Cake Mix Lemon Pudding Cake

I must confess… I have made this 2 times already! I know that I said that the oatmeal cake was my favorite cake at the moment, but I lied. This one definitely takes the cake! No joke my mouth waters thinking about it. The first time I made this I took it to our girls night and by the end of the evening we tossed the forks aside as we sat around the coffee table and picked at it until we were so full we had to call it a day. Yummy! Here is the recipe for you all to enjoy.

1 package lemon cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant lemon pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water

Lemon curd

Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
Water (to be added 1 tablespoon at a time) until you reach the desired consistency. It should be slightly runny but not soupy.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bunt pan.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate.

Once cake is cooled and on the serving plate pipe lemon curd around the top of the cake. Finish with a drizzle of glaze.

Cake Mix Muffins

I think that in a jam, cake mix is a wonderful thing. Here are a few recipes I’ve made recently using one of my favorite time saving ingredients!

Blueberry Cake Mix Muffins:

1 box white cake mix
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 Tablespoon almond extract

Prepare cake mix according to directions on the box. Add in almond extract and blueberries. Bake as directed in muffin tins.

Banana Cake Mix Muffins:

1 box yellow cake
3 mashed bananas
1 tablespoon baking soda

Prepare cake mix according to directions on the box. Add in baking soda and bananas. Bake at 350
*This also works well as a sheet cake or in a bunt pan.

Oatmeal Cake with Broiled Topping

This may be my favorite cake right now. My cousin’s mother in law, Donna, found this recipe in a news paper and brought it to a girl’s day we were having. Oh my gosh… it was divine. Donna had already left the party so I waited weeks to get the recipe from her. Now that it is in my possession, look out world! As this was the first time I made it I stuck to the recipe just as it is written. Yummy! Although I think this recipe is perfect as is, I am going to play around with it a bit. I will defiantly be making cupcakes with this in the near future, but I think I’ll have fun adding things as well. I hope you enjoy it was much as I did. Thanks Donna, I am forever grateful!

Oatmeal Cake with Broiled Topping

CAKE
1 cup old fashioned oats
½ cup butter softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Boil water. Pour 1 ¼ cups of boiling water over oats in a bowl. Cover and let stand 20 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9x13” cake pan.
3. Cream butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla. Add in remaining ingredients and mix well.
4. Pour into pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
5.

TOPPING
¼ cup butter softened
¼ cup heavy cream
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sweetened coconut
1 cup finely chopped pecans

1. Preheat broiler
2. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Spread evenly over warm cake. Place under broiler 2” from the top. Broil until lightly browned. 1-2 minutes.

I had a dream...

There are few thing I love more than being in the kitchen. Three of those things happen to be sisters whom I adore. Caroling 11, Grace, 13 and Ellen 18. For the past 5 years I spent almost every day with these girls as their nanny. I love them. The week of my birthday last year Caroline had a dream depicting the cake she was meant to bake me. The next day the three of them went shopping, got everything they needed and set out to make me the most wonderful cake I was ever to receive. It was stunning with 2 layers covered in pink and purple frosting. Perfect!

As the kids continue to grow older there are few things that will bring everyone together. Baking/ decorating is something I can always count on to get them in the same room, at the same time, enjoying the same thing. I encourage you to involve your kids when in the kitchen. At the end of the day there might be a bigger mess to clean up but it's worth it. Trust me!