Mix it up Monday - The Winner!

We have a winner folks, Sara and her Mom's Pistachio Cake. There was really no contest once John heard the word pistachios. They are one of his favorite things, along with Cool Whip, which there is plenty of in the icing. The funny thing is, since I know Sara in real life I wanted to make sure I got the recipe right. All the ones I came across started with a cake mix. I, by the way, have no problem with dressing up a cake mix...or using a cake mix as directed for that matter. So I asked Sara if this was the way her mom made it. No, no, I'm sure it's from scratch she said. Guess what? It's not. Sara's mom has been fooling her this whole time. Anyway, it is a really good cake and one that I would never have picked on my own, which was sort of the point. I made it in a bundt pan, but I imagine you could use cake pans or make a sheet cake. It has a little green tint to the cake which you could bump up with some food coloring if you wanted. The frosting is easy and fairly light in texture with a pretty green coloring. I added chopped pistachios to the top and Sara mentioned that her mom sometimes adds cherries to make it a wreath for Christmas. I think it would also be pretty for Easter with some green colored coconut and small candy eggs. And obviously it would work for St. Patrick's Day. John declared it, "The. Best. Cake. Ever". Even if you are not a huge fan of pistachios like John, I'm not, you should still try this cake, the pistachio flavor is not overwhelming. So thanks Sara and Sara's Mom for this yummy treat.


Cake:
1 box white cake mix
5 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup oil
1 pkg. pistachio pudding mix

Icing:
1 1/2 pkg. pistachio pudding mix
1 small tub cool whip
1/2 pint heavy cream

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour into a prepared pan and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Mix icing ingredients, I used my hand mixer for both. Let cool completely before icing.