Chocolate Pistachio Cake

I'm always skeptical of any recipe that starts with a boxed cake mix.  I love cooking from scratch and I'd rather leave the pre-mixed ingredients to people who are in a hurry and not as concerned about the ability to create a unique product.  My pantry is stocked with four types of flour, various leavening agents, and all types of flavorings.  Boxed cake mix isn't an everyday purchase for me.

I saw this recipe on Pioneer Woman Cooks a week or two ago and I was intrigued by two things:  the use of Pistachio Jello Pudding (who knew such a thing existed?) and the tunnel of chocolate in the Bundt cake.  I went ahead and and tried it.

You know what?  It worked out!  This doctored-up boxed cake mix gets my seal of approval.  I'd take it to a potluck or serve it at a family dinner.  It looks much more complicated than it really is and it's full of ingredients that most people can pick up at a convenience store, if necessary.  You don't have to be a baker to make this cake.

You layer the batter and then the magic happens during the baking process.

The base is a box of white cake mix doctored up with Jello Pistachio Instant Pudding, orange juice, and extra eggs.  You pour 3/4 of the mix into a prepared Bundt pan (or an Angel Food Pan if you're like me and can't find your Bundt pan) and then mix some chocolate syrup in the remaining 1/4 of the batter before pouring it over the cake and baking the whole thing.  I topped mine with a chocolate ganache (like the one I used in Boston Cream Pie).  My husband came running when he heard me whipping up the ganache and we both enjoyed a slice of the cake while it was still warm.  It's that good.

Check out that tunnel of goodness!

Chocolate Pistachio Cake
From The Pioneer Woman, slightly adapted by Keeley

1 box White Cake Mix
1 package (3.4 Ounce) pistachio instant pudding mix
½ cups orange juice
½ cups Water
½ cups Vegetable Oil
4 whole Eggs
1 drop green food coloring (optional, to bring out green color in cake)
1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
¾ cups chocolate syrup (I used Hershey's Dark Chocolate)

For the cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour bundt pan.

Mix all ingredients but chocolate syrup and beat for two minutes on medium-high. Pour 3/4 of the batter into the bundt pan.

Add chocolate syrup to the remaining batter and mix well. Pour chocolate-laced batter on top of the pistachio batter.

Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

For the ganache

1/2 cup heavy cream
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (I used Bakers Chocolate, you could even use chocolate chips)

In a small saucepan, bring cream to a simmer over medium-high heat.

Remove from heat, whisk in chocolate until shiny and smooth.  Let ganache cool for three minutes, then pour over cooled cake.