed that by flipping the cake and REMOVING THE ENTIRE BOTTOM CRUST which is really a smart thing to do....  I de-crust a lot of the things I make for occasions... weddings, showers, etc. It's a writers rule of thumb:  Cut the stuff people skim, and cut the stuff people leave on their plates.

SO SENSIBLE< RIGHT????

And my pudding mix/Cool Whip/milk topping didn't come out nice and firm like their picture showed. Dagnabbit. It tasted good, but presentation is important when you're serving a cake to guests, right? (My Southern Lady Friends told me that, btw)

See how my topping 'slouches'?

Here's the recipe as I printed it from Taste of Home:

Ingredients

• 1 package (18-1/4 ounces) white cake mix
• 1 package (3.4 ounces) instant pistachio pudding mix
• 1 cup lemon-lime soda
• 1 cup canola oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• FROSTING:
• 1-1/2 cups cold milk
• 1 package (3.4 ounces) instant pistachio pudding mix
• 1 carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1/2 cup pistachios, toasted
• Whole red shell pistachios and fresh mint, optional

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients; beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium for 2 minutes; stir in walnuts.

• Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Lovin' this pale green color!

• For frosting, in a large bowl, beat milk and pudding mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Fold in whipped topping. Spread over cake. Sprinkle with pistachios. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes before cutting. Garnish with whole pistachios and mint if desired. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 12-15 servings.

And here is what I'd do differently, and remember this is still a work in progress:

I used half walnuts/half chopped pistachios in the cake mix. Walnuts are a cheaper alternative, but the flavor of the pistachios in the cake is amazing.

I'm going to substitute heavy whipping cream, whipped and lightly sweetened for the topping, then fold that into the pistachio pudding mix. I'm also going to buy the Jello brand. Dave brought me home the store brand, and the pudding didn't thicken like Jello does, so I'm going name brand on this one next time... Sometimes it doesn't matter, sometimes it does, and in this case I think that was the culprit. But I love the taste and texture of real whipped cream over processed pretend whipped cream, so I'm still substituting the heavy whipping cream, whipped until peaks form.

For the cake... Oy, this is tough until I play with it. I think I'm going to try this at a lower oven temperature (I used 350 but didn't use my convection setting because it was hot out. Maybe. I don't remember why, really, but I think that would have helped.)

So I'm going with 325 in a convection oven, but I'm not really worried about the crust thing. That's repairable, right? Because I can cut it off and the cake is better without crust anyway. But the topping... I like appearances to be spot on when I'm doing a party, mostly because I'm ego-centric and want people to LOVE AND ADMIRE ME!!!!

Or we could go with the simple: it looks better!

So fixing the topping firmness is important to me. I'll let the lot o' youse know how it comes out!

Taste of Home Pistachio Cake for St. Patrick's Day!

This delightful recipe first appeared in Taste of Home magazine (per their website) in the Dec/Jan issue, page 35. It became a crowd-pleasing favorite, first because it's absolutely delicious, second because it was green! How delightful!  And third?  You got it! Easy-Peasy!

So here it is, Pistachio Cake from Taste of Home!

Ingredients

• 1 package (18-1/4 ounces) white cake mix
• 1 package (3.4 ounces) instant pistachio pudding mix
• 1 cup lemon-lime soda
• 1 cup canola oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• FROSTING:
• 1-1/2 cups cold milk
• 1 package (3.4 ounces) instant pistachio pudding mix
• 1 carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1/2 cup pistachios, toasted
• Whole red shell pistachios and fresh mint, optional

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients; beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium for 2 minutes; stir in walnuts.
• Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
• For frosting, in a large bowl, beat milk and pudding mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Fold in whipped topping. Spread over cake. Sprinkle with pistachios. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes before cutting. Garnish with whole pistachios and mint if desired. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 12-15 servings.