Midori Cake

Midori cake is a doctored cake mix recipe with a sense of theater. Yellow cake mix and a small box of pistachio pudding mix get the four-egg, half-cup-of-yogurt, half-cup-of-corn-oil treatment, then three-quarters of a cup of Midori melon liqueur goes in for color, lift, and that unmistakable honeydew note. The batter beats up pale jade green and bakes into a tender, tight-crumbed Bundt with a shimmering domed top.

The glaze does the second pour of liquor: powdered sugar, more Midori, soft cream cheese, butter, and a half teaspoon of coconut flavoring whipped smooth and spread over the cake while it’s still warm. The warmth lets the glaze melt into the crust and seep into the cracks, where it sets into thin pale ribbons. It’s a 1980s cocktail-party cake that still holds up at brunch and bridal showers.

Pro Tips

• Grease the Bundt pan obsessively. Get into every fluted corner with softened butter and dust with flour, or use a baking spray with flour mixed in. This batter sticks if you skimp.
• Cool exactly fifteen minutes in the pan before turning out. Less and it tears; more and it sweats and sticks.
• Glaze while the cake is still slightly warm so the glaze melts in and self-levels rather than sitting on top in a stiff layer.
• Let the cake sit a few hours before slicing. The Midori flavor deepens overnight and the crumb sets cleaner.

Variations

• Swap the Midori for Chambord and the pistachio pudding for vanilla for a pink raspberry-glazed Bundt.
• Fold in chopped pistachios for crunch in the crumb.
• Use coconut milk instead of yogurt for a more pronounced tropical note alongside the coconut flavoring.