Happy Birthday Clori!

I need to be honest - my sister's birthday was in July.  July 28th, to be exact.  Her husband's was 3 days before.

We all got together to celebrate their birthdays one day, but I didn't make either of their cakes.  Instead, I bought one.  Why?  It was just too.damn.HOT to bake that week.  Needless to say, a caught a lot of flack for it.  

When we got together for an impromptu BBQ this past weekend, I had to show up with at least one cake.  So, Clori's it was.  Sorry, Rick...you'll just have to keep waiting ;)

There are a few things I loved about this cake.

1- It was VERY easy to make.  I love when you use a box mix and it yields a good result.  Sometimes life just gets too busy to bake from scratch.

2- It was really good. 

3- It was, as Paula would say, purrr-dy.  (I used 9 inch cake pans, though...I wish I had used 8 inch ones to give it just a bit more height) 

Better late than never, right?  (to the few others I owe cakes to, remember that!)  With a cake like this, forgiveness is inevitable.  

Happy Birthday to my sis!

Pink Lemonade Layer Cake

from Paula Deen

For the cake:

1 box white cake mix

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

3 tablespoons sweetened pink lemonade drink powder

For the frosting:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 pound confectioners' sugar

5 tablespoons frozen pink lemonade concentrate

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease two 9 inch round cake pans, and cover bottoms with parchment or wax paper.  

Prepare cake batter according to box instructions.  Add remaining ingredients to batter.  Pour batter evenly into the 2 pans.  Bake until golden, about 30-35 minutes.  Let cool in pans for about 10 minutes, then carefully turn them out.

While cake is baking, beat together confectioners' sugar and butter until fluffy.  Add remaining ingredients and beat until combined.

Transfer one cake to platter and frost the top.  Place second cake on top and frost the top, followed by sides of both cakes.

Linked to: Mangia Mondays
                  Sweets For A Saturday