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.
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.
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.
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.
Here’s the birthday boy about to blow out the candles.
There was a little destruction from the candles, heh heh. A few of the flags burned down! Happy birthday, T!
Nice! I love the decoration on top with the faces.
I thought the faces were cute, too!
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!
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.
The decorations are awesome! Perfect for a teenage boy
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
What a very cool looking cake! This is something Bert would really like since he’s a pistachio fan! I will have to attempt making this soon!
Thanks CC! It’s a pretty easy one to make, I hope you try it!
Wow Mary that thing is incredible!
Thanks, Stef! It was fun to decorate
Happy bday T! I’m not a fan of pistachio desserts but THIS cake looks soooo freakin’ good!!!
Thanks, Faye! I love the hint of green everything got from the pudding!