Pistachio Bundt Cake Recipe (2024)

i used to work at a pastry shop in wellesley ma, right next to the library and we used a ton of pastry cream. the owners told me that the recipe would go to the grave with the family matriarch, who was the irascible pastry chef. one day i was taking out the trash and i noticed quart sized containers of heavy cream. almost all the cream we used came in pints. so i fished one out of the bag and found twisted up inside it an empty food service size pouch of jello instant vanilla pudding.

Instant pudding has a modified cornstarch that activates with cold liquids. It’s not the same as the type that must be cooked. Consumers can purchase this its own, as Instant ClearJel; I had to order it online. You can make your own instant puddings with it, or use it in fruit pie fillings. It’s the same as the recently popular idea of tangzhong (=cooked flour paste) in bread. One article on the science on pregelatinized starches in cakes is at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/309 .

You can buy egg whites by the carton which eliminates the need for leftover yolks. Or if you don't want to go that route You could also make hollandaise, homemade mayo, creme brulee, custard, ice cream, google recipes for leftover egg yolks and I'm sure you'll find something.

From the Univ of Missouri Extension: Canola is a European crop that migrated to America, with a stop in Canada along the way. In fact, the crop we call canola is actually a type of European rapeseed that was developed by Canadians, using conventional plant breeding, into a food crop providing healthier and safer vegetable oil for human food use. The name “canola” derives from the phrase “Canadian oilseed low in acid.”

I confess, I am the friend.My recipe is much more Ladies Home Journal than New York Times, but nevertheless delicious. The pudding is absolutely essential for taste and moistness as is pistachio paste.

Best part before making…reading the notes!

For years I have made a whiskey cake that everyone (even foodies) loves which uses 1 box yellow cake mix, one box vanilla pudding, .75 c. oil, .75 c. water, 4 eggs, vanilla. Mix it up, bake at 350 in a greased bundt pan for about 45 minutes. While hot and still in the pan, prick with a fork and then pour over a combo of heated .5 c. whiskey, 4 tbl. butter, .75 c. sugar. So easy.

I am old enough to say that my mom made the one with a box vanilla or white cake and instant pistachio pudding. Whenever I make a bundt cake, there is a box of instant pudding. It is essential to those of use who grew up in the 70s.

For Americans living in the UK: When I moved to Britain in 2010 I could not find any instant pudding mixes except Bird's instant custard which didn't work & I personally think it is vile tasting. Finally I discovered packages (called sachets in the UK) of Angel Delight and it worked!! I have a recipe for chocolate Kahlua Bundt cake that calls for 4 eggs, 16 oz. of sour cream, and among other ingredients, a pkg. of Jello chocolate instant pudding mix; Angel Delight does the trick!

Yogurt and sour cream are generally interchangeable in baking, but I'd bet serious money you'd be unable to detect any difference between them in the finished cake.

Just made this—delicious!-Used a carton of egg whites instead of trying to separate 9.-I always use grapeseed oil.-Skipped the ricotta cream topping.-Used the zest & juice of one lime for the glaze, which was plenty. They’re not kidding about the pan size. I have an 8 cup Bundt which is usually fine for recipes calling for larger pans, but I failed to take into account how much the eggs would add to the rise! It overflowed onto the baking sheet but I just trimmed the edges and it was fine.

Pudding mix adds moisture to scratch cakes and improves their rise. Even a couple tablespoons makes a difference if you need the cake to keep for several days.

And yet, the recipe that inspired this, box pudding mix and all, was on the menu at Momof*cku and at its current residence is considered by some to be one of the best desserts in New York City.

Using pistachio paste (Sicilian or from California) in addition to or instead of the instant pistachio pudding mix improves the taste without compromising the texture.

The ingredients in instant pudding mix are sugar and cornstarch, aren't they? (along with a bunch of artificial flavors & coloring). I'm no Jello snob-one of my favorite desserts ever is the Five Layer Dessert which uses Jello Instant though I draw the line at Cool-Whip. Melissa Clark uses cornstarch in her poundcake recipe, and it really does improve the texture. So I bet it's not the Jello so much as the cornstarch. Wonder what the other bakers think.

This cake was a hit. I brought it to my Book Club brunch and it was the most adored sweet on the table ( and there were many ). I had made homemade raspberry curd, so I had an abundance of egg whites....270 gm. The only change I made was to add some Amoretti brand Pistachio butter (extract) to the cake and also making a cream cheese glaze instead of the lime glaze, and it was perfection. Moist and delicious without tasting artificial or overly sweet. I didn't make the whipped Ricotta this time.

I add Monin pistachio syrup, before and after cooking in the oven. Clients prefer it this way.

I really wanted to like this cake - it sounded delicious from the description. But the flavor was rather artificial, and the cake tasted like it was made from a boxed cake mix. It didn't taste like pistachios, except for the ones sprinkled on the top.

This was excellent! Made the cake as written, but subbed sour cream for yogurt and skipped the glaze and whipped ricotta. Served with raspberries. So good!

Frosting far too thin

This was very easy to bake and tasted delicious, albeit very rich. Next time I’ll add raspberries, maybe some citrus zest, to cut the sweetness. But I’ll definitely make it again

Visually the cake was quite spectacular. Unfortunately, the artificial pistachio flavor of the pudding significantly downgraded the taste of the cake. Will probably not make it again.

Why 9 egg whites, it sounds excessive. Some times with cake making less is more. To me, too many ingredients.

I have an old delicious recipe for a pistachio bundt from the early 80's that involves yellow cake mix, and the pudding. This recipe seems a lot more complicated, wink wink.

i have made this twice. a trifle labor intensive but a solid recipe & fun to do. have found both times that the whipped ricotta is a bit of an overkill, feeling like too much of a good thing. highly recommend serving as smaller slices - this cake is kind of full-bodied to over-the-top bodied.

Huge hit.

1.Regarding The nuts -think about how much time it would take to shell them. Do it in advance to make workflow easier 2.It’s a lot of batter- use a larger mixing bowl when doing last step3.Cream- recipe could be doubled ! It is so delicious!!4.Glaze- if you want to cut the sugar then cut the lime juice tooSummary: delicious, beautiful, moist, unique

I very much appreciate that the recipe writers have listed most of the ingredients in grams, (thank you!!!) but oh how I wish the egg white amounts would be given in weights, too. Especially if you are using egg whites from a carton. Soooo much easier (and more accurate) to pour and weigh on a scale. This is especially true for cake recipes, where small changes can yield differences in the end result.

This is a very nice cake, but it is very sweet and you have to enjoy "fake pistachio" flavoring to really enjoy it. If you would like the pudding, you will love the cake. I also found the glaze recipe to yield too much glaze, half the recipe would give you result shown in the picture. I wonder if anyone has tried chocolate pudding mix in a cake?

For fun I added two drops green food coloring to the glaze. I skipped the ricotta whip after reading other commenters. The cake was a hit with my pistachio loving friend who I made it for.