Watergate Cake with Impeachment Frosting
In the Spirit of Kindness and Giving
Don’t be put off by this cake’s title. There’s no political message here. But I did purposely choose to make this cake during election week. Why? Because I wanted to highlight the importance of kindness, and what better time? To drive the point home, I gave it away as a gesture of kindness and giving to kick off the holidays.
I was admittedly nervous about this one. I’d never even sampled a Watergate cake, and I’d never used pistachios for anything besides munching or tossing on a salad or appetizer. But why not create some pressure in my experimentation by promising to give it away?
I got a little giggle thinking of this cake as vintage. Vintage Cakes author Julie Richardson stated it rose to popularity around 1975. Since I was born around that time, I guess I’m vintage, too. As the title suggests, this cake arose during an infamous period of political unrest.
A Masterpiece in the Making
A few steps brought this cake to life—a homemade pistachio pudding, caramelized pistachios, the cake itself, and the phenomenal pistachio cream frosting. With that in mind, I knocked out a couple of them the day before I actually made and assembled it.
I started with the pistachio pudding. I’ve become fairly skilled at cooking up homemade puddings, but not usually with nuts. I had the store-bought box mix pudding in mind that I never thought tasted like pistachios. Spoiler alert: mine was different. But different doesn’t mean bad.
The pudding served as the heart of both the cake batter and the frosting. The batter was pretty standard—fat, flour, milk, eggs, and vanilla. The pistachio pudding gave it life. Since I was nervous, I sampled the batter before baking (as if I could do anything to “fix” it if I didn’t like it), and it seemed superb. I do consider myself a cake batter connoisseur.
The frosting was heavy cream, sugar, and mascarpone, whipped to firm peaks—but not too whipped, or the fragile mascarpone would have flopped. I folded in the remaining pudding to make this frosting a regal masterpiece. I left the layers naked, but filled and topped it with this rich, dreamy frosting.
Salty-Sweet Treat
A Watergate cake isn’t a cheap cake to make. The fancy price tag came from two types of nuts—regular shelled, unsalted pistachios and raw pistachios—and pistachios aren’t cheap. I do have some leftover for snacking, though.
The other make-ahead element of this cake, and I dare to call it the crowning joy, was the sea-salted caramelized pistachios. They made the finished cake glorious. I also left some off because they were so crunchy and salty-sweet that they could be a stand-alone treat.
Rich and Fancy
I love how this cake turned out. Despite the casual, naked layers, I think this cake looked fancy and rich. It was in the Layer Cakes chapter of Vintage Cakes, but I’d be proud to grace a party table with her.
Not only was the Watergate Cake rich in presentation, but oh my! I almost regretted giving her away. As I closed my mouth on that first bite of my “stolen” slice, I was swept off my feet. The texture and quality were perfect.
And the frosting…imagine silky whipped cream, but with more substance to it. It was smooth and creamy, light yet thick, infused with delicate notes from the homemade pudding. I didn’t think I’d like nuts in it, but they were ground, not chunky, offering just a bit of texture.
The caramelized pistachios were the crown jewels.
Spread Kindness: The Transcend Moment
The other day, coincidentally the same day I offered this cake giveaway, a dear friend posted the most beautiful reminder of the importance of kindness. He should really be the one writing this. As we’ve seen in countless memes, his primary point was, “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.”
When social media feeds this past week, and at other times of unrest, imposed anger and division, the ones with a thoughtful and compassionate reminder lifted me.
I really struggled with when or how to bring out this cake and what to write about without ruffling feathers. And then it seemed so simple.
What inspires me?
What makes me feel good?
What would I love to see more of?
Kindness. I’m sure you concur. A single act of kindness creates an endless ripple.
This was the perfect opportunity to highlight what brings us together by offering an act of kindness myself. It also fit nicely with the season of giving that’s coming in hot.
Sometimes it’s hard, but you don’t have to agree with someone to be kind. Kindness is universal. It spans all languages, personal differences, and political parties.
Sometimes we all need a reminder—take a beat from Tim McGraw: “Always Stay Humble and Kind.”