WARNING: the richest cake ever

I have a lot of cake recipes because with ten children, we had a lot of birthdays. Although prepared cake mixes are easy and taste fine, a cake from scratch really isn’t difficult to put together and makes the event seem more special. 

W is for Warning: What follows is the richest cake I’ve ever had in my entire life. I’ve always said it should come with a warning label, so here it is. With the butter and cream content, and the inch-thick frosting, it’s incredibly rich and should be cut into small pieces, no seconds allowed, and skip the ice cream. 

The main recipe uses pistachio pudding mix, with a variation given for Coconut Cream Cake, using coconut pudding mix. 

Pistachio Pudding Cake

Ingredients:

2 ¼ cups flour

1 2/3 cup sugar

2 cups milk

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 small packages instant pistachio pudding mix

1 ½ sticks butter, melted

5 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven for 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13” pan, and also prepare a cupcake pan with liners. (This is too much batter for the 9 x 13” pan) so I make 8-10 cupcakes as well.) 

Add ingredients in order listed in mixing bowl and mix well at medium speed until thoroughly blended, for 2- 4 minutes. Stop part way through to scrape the sides of bowl. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350 for 35 – 45 minutes. Frost when cool. I have never yet been able to keep the middle from falling on this cake, but no matter. This frosting recipe covers it so thickly that you don’t notice a sunken middle when you’re done spreading it. 

Pistachio Frosting

1 small package instant pistachio pudding

2 cups heavy whipping cream

3 cups powdered sugar

¼ cup butter, softened

Stir pudding into one cup of the heavy cream and let set for a few minutes. Then add remaining ingredients along with rest of cream and beat until fluffy. Spread onto cooled cake. 

Variations:

Coconut Cream Cake—Make as directed throughout, substituting instant coconut pudding mix for the pistachio, including the frosting recipe. After frosting, sprinkle top of cake liberally with sweetened, flaked coconut.