A Lemon Cake to Die for!

Prep: 10 min
Bake time: 30-35 minutes @ 350 degrees

Lemon cake after the glaze has been poured on.

Ingredients:

Cake:
1 box of lemon cake mix
1 small box of instant lemon pudding
3/4 cup of oil
3/4 cup of water
4 eggs, beaten

Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons water

Directions: Beat 4 eggs in a medium-large bowl.  Then add cake mix, instant pudding, oil and water.  Whisk together.  Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and bake for 30-35 min.  Make the glaze and set aside.  When cake is done immediately poke holes with a fork all over and pour glaze over the top of the cake.  Set aside to cool.



Baking, baking, baking... I love baking!  When I was little I would make banana bread with my mom.  I got to be the banana masher.  Exciting stuff when I was little.  :)  Now, I try to involve Tova in my baking and she loves it.  She helped me make this cake, and enjoyed it.  This lemon cake is super simple to whip up.  It was so fast Tova was able to maintain focus the whole time!  The other great thing about this cake is it has very few ingredients.  I always have these ingredients in case unexpected guests arrive and I need a quick dessert.  It isn't the prettiest cake, but what it lacks in looks it makes up for in taste. 

The original recipe calls for yellow cake, but I only had lemon.  I have never tried the yellow cake mix and I probably never will because I think it tastes perfect with the lemon mix.  Once you have all the cake ingredients it will be thick and relatively smooth.  It will also be very yellow.  Put the batter in the greased cake pan and then tilt the pan around to try and make it even.  I found tilting it worked better than trying to spread it with a spatula since it is thick and sticky.  I used a glass pan to bake mine in and it took about 35 minutes.  Once I poked it and the fork came out clean I took it right out of the oven and forked that thing all over.  When you are finished poking it immediately pour the glaze all over the cake.   I doesn't matter if there are clumps in the glaze.  I used fresh squeezed lemons for my juice, but the first time I made it I used the store bought kind.  I think they pretty much tasted the same.  Then the hard part, letting it cool.  I always sample it before it cools.  I can't help it.  It is staring at me saying, " EAT ME!!!"  Personally, I think it tastes the best when it is refrigerated, plus it doesn't crumble as much.  This cake is incredibly easy to make and tastes scrumptious.  It is also very light so you don't have that heavy feeling after eating it.

There are so many ideas I want to do with this cake.  I think the next time I make it I am going to add some lemon zest to the batter.  I also want to try and make some sort of lemon trifle.  This cake is just that good.  I have a bumper sticker sized magnet on my fridge that says, "Love People.  Cook them Tasty Food."  With this cake you are doing just that.  Now, off to go eat a piece.  :)



(Recipe source: http://fencerowtofencerow.blogspot.com/2011/09/recipe-5-lemon-cake-to-die-for.html)