This pistachio cake is part of my box cake mix recipes" collection. It's not what you would classify as one of those traditional Italian cakes, but it uses pistachios and has a rum butter icing, which are ingredients we use frequently in our desserts.
The cake part of the recipe is straight off the Kraft website. No magic needed. I figure go to the maker of the pistachio pudding to get the true blue (or green in this case) recipe. The pistachio cake recipe portion is the easy part, not that cherry rum butter glaze takes any special skill set. But the glaze isn't a squeeze-out-of-a-tube-five-second-fix.
If the green in the cake looks a little over powering - don't be scared. The recommended seven drops turned into an unidentifiable drop flow...So, if you are a little more careful with your drops, you won't get the ultra green cake color as I did. As for the red in the icing - that's straight from the cherry juice in the cherry rum butter glaze.
there are substitutions for the glaze if needed. See the substitution section below for some ideas. Thanks for stopping by -
1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Pistachio Flavor Instant Pudding
4 eggs
1-1/4 cups water
1/4 cup oil ( Yep, really "oil")
1/2 tsp. almond extract
7 drops green food coloring (optional - in this photo I used more - just an fyi)
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees
Place all ingredients except powdered sugar in large bowl.
Beat with electric mixer on low speed 1 minute.
Beat on medium speed 4 minutes.
POUR into greased and floured 10-inch fluted tube or tube pan.
BAKE 50 to minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.
Cool in pan on wire rack 15 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely.
* 1/2 cup of butter
* 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
* 2 tablespoons rum
* 1 jar of maraschino cherries
* 2 tablespoons of maraschino cherry juice drained
* Drain the jar of maraschino cherries, saving the juice.
* Heat butter in sauce pan until melted.
* Stir in powdered sugar and rum.
* Stir in reserved maraschino cherry juice, 1 teaspoon full at a time, until the glaze is the consistency you want. You may not use the whole 2 tablespoons. It's all preference.
* Squeeze the remaining juice from the whole maraschino cherries, chop the cherries.
* Add the cherries to the glaze and pour over cake.
I don't have a problem with it. But to disclose all my top secret kitchen tricks - I've never made this recipe with butter. There were some shortcuts my grandma took and when she used a mix - she always used oil. So I go with her and Kraft.
Nope. Italian dessert recipes rely on liquor for flavor. But it's not a "have to". Here are some options to consider:
Back to the Pistachio Cake Recipe
