Catastrophe Kitchen | Lucky Horseshoe Cake

Pistachio and Irish cream combine for a fragrant and delicious cake that’s surprisingly easy to make. Cut into this cake and you’ll reveal a horseshoe shape that depends on nothing more than a little food coloring and the natural rising process of the cake in the oven—almost like magic. This is a great cake to make with little kids—tell them you are doing a green stripe for St. Patrick’s Day, then make a big fuss over the Leprechauns changing it into a lucky horseshoe!If you want to skip the horseshoe, just skip the green dye, and you’ll have a dessert as good in November as it is on St. Patrick’s Day. This cake keeps well in a sealed container for up to a week.You will need:For the cake:1 box vanilla cake mix1 box pistachio instant pudding4 eggs3/4 cup Irish cream liqueur, such as Bailey's3/4 cup oil1 tsp vanillagreen food coloringFor the glaze:1/2 cup powdered sugar1 tablespoon Irish cream liqueur (or milk, or water)Sprinkles (optional)Special tools:Baking sprayBundt panSet an oven rack to slightly below the middle of your oven, and preheat the oven to 350F. Find your Bundt pan—it’s probably in the very back of your cupboard. Spray the interior thoroughly with baking spray. DO NOT skip this step, it is essential for your cake to release from the pan! When that’s done, set the pan aside.Add the cake ingredients (minus the green food coloring) to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low until incorporated, then mix on high for two minutes.If you’re adding the horseshoe, scoop about one cup of batter into a small container and add green food coloring to tint it. Make sure it is a pretty vibrant green so that it will stand out in the cake.Add half of the un-tinted batter to the pan and smooth the top. Add the green batter on top of that, in an even layer.You want to smooth out the green to the edges of the pan for the best effect (more than shown here). Try not to mix the green batter into the lighter color; just smooth it across the top. Add the rest of the un-tinted batter on top of the green batter, then smooth it out one last time.Put the cake in the oven, and set a timer for 35 minutes. When the timer beeps, check the cake by poking a toothpick or skewer into one of the cracks on the cake. If the toothpick comes out with wet batter on it, let it bake 5 minutes more and check again. If the toothpick comes out with crumbs on it, your cake is done!When you remove the cake from the oven, set a timer for 5 minutes. This is exactly how long it should sit in the pan before you attempt to remove it for maximum success.When your timer beeps, put a wire rack on the top of the cake, then flip the entire thing over. Remove the pan from the top, leaving the cake on the rack.You can dust it with powdered sugar and be done with it, but I had some St. Patrick’s Day sprinkles I wanted to use, so I made a little glaze. Just add a tablespoon of Irish cream (or milk, or water) to about a half cup of powdered sugar. You can use more or less liquid depending on how you’d like the consistency. I just wanted a thin glaze that I could use to adhere the sprinkles, but you can go for thick icing drizzles if that’s your jam. Top with sprinkles.The real magic happens when you cut into the cake to reveal the lucky horseshoe inside!Enjoy this cake with coffee or tea or just on its own. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!