Julie Clark
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Easy Pistachio Cake
Cake mix and pudding are the base to this Easy Pistachio Cake recipe. The creamy, lightly sweetened dream whip frosting is cool and refreshing, an ideal picnic cake! You may also love our vanilla bean pistachio cake.
Easy Pistachio Cake Recipe
Pistachio cake is an old fashioned favorite made with a cake mix, pudding mix and ginger ale. It’s an easy dessert recipe that is perfect for taking to potlucks and picnics. It is great for summer because it is cold and not overly sweet. The pretty green color is great for Christmas and St. Patricks Day too!
What does pistachio pudding taste like?
Pistachio pudding doesn’t really taste much like pistachio nuts. The pudding has a really subtle fresh flavor that is slightly nutty. It goes well with a lot of different flavors and just adds a delicious creaminess.
Pistachio Cake with Ginger Ale
This old fashioned pistachio cake has ginger ale in the cake batter. You could also use 7-Up or club soda. Really any clear soda would work perfectly. Soda helps make the cake moist and tender. Sometimes people use soda to replace eggs or oil, but this recipe still calls for both which means you end up with a really moist cake!
Frosting with Dream Whip
What really makes this cake taste so fresh for warmer months is the Dream Whip frosting. What is Dream Whip? Dream Whip is a dry powder that you mix with milk and vanilla to make a whipped topping. Dream Whip, pistachio pudding and milk is the base to this frosting. Just whip them all together until stiff peaks form, then spread it on the cake. Easy and delicious!
How do I store pistachio cake?
Because this cake has a whipped frosting, you’ll want to store it in the refrigerator. Be sure to cover it well so it does not dry it.
Other Cakes with Pudding Mixes
Tools to Make This Cake
- Hand mixer: I don’t pull out my stand mixer for this recipe. It makes a small amount so a hand mixer works perfectly.
- Frosting Spatula: To get that frosting nice and smooth.
Easy Pistachio Cake
Cake mix and pudding are the base to this Easy Pistachio Cake recipe. The creamy, lightly sweetened dream whip frosting is cool and refreshing, an ideal picnic cake!
Servings 15
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 1 box white cake mix (15.25 ounces)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 package instant pistachio pudding (3.5 ounces)
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup ginger ale
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or pistachios)
For the Frosting:
- 2 packages Dream Whip (2.6 total ounces)
- 1 package instant pistachio pudding (3.5 ounces)
- 1 1/4 cup milk
Instructions
Make the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.
- Add all of the cake ingredients into a large bowl. Blend using a hand mixer on low speed for 1 minute, then on medium-high speed for 2 minutes.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the cake bounces back when you touch it. Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack.
Make the Frosting:
- Add the dream whip, pudding mix and milk into a mixing bowl. Beat the ingredients, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed, until it holds stiff peaks (about 5 minutes).
- Once the cake is cool, frost the cake.
- Store the cake covered in the refrigerator.
Video
Notes
The calories shown are based on the cake being cut into 15 pieces, with 1 serving being 1 slice of cake. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate.
Nutrition
Calories: 287kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 39mg | Sodium: 465mg | Potassium: 94mg | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 100IU | Calcium: 121mg | Iron: 1mg
I baked this same cake recipe every year for my daughter’s birthday. But then I lost the recipe about 10 years ago. Needless to say, I was never able to find a recipe that came close to the delicious flavor of this one. I was thrilled to come across this recipe on the internet today and immediately baked her a cake. The cake came out every bit as good as we remembered. Thank you for a great recipe.
What can I use in place of dream whip as I can’t find it in my local stores?
Made this as a special Thanksgiving desert and it was a hit. Next time will make this cake as a bundt cake with glaze. For the holidays I used Canada Dry Blackberry ginger ale.