Family Chow Hall

Cake mix, Soda, and Pudding

March 28th, 2007

I got the idea for this recipe from a Better Homes and Gardens magazine. Ooh… it caught my eye right away. The pale green color of this cake was hard to ignore. And, at the time, St. Patrick’s Day was approaching, so I quickly decided that this was definitely going to be on my menu for Old St. Paddy.

The basic idea was to start with a boxed cake mix, add a box of pudding and a can of soda and turn it into a uniquely flavored cake. This one called for white cake, pistachio pudding (hence the green color) and lemon-lime soda.

I made my own changes, as I often do, and turned out a delicious cake that was probably the moistest I have ever had. (Is moistest a word?) I got really excited and knew I had to share it with you when I began considering all the potential flavor combinations…

white cake, vanilla pudding, root beer
chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, orange soda
cherry cake, vanilla pudding, Dr. Pepper

Just think of all the different kinds of soda…

Coke
Cream Soda
Red Pop
Cherry Dr. Pepper
Vanilla Coke
Lemon-Lime
Root Beer

And then all of the kinds of pudding…

Banana
Vanilla
Chocolate
Lemon
White Chocolate

And add the cake mix possibilities….

White
Yellow
Chocolate
Strawberry
Lemon

I think I could bake a cake every week and not run out of ideas! I could gain 20 pounds just trying different flavor combinations!

The changes I made were to use part applesauce in place of the oil - this is an old trick I use every now and then. It really helps lower the fat content. Also, I omitted the frosting completely and sprinkled the cake with powdered sugar. I figured the addition of the soda was enough extra sugar and I didn’t need to add any more.

Enough ranting… Here’s the recipe I used:

Pistachio cake for St. Patrick’s Day

1 white cake mix
1 small box pistachio pudding
1 (12 oz) can of lemon-lime soda
1/2 c. applesauce
1/2 c. oil
3 eggs

Into a large bowl, dump everything. Beat on low until moistened, then on medium for 2 minutes.

Grease your pan — I used a bundt cake pan, but a 9 x 13 would be fine, too. Pour the batter into the pan.

Bake according to the directions on the cake mix box. It’s done when you can insert a toothpick into the middle and it comes out clean instead of gooey.

Cool for 10 minutes before trying to remove it from the pan. If you are putting icing on it, allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.

Enjoy!

Entry Filed under: Desserts, Recipes