Watergate cake is a pistachio and lemon lime dessert from the 1970’s. Covered in a delicious Cool Whip frosting, this recipe made with cake mix is not only easy and delicious but also beautiful because of the lime green color. If you want to learn more about the retro dessert, keep reading!
Watergate Cake History
Like many foods, the history of Watergate Cake is not clear. The ingredients are similar to Watergate Salad, an ambrosia-like dessert of pistachio pudding mix, pineapple, marshmallows, and nuts mixed with whipped topping, so many people think that there is a connection. The salad probably predates the cake by a few decades since, according to Wikipedia, Helen Keller published a recipe for “Golden Gate Salad” in 1922 that used very similar ingredients. The main differences being the absence of pistachio pudding mix and the use of whipped cream instead of whipped topping.
The concept of an ambrosia-like salad with pineapple was revived in 1975 when Kraft published a recipe for Pistachio Pineapple Delight. Kraft introduced pistachio pudding mix that same year, and their recipe included the pudding mix. However, Kraft did not refer to it as “Watergate Salad” initially, so it is still somewhat unclear as to how the salad got its name.
Cake Origins: Impeachment and Cover Up
As you can see, it seems that a salad similar to the cake existed in the early 1900’s. Kraft’s introduction of its pudding mix rekindled interest in the salad, leading to the cake’s creation. The cake most likely originated when home cooks in the 1970’s got creative and turned the salad into a cake. They used Dream Whip to frost the cake, and sometimes they replaced the marshmallows with shredded coconut. According to momlovesbaking.com, satirically-named recipes were popular in the 1970’s because of the Nixon scandal, so people called the cake Watergate Cake because it is a nut-flavored cake covered in frosting, the frosting attempting to “cover up” the crazy “nuts.”
However, since the Dream Whip frosting itself has pistachio pudding mix, and the outside of the cake often has chopped pecans or walnuts, the frosting does a poor job of “covering up” or hiding the “nuts.” Wikipedia states that recipes such as “Nixon’s Perfectly Clear Consomme” and “Liddy’s Clam-Up Chowder” were popular at that time, so I think the theory is likely true.
Watergate Cake Recipe
Although many people want to make this cake from scratch, the classic retro dessert actually starts with a box of cake mix. A box of instant pistachio pudding mix is then added, not only adding flavor but also coloring the batter green. I usually use buttermilk or sour cream in my layer cakes, but most recipes for this cake call for either lemon line soda, club soda, or canned pineapple. I wasn’t sure which liquid I wanted to use, but I finally settled on lemon lime soda since it seemed like that was the most common liquid used in the recipes I found online. Ginger ale and canned pineapple are in some recipes, too. I was a bit unsure how citrus and pistachio would go together, but I decided to give it a try.
I then added chopped pecans. Interestingly, none of the traditional versions of this cake call for pistachios in the batter. I also added a teaspoon of almond extract in order to enhance the nutty flavor. Most recipes seem to call for vanilla extract, so I am sure you could use that, too. Lemon or lime flavoring might good options as well.
A few eggs and 1/4 cup of canola oil completed the batter. I then divided the batter into 2 pans for baking. Once the layers baked and cooled, I was ready to make the frosting.
Cool Whip Impeachment Frosting
My usual go-to frosting is my no butter cream cheese frosting, but I used a whipped topping frosting to keep with the classic recipes. Dream Whip was used in the 1970’s, but I decided to use a version of Cool Whip. If you prefer to use normal whipped cream, I am sure that would work, too.
Making the Cool Whip frosting is easy: all you need is a box of instant pistachio pudding mix, a cup of whole milk, and a tub of whipped topping. It came together in just a few minutes, so it was definitely easier than making cream cheese frosting. Even though the pistachio pudding mix did turn the frosting green, I wanted a more intense color. 4 drops made the color slightly better, but I may add a few more next time.
It is important to note that I used 1 box of pistachio pudding mix in the cake batter, along with another box of pudding mix in the frosting. If you make this cake, be sure to buy TWO boxes of pudding mix.
Once the cake was frosted, I chilled it in the refrigerator overnight. Before serving the cake, I added 1/2 cup (60g) of chopped pecans and about 1/4 cup (30g) of shredded coconut. I waited to add the extra nuts and coconut because I was afraid that the moisture from the frosting would make the nuts and coconut soggy.
Watergate Cake Recipe Review
This Watergate Cake was absolutely delicious. The flavor is a bit difficult to describe: it definitely tasted like pistachio, but with something else. The addition of lemon lime soda make this retro dessert very unique.
Like I said earlier, I was unsure how lemon lime would go with nuts, but it was actually a delicious combination. Now I understand why canned crushed pineapple is used in Watergate Salad, as well as some versions of this cake: acidity enhances pistachio flavor surprisingly well. Although I have not made this recipe with club soda, I highly recommend using lemon lime soda or canned pineapple.
The chopped pecans added nice texture to the cake as well.
I also really liked the frosting. It was light, fluffy, and not too sweet, so it was the perfect complement to the denser cake. I still really like cream cheese frosting, but Cool Whip and instant pudding make excellent frosting, too. In fact, Cool Whipped Frosting would be good on a fruity, summery cake, perhaps a poke cake of some sort. I will have to experiment with this more in the future.
My Only Critique: Green Color
The combinations in this cake were great. Citrus and pistachio, crunchy nuts with fluffy cake, moist cake and creamy Cool Whip. My only complaint was that I was expecting the green color to be a bit brighter. I could have added food coloring to the batter, as well as more to the frosting, but I did not want to give the cake an odd taste. The color wasn’t a big issue, so I consider this recipe to be a huge success. I created my own recipe by researching others, so I did well for a first try. If you want to learn how to make Watergate Cake with cake mix, definitely give this a try! It’s perfect for St. Patrick’s Day, Christmas, or just because!
Watergate Cake Recipe
Watergate Cake
Notes
This cake uses 2 boxes of instant pistachio pudding: 1 in the cake layers, 1 in the frosting. Be sure to buy TWO BOXES of pudding mix.
Ingredients
- Cake:
- 1 15.25 oz box white cake mix
- 1 3.4 oz box instant pistachio pudding
- 1 cup chopped pecans (120g)
- 1 cup lemon lime soda (240g)
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 canola oil
- Frosting:
- 1 8 oz tub whipped topping (Cool Whip is most popular, but I used TruWhip)
- 1 3.4 oz box instant pistachio pudding
- 1 cup whole milk (240g)
- *4 drops green food coloring
- Topping:
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans (60g)
- 1/4 cup shredded coconut (30g) **You may need up to 1/3 cup of shredded coconut, but 1/4 will likely be enough
Instructions
- Mix the ingredients for the cake in a large bowl
- Pour into two, 8″ cake pans
- Bake at 325 F for 30 minutes.
- Remove from cake pans and make frosting
- For the frosting, fold together the ingredients. Add green food coloring if you want a deeper green color
- Cover cake with frosting
- Chill in the refrigerator for a few hours to overnight
- Before serving, sprinkle the pecans and coconut topping on top of cake
YouTube Video
Be sure to watch my YouTube video tutorial:
Links
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_salad
https://www.momlovesbaking.com/watergate-cake/
