Pretty in Pink: Part 1

Greetings readers! What a busy, crazy weekend. Anna's dance recital was yesterday and it went really well. I'll do another blog post soon about her dance recital. This week coming up is the last week of school and I swear I have a meeting to go to or something at the kids' school every day this week.

In the midst of all the busyness, I decided to bake a Pink Lemonade Cake. What on earth possessed me to attempt this, I don't know, but I like how it turned out. This recipe is a keeper. It is Paula Deen's recipe so go out and buy some butter (haha).


Cake:
butter for coating pan
1 (18.25-ounce) white cake mix, plus any additional ingredients the package directions call for
3 tablespoon pink lemonade drink powder
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
red food coloring (optional)

Frosting:
1 lb confectioners sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoon frozen pink lemonade concentrate
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon milk to thin icing if needed
red food coloring (optional)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottom with parchment or waxed paper; set aside.

For the cake, in a large bowl, stir together the cake mix and lemonade powder. Prepare the cake batter according to the package directions, using any additional ingredients called for (eggs, milk, water, oil, etc…). Stir the lemon zest into the batter. **NOTE: if you want to make your cake pink, put a few drops of red food coloring in and mix well. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted in the centers of the cakes comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Carefully turn cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting, beat together the confectioners’ sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in the remaining ingredients until combined. *NOTE: my icing was quite thick like cookie dough so I added 1 TBL. milk to thin it out and it was much better. You can also tint it pink by adding a few drops of red food coloring as you are mixing.

Transfer one cake to a cake stand or large platter. Using an offset spatula spread the top of the cake with a layer of frosting. Place the second cake on top of the first. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of both layers.

This cake was so pretty! I did a horrible job of frosting it since I was in a hurry but it tasted great! This would be a neat cake for a baby shower or bridal shower. It was a bit "twangy" due to the lemonade but it was a nice change from overly sweet cakes.

Until next time,
Melissa