Many many years ago my paternal grandma gave my mom a very special recipe. There are quite a few similar recipes out there that call for added cinnamon, sugar, and food coloring, but I think this recipe is just perfect. My mom began the tradition and has been making this recipe every Christmas for as long as I can remember. The tradition has been passed down and now I make it every year. Since there’s only D and me, I usually make smaller loaves and give them out to extended family who have come to love the recipe as well.
Although the recipe is called “bread” it is more like a cake in a loaf form. Don’t let the pistachio scare you away, the dominant taste is the yellow cake mix and the cinnamon-sugar topping which becomes delightfully crispy while baking. I’m not a cherry fan, but the maraschino’s are really good in this recipe. This recipe freezes nicely for a long time, but you sacrifice the crispy crust. I’ve personally frozen a recipe for 10 months and I know D’s mom has frozen it for a long time too.
Ingredients
- 1 yellow cake mix
- a 4 serving package pistachio pudding
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (Mom makes the recipe with them, I make it without them)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 3/4 cup maraschino cherries – chopped
- 1/4 cup cinnamon-sugar mix
Instructions
1 – Heat oven to 350 degrees F
No, it's not lunch time, it's baking time. (aka: Half past midnight) That's how much I love you guys (and baking)!
2 – Combine and mix all ingredients except for the cinnamon-sugar
3 – Pour into two 8×4 loaf pans or one 8×4 and two or three mini loaf pans or all mini loaf pans to give as gifts
4 – Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar on top of loaves
5 – Bake for 45 minutes
6 – After it has thoroughly cooled… enjoy! I think this is one of those recipes that tastes much better the second day anyway. (If it’s still to warm, it will also start to fall apart when you cut into it.)
If you’re interested in more recipes you can check out my food and recipes pages. If you want to know what I’ve been up to this week, visit my front page!
I’m also participating in the following carnivals today! You can find many more recipes here:
- Finer Things Friday @ The Finer Things in Life
- Frugal Friday @ Life as Mom
- Food on Fridays @ Ann Kroeker’s blog
- Foodie Fridays @ Designs by Gollum
- Friday Feasts @ Mom Trends
- Fearless Friday at Home-Ec101
- Beautiful Life Friday @ The Inspired Room
- Homemaker Monday’s @ 11th Heaven’s Homemaking Haven
- Mouthwatering Monday’s @ A Southern Fairytale
- Your Life, Your Blog @ Real Life Blog
- DIY Day @ A Soft Place to Land
- Tasty Tuesday @ Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
- Tempt My Tummy Tuesday @ Blessed with Grace
- Tuesday’s at the Table @ All the Small Stuff
- Tackle it Tuesday @ 5 Minutes for Mom
- GratiTuesday @ Heavenly Homemakers
- Works for Me Wednesday @ We Are THAT Family
- What’s Cooking Wednesdays @ Tales from the Fairy Blogmother
- What Did You Bake Today @ The Krazy Kitchen
- Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap @ The Grocery Cart Challenge
Thumbs up!
Comment by Joyce — November 6, 2009 @ 8:04 AM
What a GREAT!!! combination of flavors.
Geri
Comment by Geri@heartnsoulcooking — November 6, 2009 @ 12:00 PM
[...] Prudent and Practical (Grandma’s Pistachio Bread) 2. Tara @ Feels like home (easy crockpot mashed potatoes) 3. Samantha @The Good Stuff (Favorite [...]
Pingback by Food on Fridays: Comme a la Maison « — November 6, 2009 @ 12:00 PM
Interesting recipe. I’ve never had pistacio pudding before. I think I might try this to take to Christmas dinner.
Thanks for sharing!
Comment by Alison — November 6, 2009 @ 12:11 PM
This looks really interesting. It would be a great end to a holiday meal. Have a wonderful weekend.
Comment by Mary — November 6, 2009 @ 1:00 PM
This looks very yummy! Thanks for posting. I’ll have to add this to my holiday baking list
Blessings!
Gail
Comment by Gail@FaithfulnessFarm — November 6, 2009 @ 1:18 PM
This is some of the best holiday bread I have ever had, and that’s saying something coming from me
Give it a shot, you will not be disappointed!
Comment by D — November 6, 2009 @ 1:43 PM
I have been asked to bake something for a charity bazaar/bake sale. This is perfect. I already have a dozen pumpkin scones made. I’ll make these into mini loaves. Of course, I will keep one for myself. Thanks for sharing.
Comment by Karen — November 6, 2009 @ 2:07 PM
I love pistachio and this would be so pretty for the holidays. Thanks!
Comment by Sue — November 6, 2009 @ 2:44 PM
You post the most interesting recipes! Yet another I’d not heard of.
Comment by Amy @ Finer Things — November 7, 2009 @ 12:39 AM
This looks great! Thank you for participating in Fearless Friday. This sounds like something my mother would love.
Comment by Heather Solos — November 7, 2009 @ 8:13 AM
This sounds wonderful -your Grandma must have been a good cook.
vickie
Comment by vickie — November 9, 2009 @ 6:50 AM
I’m going to make this for sure. I love pistachio and cherry, so this looks like heaven to me!
Comment by amy2boys — November 9, 2009 @ 9:26 AM
Oh My WORD!!! That looks sooo good! My momma loves pistachios and I just might have to make this for her!
Great post!
Jes
Comment by Jes — November 9, 2009 @ 12:02 PM
[...] home8. The Cozy Country Home (Our Anniversary)9. Diann @ The Thrifty Groove (Being prepared)10. Prudent & Practical (Pistachio Bread)11. Allison@Savoring the Moments (Inexpensive Halloween Memories)12. Jean Stockdale-Fragrance of [...]
Pingback by Finer Things Friday: A Full Bucket | The Finer Things in Life — November 9, 2009 @ 8:54 PM
I remember this recipe- My mom used to make it decades ago. I loved it. I now can make it. It is delicious!
Thank you so much, for giving me a little piece of the yummy past.
Yvonne
Comment by Yvonne@StoneGable — November 9, 2009 @ 10:56 PM
I love pistachios, and can’t wait to try this!
Comment by Cole — November 10, 2009 @ 11:40 PM
OH. So yummy looking. I haven’t had this in forever – and its so simple I’m going to have to make it! Thanks for sharing your recipe – this will be a nice treat for our holiday season.
Comment by Debbie — November 11, 2009 @ 6:20 AM
Wow, definitely looks good enough to eat. Grandmas really do have the best recipes.
Jamie
Comment by steadymom — November 11, 2009 @ 1:50 PM
I’m back. I just had to tell you that the bake sale/bazaar started on Thursday night. I went on Friday morning and the mini loves of your cake were all gone already. It was a huge hit. My pumpkin scones, not so much. This will be my default bakesale product from now on. Thanks so much for sharing. BTW, the proceeds are going to an orphanage.
Comment by Karen — November 14, 2009 @ 3:15 PM
This looks great. My Mom would love it. Thanks for sharing it.
Comment by Shan @ the fairy blogmother — November 14, 2009 @ 3:34 PM
K,
If you google grandma’s first and last name, there are some of her recipies online, some I didn’t even have! I don’t know how they got there, you know how she was about her recipies, thousands of them! Glad to see you following in her footsteps!She was all about being frugal and saving! I am so proud of you and I love this site!
Comment by Tiffany — May 7, 2010 @ 1:51 PM
Great blog.Thanks Again.
Comment by Peter Witter — January 14, 2012 @ 10:44 AM