Our old-fashioned Chocolate Pistachio Cake starts with a cake mix but ends with a beautifully moist and delicious marble cake formed from a bundt pan. This easy cake recipe was handed down from my grandma and is an all-time family favorite.
Easy Chocolate Pistachio Cake
You all know that I am all about easy desserts, but I especially love dessert recipes with a story. I have waited for a long time to share this recipe for my chocolate pistachio cake. This recipe was a classic recipe from my Grandma Lee.
She used to make this cake for us for every birthday and holiday. We begged for her to make this cake and fought over who would get the last piece.
It wasn’t until she passed away and we were going through her recipe box that we found out she made it using a cake mix! Oh my goodness, I was floored!
This didn’t, however, stop me from taking over the pistachio cake reigns and making it for every family birthday and holiday. In fact, it made me love it even more!
Ingredients
- Yellow or White Cake Mix
- Pistachio Instant Pudding
- Orange Juice
- Water
- Eggs
- Vegetable Oil
- Chocolate Syrup
How to Make Chocolate Pistachio Cake
- Blend to moisten by hand the cake mix, pudding, orange juice, water, eggs, and oil.
- Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed.
- Pour 3/4 of the batter into a well-greased and floured bundt pan.
- Mix 3/4 cup of chocolate syrup into the remaining batter and mix well.
- Pour the batter over the batter in the pan – DO NOT MIX,
- Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
- Let cool for 12 minutes and remove from pan.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar (optional).
How to Easily Remove a Cake From a Bundt Pan
It is super easy to remove a cake from a bundt pan. Just follow these steps:
- Be sure you generously greased and floured the pan and that you got in all of the little crevices. (If you haven’t tried it, we love Baker’s Joy. It is a spray that has flour incorporated into the non-stick spray. It is a staple in my kitchen!)
- Let the cake properly cool (not cold, but cool. For this recipe my Grandma told me 12 minutes, so I do that right to the buzzer!)
- Place your cake plate on top of the bundt pan. Holding the cake plate firmly against the bundt pan, quickly flip it over.
- Lift the bunt pan off and you should have a beautiful bundt cake ready to frost or sprinkle!
Pistachio Pudding Cake Pro-Tips
- To get the perfect powdered sugar dusting, use a small tea strainer. Fill it with a scoop of powdered sugar and gently shake it over the cake! It works perfectly every time!
- Store leftover cake in an airtight container for up to a week.
- You will notice the lack of “green” in the cake. If you want to have a greener pistachio cake, just add a drop of food coloring to the mix!
What Does Adding Pudding to a Cake Mix Do?
Adding pudding to a cake mix is a classic hack to enhance the flavor of a boxed cake mix! It can also help make the texture a bit more moist and give it a more homemade or made from scratch consistency!
More Cake Mix Recipes
3-Ingredient Cake Mix Cookies | Apple Dump Cake | Funfetti Dip | Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes | Ding Dong Cake | Cookie Monster Cake Jars | Banana Upside Down Cake | Heaven on Earth Cake
Chocolate Pistachio Cake
Ingredients
- 1 box Yellow or White Cake Mix
- 1 3.4 ounce box Pistachio Instant Pudding
- ¾ cup Orange Juice
- ¼ cup Water
- 4 Eggs
- ½ cup Vegetable Oil
- ¾ cup Chocolate Syrup
Instructions
- In a medium sized bowl, blend to moisten by hand the cake mix, pudding, orange juice, water, eggs and oil.
- Using either a hand mixer or standing mixer, beat for 2 minutes on medium speed.
- Pour 3/4 of the batter into a well greased and floured bundt pan. (You can also use Baker's Joy)
- Mix 3/4 cup of chocolate syrup into the remaining batter and mix well.
- Pour the batter over the batter in the pan but do NOT mix! It should just sit on top of the cake and pudding mixture.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Let cool for 12 minutes and carefully remove from the bundt pan.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar (optional).
My mom always made this but didn’t use orange juice, I think it was just water. She didn’t powder it either but she always told me it was a watergate cake without the icing.
Same as my mother’s recipe that I have used for years. Family loves it.
I’m not sure where this recipe originated from because my wife has been making this for over 35 years. However, the only difference is that she poured the chocolate/cake mixture into the pan first and then added the remaining batter on top of that. That way when you turn the cake out of the pan the chocolate is on the top of the cake (as shown in the first picture) as opposed to the bottom.
While you think that is true it isn’t. The chocolate is heavier and “mushrooms” to the bottom (which becomes the top) while baking. Pistachio batter is poured in first. My family has made this for over 60 years and the only difference to this recipe is a mix of chopped walnuts, cinnamon, and brown sugar sprinkled on cake batter before putting the chocolate batter in.