Favorite Things
It’s my birthday month so I get to write about my favorite things. I have many favorite things; the color green, pistachios, and maraschino cherries are a few. And surprise! Two of my favorite things are Watergate Salad and Watergate Cake. The pale green fluffy salad topped with crushed pistachios and maraschino cherries is one of my favorites. Watergate cake, a mix of pistachios, pecans, coconut, and of all things, 7UP runs a close second.
Watergate salad is a dessert salad or side dish made with pistachio pudding, canned fruit, whipped topping, and other ingredients. The original recipe was originally published by General Foods under the title “Pistachio Pineapple Delight.” The Watergate salad is often compared to the Watergate cake, another green dessert made with pistachio pudding, which may have contributed to the salad’s name.
These recipes are very mid-century. Watergate cake originally comes from the ’50s and ’60s, when pale green food was all the rage; like grasshopper pie, green goddess dressing, and cream of celery soup. There’s nothing wrong with a bright green dessert, Key lime pie exists, after all, but deliberately making your food that particular shade of green is not so popular today.
But first a quick history refresher: In 1972, agents found to be acting on the orders of President Richard M. Nixon were caught breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at Washington D.C.’s Watergate hotel. This became known as the Watergate scandal and ultimately resulted in Nixon becoming the first, and thus far, only president ever to resign the office. If you’ve ever wondered why every scandal gets the “-gate” suffix added to it, this is why.
On May 17, 1973, the Senate’s hearings regarding the Watergate scandal began being televised across the country, running until August 7 of that year. Because this was a huge deal politically and this was a time when there were really only three channels to watch on any given TV set, according to the Museum of Broadcast Communication, it’s been estimated that 85% of the population watched at least part of the hearings. I was 8 years old and at the end of the day, I really didn’t care much about what the president had been caught doing and would definitely would have preferred watching The Brady Bunch instead of boring legal hearings. When a family friend pointed out to me that I was watching history unfold, I still wanted to know why history couldn’t be happening at a time when I didn’t have shows I wanted to watch.
Supposedly, it’s called Watergate cake because under its covering of bright, colorful icing, it hides a bunch of nuts. LOL! At some indeterminate point in time, the Watergate name was transferred from the cake to its salad cousin. Nobody can pin down exactly when or where this transition occurred. For a time, both dishes rode the disgraced president’s coattails to nationwide popularity. What we do know is that the cake recipe – and enthusiasm for Watergate Salad – was extremely popular. Stores couldn’t keep the pistachio pudding mix in stock, and blamed the popularity of the recipe in magazines and newspapers for inspiring the craze.
You don’t hear them mentioned much anymore but they’re evidently popular enough that you can find a recipe for Watergate Salad on the box of pistachio pudding mix today and Kraft says more than 100,000 people have visited its recipe for Watergate salad online.
Here are my favorite recipes for both. The cake is moist and the icing is so light and fluffy. Not at all overly sweet like some cakes, but just the right balance of sweet and fluff! I can eat the salad any time of day, for breakfast is preferred.
Watergate Cake
Ingredients
Cake
1 box white cake mix
2 boxes instant pistachio pudding mix
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 cup ginger ale or 7 Up
Cover up Frosting
1 1/4 cups cold milk
8 oz. whipped topping
nuts optional
Instructions
Combine the cake mix, 1 box of pistachio pudding, oil, eggs, and ginger ale in a medium bowl. Mix well and pour into a greased 9×13-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely.
Cover-up Frosting
Add the cold milk to the remaining box of pistachio pudding mix in a medium bowl. Stir until well combined and the pudding begins to thicken. Then fold in the whipped topping. Frost the cooled cake and garnish it with chopped pecan or pistachio pieces (optional). Store in the refrigerator.
Watergate Salad
1 3.4-ounce package instant pistachio pudding mix
1 20 ounce can crushed pineapple not drained
2 cups mini marshmallows
1/2 cup pecans chopped
1 8-ounce container Cool Whip thawed
Instructions
Gather all ingredients. Combine crushed pineapple with juice, instant pudding mix, mini marshmallows, and walnuts in a large bowl. Mix until well combined. Fold in whipped topping, then chill for 1 to 2 hours before serving. When ready to serve, garnish with crushed pistachios and maraschino cherries. Enjoy!
