Heinemann's Devil's Food Pistachio Layer Cake Recipe?

Long ago, this was my favoritest cake in the whole wide world. The chocolate layers were moist, rich and dark; the frosting was fluffy and light; the pistachio-coated sides were thick and crunchy. See a photo here:

http://www.heinemanns.com/index_files/Page1456.htm

Pie Mama gave me half of her recently purchased cake, and brother, it ain't the same. I even told her to stop giving me any, because the quality dropped so low.

The chocolate frosting is the same pretty much, and thankfully the cake is too. But overall, the thing was painfully sweet, and the green frosting between the layers and around the top were gritty with sugar. Obviously it had not been mixed well, as I could see large discernible chunks of white lard. There was a noticeably thinner pistachio coat on the sides, as I could see clear through to the frosting. Also, I could swear there used to be four layers, but that wouldn't bother me as much if the thing was as delectible as it used to be.

Has anybody tried to duplicate this cake? I'm going to attempt it soon, maybe for Father's Day. I have a chocolate cake recipe that looks dead-on, and the chocolate frosting seems to be a typical old-fashioned recipe. I could use some help with figuring out the green frosting though, but I'd prefer not to use lard. I always thought that it must have been whipped, because it was always so much more airy and light than the creamy, thick chocolate frosting. And the color came from from food coloring, not actual pistachios, am I right? I think the name of the cake just refers to the 'stachio sides. Any help would be appreciated.

If it works out and anyone's interested, I'll post the recipe...

This cake was always present for birthdays at family gatherings (as opposed to kid parties), I remember it well, and you're right, it isn't as good as it used to be. The lack of a Dominick's anywhere close to where I live anymore nearly put it out of my mind.

I would venture a guess that the green frosting isn't lard but buttercream (which has a lot of variations from crisp-edged sugar to mouth-numbing glop), which wasn't mixed well. Addition of green food coloring and pistachio extract is probably your solution.

And don't forget the maraschino cherry on the top, and finely-chopped nuts around the side. How they got those sufficiently green I'm not sure.

I would venture a guess that the green frosting isn't lard but buttercream (which has a lot of variations from crisp-edged sugar to mouth-numbing glop), which wasn't mixed well. Addition of green food coloring and pistachio extract is probably your solution.

I would guess it was buttercream made with a commercial vegetable shortening, which is more stable and cheaper than butter, and that it wasn't mixed well. I would really doubt it was lard.

rickster wrote:

I would venture a guess that the green frosting isn't lard but buttercream (which has a lot of variations from crisp-edged sugar to mouth-numbing glop), which wasn't mixed well. Addition of green food coloring and pistachio extract is probably your solution.

I would guess it was buttercream made with a commercial vegetable shortening, which is more stable and cheaper than butter, and that it wasn't mixed well. I would really doubt it was lard.

Oops, I thought lard and shortening were the same, but one's cow and one's plant, right? Since I never ever use the stuff, can I use that as an excuse for my ignorance?

And don't forget the maraschino cherry on the top, and finely-chopped nuts around the side.

I'll never forget that! No matter what age I was, I always scammed that morsel for myself, fossilized tidbit that it was, always with a bit of nut dust around the edges. Even as a kid, as much as I loved the cherry, thought, 'gee, how cheap, they only give us half of one!'

Pie Lady wrote:Oops, I thought lard and shortening were the same, but one's cow and one's plant, right? Since I never ever use the stuff, can I use that as an excuse for my ignorance?

Well, "shortening" has come to be shorthand for "vegetable shortening" but it refers to any fat used to prepare pastry, so lard, butter, Crisco, etc., are all forms of shortening.

Crisco was once referred to as "vegetable lard," but in general "lard" means pork fat. Beef fat is usually called "suet" or "tallow."

You need to use some kind of shortening or you can't make pie crust.

LAZ wrote:You need to use some kind of shortening or you can't make pie crust.

I actually make pie crust often without shortening, because I don't dig the taste. Just butter for me, and it turns out well. I also have a nice pat-in-the-pan recipe if a nice crust isn't necessary (and often for lazy me, it isn't).

I actually make pie crust often without shortening, because I don't dig the taste. Just butter for me,

I think that by the definition LAZ posted butter would also be considered shortening.

figmolly wrote:

I actually make pie crust often without shortening, because I don't dig the taste. Just butter for me,

I think that by the definition LAZ posted butter would also be considered shortening.

Apparently I need to work on my reading skills. Sorry LAZ!

Having been a judge in a number of pie-baking contests, I can state categorically that pure leaf lard makes the best pie crusts.

All-butter crusts can have good flavor, but they never achieve the flaky texture of lard crusts.

Lacking leaf lard, the best results seem to come from mixtures of butter and Crisco.

On the subject of cake, I did a bit of googling - Devil's Food seems to have fallen out of favor a bit, as it doesn't appear in a lot of my favorite baking sites. However, Epicurious does offer several versions, including the one linked to here. As for the frosting, I'm guessing you could use a standard ganache to replace the "fudge," though here's a source for fudge frosting. The Pillsbury website has a pistachio frosting that might mimic a "fluffy" style. Epicurious also has a pistachio frosting using less processed ingredients.

The Pillsbury version looks exactly like it, except it's lighter, but the Epicurious one sounds much tastier. To the laboratory!