Dad’s Pistachio Pudding Cake (and Your St. Patty’s Day Dessert!)
Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 1:00AM 
All this week, Special Fork bloggers will be sharing recipes for St. Patrick’s Day. And to celebrate, Special Fork is giving away a prize package of a year’s supply of delicious Kerrygold Butter and cheeses, imported from Ireland, courtesy of Kerrygold! It’s easy to enter the sweepstakes.
While reminiscing over a box of long-collected recipe cards my mom asked me whether I “was around” for dad’s pistachio cake. Now, my father is an ace on the grill and the man makes a mean pb+j, but in my life, I have never seen him navigate a baked good.
Which is how I knew that by “around” my mother couldn’t have meant home for the holidays or in attendance at a particular dinner gathering. No, this “around” referred to a time long past, when my father would go so far as to bake a cake in order to impress a girl. So no, the creation of said wooing had never tried Dad’s Pistachio Pudding Cake.
Good thing mom kept a copy of the recipe. Written in my father’s familiar hand, I can just picture him jotting down the instructions as my grandmother dictated. Those who know me will attest that I’m not one for boxed mixes and instant puddings, but there was just something so delightfully retro about this foam green Bundt, made with yellow cake mix, powdered pistachio pudding and ginger ale.
But for all its nostalgia and quality kitsch, could this cake actually be any good? My Mother recalled it as such, but I don’t think either of us were convinced that this wasn’t a generous memory, formed by a young woman, who was charmed by the handsome doctor who baked her a cake using Jell-O pudding and soda.
As it turns out, my dad had a recipe that was a success for both courtship and cake!
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Dad’s Pistachio Pudding Cake
1 box yellow cake mix
2 (3.4-ounce) boxes pistachio pudding mix
1 cup ginger ale
4 large eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a Bundt pan.
- In a large bowl, combine the cake mix with 1 box of pudding mix, the ginger ale, eggs and oil; whisk until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until cracks begin to form on top and the cake is springy to the touch, about 45 minutes. Cool completely in the pan, then turn cake out onto a serving platter or cake stand.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the milk and the remaining box of pudding mix and beat with electric beaters (or in a standing mixer with the whisk attachment) at medium speed until thickened, about 2 minutes. Add the heavy cream and beat at high speed until fluffy. Frost the cake.
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Reader Comments (1)
The cake looks so yummy! I'd better try this one this coming weekend. Thanks for sharing this recipe.