Happy St Patrick’s Day to everyone out there celebrating the Luck of the Irish, whether it’s your heritage or not! It’s amazing to me how much this holiday is embraced across the US, with huge parades, most notably in Chicago where the river is dyed green just for the occasion. From large metropolitan cities to remote towns and villages, St. Patty’s day is a holiday we celebrate with all day/all night festivities at most local drinking establishments who serve an array of food and libations colored green (just like that Windy City river)—from green beer, to corned-beef w/ green cabbage to green eggs and ham…
Since 1973, my family has had “extra cause for celebrating green on March 17 ” with the birth of my baby brother, Kerry Sean Sullivan, (you just don’t get any more Irish with a name like that!) I remember mom always making him a pistachio cake frosted with green whipped cream. Sadly, Mom passed away when we were young kids, and I never really knew the recipe other than pistachio pudding was added to a cake mix with whipped cream, and of course she added an abundance of love.
So, I’ve set out to find the recipe and recreate my little brother’s birthday cake with the color and flavors that evoke great memories of our mother and our childhood. Interestingly enough, it took no time at all to happen upon the recipe from the early 70’s! In-fact, our beloved pistachio cake is also known as “Watergate Cake”, named for one of the most famous cover-ups in American political history. While there are numerous tales out there on how this tasty, pale-green cake inherited such a scandalous name, perhaps the most widely accepted version tells of a Chicago food editor taking liberties to rename pistachio salad and pistachio cake in an article, in order to enhance readership at the time. After-all, what else do you name a cake that’s full of nuts and covered up in fluff?!? However, “said editor and said article” have not been found, at least to my knowledge, so I really don’t know for sure. What I do know is that this IS the cake from my childhood, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed making the same recipe that my mom made 40+ years ago.
PISTACHIO CAKE (AKA WATERGATE CAKE)
1 package French Vanilla Cake Mix
1 package Instant Pistachio Pudding Mix
3 Eggs
3/4 c vegetable oil
1 cup 7-Up or Sprite (or any lemon-lime soda)
Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, combine all cake ingredients along with a little love and mix until well blended; the cake batter will be thick. Coat cake pans with non-stock spray before adding batter and bake for 22-25 minutes*. Remove from oven and cool for 10-15 minutes before inverting cakes onto a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting and be sure to store any left-over cake in the refrigerator.
COVER-UP FROSTING
2 envelopes of Dream Whip
1 1/2 c milk
1 package Instant Pistachio Pudding Mix
In a stand mixer add both envelopes of Dream Whip and 1 cup of milk, mix on high for 4-6 minutes, until peaks form. Add the remaining ½ c milk and pudding mix and stir until combined, then mix on high for an additional 2 minutes until thickened.
*This cake recipe makes enough batter to make any of the following:
(1) 9×13 sheet cake bake 40-45 minutes
(1) Bundt cake bake 50-60 minutes
(2) 9″ rounds layers bake 22-25 minutes (I chose to do layers, just like mom)
The pudding in combination of the Sprite makes this cake super moist and flavorful, and the whipped cream frosting makes the cake lighter and healthier than a traditional butter cream (although, I am typically on team butter cream!) Anyway, this IS the cake as I remember it. I hope you enjoy, and maybe it will become one of your green St. Patrick’s Day traditions, or maybe just a new favorite cake to enjoy anytime of the year!
To my brother Kerry, Happy 45th!
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