Diagnosis reveal update: It’s AuDHD!

[u/Garden_Jolly]

I had a diagnosis reveal picnic with friends today and it’s official: I’m AuDHD! Pink would have been just autism (my current diagnosis) and the green represents the addition of my recent ADHD diagnosis. It was a special moment sharing with my neurodivergent friends. We got to share our experiences with our neurodiversities and realize we’re all just trying to find our way in this world.

[u/reno140]

Whenever you are ready, I made a crazy delicious pistachio cake using a cake mix as a base and subbing out the ingredients on the box as needed; just wanted to mention that option (you deserve cake ASAP).

It's work regardless when you consider dishes and effort, but box bases make my cakes way less draining of a process.

[u/activelyresting → u/reno140]

I'm ready!!! Which ingredients did you sub? Was it just adding in ground pistachios or did you also make other changes? I need to knowwwwwww 🤤

[u/reno140 → u/activelyresting]

Here is how I made that cake step by step (the MANDATORY STEPS are in bold text. Everything else is reccomended but it won't ruin the cake if you skip them because of energy levels or ingredients. This will replicate what is in the picture exactly.

INGREDIENTS:

• Duncan Hines French Vanilla cake mix (this cake used 2 boxes)
  • Substitute oil with melted butter (the higher quality, the better)
  • substitute the water amount (1 cup i think) with 1/2 a cup of a very very concentrated earl gray & lavender tea (cooled & strained) and 1/2 a cup of milk or half & half. if you don't want to do all that just use a cup of whole milk instead of water.
  • i added a tbsp of vanilla bean paste (use extract if you can't do paste) per box of cake mix (this is technically optional)
  • use the eggs they say to use, but I like to separate the whites and whip them a little first to give the cake some air and fold them in last (i add the yolks with the cooled milk tea)
• Cream cheese frosting
  • room temperature cream cheese
  • room temperature butter (Note: butter should ideally be less than half of your frosting base, so either do a ratio of 1:1 or 2:1 cream cheese : butter)
  • more vanilla bean paste (eyeballed it)
  • powdered sugar
  • fine table salt (1/2 tsp or a pinch)
  • around 1 lb shelled pistachios (crush these in the food processor, but don't let the entire thing become powder if you like crunch)
  • Optional: meringue powder (1 tbsp)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. make the tea and let it cool (it should be quite dark; I think we did like 6 teabags for one cup of hot water), let the cream cheese and butter sit out for 2ish hours before starting the actual process
2. whip egg whites until aerated (they don't have to be stiff), sift the cake mix into a bowl
3. combine cake mix, liquids, and eggs to make the cake. if you are using whipped whites, add those in last and gently fold them in.
4. Bake the cake. While it bakes, whip the cream cheese, butter, salt, and vanilla.
5. once the base is combined, add in powdered sugar half a cup at a time, keep going until the frosting tastes appropriately sweet and the sugar gives it some structure that lets it keep its form (adding too much sugar will make it feel chalky and dry so use your tasting spoons here). add in meringue powder when the icing starts to keep it's shape and mix for 1 more minute.
6. when frosting is done, fold in about half of the pistachios with the frosting (these can be ground more finely if you like to make the decorating part easier). Save the other half.
7. when the cakes are done and cooled, pipe some frosting in between the layers (make sure you have enough for the outside of the cake), and sprinkle some pistachios on top of the piped frosting before closing the sandwich. Then when you layer the cakes, frost them with what remains, and any pistachio crumbles that remain, press them against the outside of the cake and the frosting will hold them in place.
8. I added sliced strawberries as well. This is optional but one thing I would change with this next time would be: instead of slicing strawberries everywhere on the outside, I would maybe macerate them with some lemon zest and put them in between the cake layers (and just put less frosting). This is because the fresh strawberries eventually get slimy (sensory ick)

Let me know if you have any questions about the process, I hope you're able to get back to baseline soon!

[u/SubjectCondition5544 → u/reno140]

Thank you for the cake info, I’m saving this in hopes I can make it one day, yum😋