Last Saturday I shared my version of the Hershey Bar Cake. Sunday was my Mothers 89th birthday and as we all know, if there is a birthday, there must be cake !
It just so happens that THIS Sunday, is Mother's Day. Instead of a meal, my family is meeting at my brother Mark's house for a Mother's Day dessert party mid-afternoon, so we can celebrate all the Mothers together.
I have made a bajillion cakes from scratch in my life, but I also don't mind cakes that start with cake mixes either, as long as they are somehow a little special, so this one starts with a Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme cake mix. Of course you can use whatever brand you like best or whatever is available where you are.
For the cake layers I went "almost" by the exact directions on the cake box with two exceptions. I baked the layers on 325 degrees F. instead of 350 and I used milk instead of water. I'm not sure how much difference there would be side-by-side, but I like using milk and pretending it makes the cake a bit richer.
Of course, then you know the drill ! Put all the indgredients in your mixing bowl (just like last week), mix it slow for a moment, then on medium about 2 minutes and.....
Pour it out in your previously prepared pans dividing equally between whatever pans you choose to use. I used the same 3 8-inch layer pans I used last week, buttered, floured, parchment in the bottom. Then I baked the layers and for some reason, unless Alexa added time to my timer after I set it, they baked in a lot less time than the box said, so, know your oven and check early accordingly.
Here we are again with the baked layers out on the stackable cooling racks. Mmmmmmmm... can you smell that ???
Now, that may not have seemed exceptionally.... exceptional, but for this cake, it's more about the frosting and here are the ingredients. The recipe is:
1 Can (6 ounces) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
1 container (8 ounces) of frozen whipped topping, thawed.
....the recipe also says to use a few drops of yellow coloring in the frosting. I never have, but you can if you want too.
I also don't use the mixer for this frosting as it is really simple and is not needed. First you'll put the Sweetened Condensed Milk and thawed lemonade in a bowl.
Stir them together till they are incorporated well
Normally when folding in whipped cream, I start with a dollop and just stir it in well to get the rest of the ingredients ready to take the fold.
Then dump in the rest of the whipped cream and fold it in well. Gentle, but well.
Ice between the layers and on the top like aways.
If you have made the frosting exactly like the recipe calls for, it will be thick enough to ice the sides of the cake without it sluffing off and the top will hold a design. I do refrigerate this immediately after the frosting is on. It will set up slightly firmer once all the ingredients cool off again.
Bonus photo, just because I like it.
I found this recipe in this Duncan Hines cookbook a number of years back. I'm pretty sure I didn't buy this book, but someone else was cleaning out and giving it away with some others and I decided to take this one. It has a copywrite of 1992.
I tried it first for a 4th of July celebration and it was so cool and lemony and ... just right for a warm summer day. I left it in the frig till it was time to serve and it was a perfectly cool dessert. You wouldn't have to leave it refrigerated till the last minute if you were not going to serve it outside in the heat.
The book had it displayed as having been made out of a 9X13 sheet cake pan and then they cut it in half horizontally. Do you know how hard it is to handle a thin half of a moist, rectangle cake??? Enough of a juggle that I never do it. LOL !!
Even though the frosting recipe is so simple, one time, after I had not made it in a year, I thought my memory was so good that I didn't need to take out the recipe and refresh myself on it. I put a whole 12 ounce can of lemonade in the frosting instead of the 6 ounces it called for and then wondered why it was too runny to frost the cake right. Never fear though, when I realized what I had done, I dragged out the truffle bowl and layered broken up cake layers with VERY lemony frosting. It looked fine with the almost fluffy icing on top and we just dipped out what we wanted with a large spoon ! 😂
It actually was very good if you like very lemony things.... and we do !
There is nearly always a way to make a save when making desserts.... almost.
Now, who wants to help me lick the frosting bowl? 😄 😉
Hope you have all had a good week and are in the midst of enjoying your weekend and if you are a Mom, I hope you are celebrated well tomorrow.
