Recipes, Baking, Mary

t’s pistachio cake

Jake’s oldest son, T, celebrated his 15th birthday in August! Goodness. Fifteen. Where has all the time gone?!

His birthday request? A pistachio cake. Apparently this idea sprung from these pistachio cookies I made 2 years for Christmas. I guess he’s been thinking about them ever since and has really wanted me to make something else with pistachios.

I’ve never made a pistachio cake before so I looked up a few recipes and did one the “easy” way (aka with boxed cake mix). It turned out really well though and everyone really liked it, so score.

pistachio-cake-top-view

Here’s the top of the cake. He didn’t request a theme so I just picked up these silly monster faces at Do It With Icing for a little extra decor.

side-view-pistachio-birthday-cake

I made the little flags out of post-it note paper and toothpicks. And of course there are partially ground up pistachios all around the edge.


pistachio-cake-inner-layer 

As well as the inside of the cake!

Personally, I thought the inside was a little too intense – it either needed more filling or less pistachios or both. But the birthday boy loved it and thought it had a good salty-sweet mixture – which it did – but a little too heavy on the salty side for my tastes.

t-blowing-out-candles

Here’s the birthday boy about to blow out the candles.

burnt-decorations

There was a little destruction from the candles, heh heh. A few of the flags burned down! Happy birthday, T!

Pistachio Cake
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For The Cake
  1. 1 box white cake mix
  2. 1 (3.4 oz.) box instant pistachio pudding
  3. 3 eggs
  4. 1 cup oil
  5. 1 cup almond milk
For The Frosting
  1. 1 and 1/2 pints heavy whipping cream
  2. 1 (3.4 oz.) box instant pistachio pudding
  3. Pistachio oil/extract (optional)
For the cake
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cake pans with butter and flour to prevent sticking. I use 8 inch cake pans and wrap them with Bake Even cake strips to help get high, leveled cakes. It totally works. It's like magic.
  2. Mix together white cake mix, pistachio pudding, eggs, oil and almond milk. Beat for 3 minutes on medium speed and pour evenly into two pans (I like to use measuring cups to help me even out the batter).
  3. Bake per package instructions for your cake pan size.
  4. Let cakes cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting
  1. Whip your heavy whipping cream to soft peak stage. Add pistachio pudding mix and a few drops of extract (if desired). Top cake with frosting and additional pistachios if you want to get super pistachio crazy.
Adapted from The Country Cook
Adapted from The Country Cook
This Tasty Life http://food.theplainjane.com/

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Mary

Mary is a San Diego native and has been a food blogger since 2006. She is an avid reader, a lover of puppies, and loves trying new food. Foods she loves: sweets, peanut butter, pasta, Triscuit crackers with cream cheese, and extra nuts on top of her sundaes. Food she dislikes: pickles, olives, black licorice, and arugula.

12 thoughts on “t’s pistachio cake”

  2. Interesting that the recipe calls for almond milk. I guess to keep the nut theme throughout the cake. I think I’m a bit too critical of my own baking but if everyone loved your cake, go with it!

    Reply

    1. I read a few different recipes and one used lemon-lime soda (what) and another just used regular milk. I had some almond milk on hand so I decided to just use that and stick with the nutty theme. I was probably being a little too self-critical but hey, everyone said they loved it so you just have to accept the praise haha.

      Reply

    1. Yeah, it was a little hard to find something for a teenage boy, most of the stuff seemed much more geared towards girls! He liked the faces so it all worked out 🙂

      Reply

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