Baking Just for Fun

Well this past week marks the first week in a couple of months that I have not had to bake a cake.  (Unless, of course, you count the sweets I made for the restaurant, which included a heavenly Coco-Cola Cake – Yummmmmmm!)

Never the less, I found myself in the kitchen, whipping out treats purely for the fun of it.  I’m not gonna lie to y’all, though.  Not all of my baking endeavors turned out for the good.  My Dad requested a pecan pie to share with his brother who was visiting from out of town.  But unfortunately, with all the distractions of two little monkeys, who shall remain nameless, I managed to add twice as much butter as called for in the recipe.  Bummer.  I realized this about 30 seconds after I popped the pie in the oven, and I did my best to salvage the filling.  In the end the pie actually tasted fairly good, but it looked like it had been beaten with an ugly stick.  When it comes to cooking I believe at least half the appeal is in the way a dish looks, so I was none too happy with this little pie.

So the next night, I decided to redeem myself by turning out a recipe of Paula Deen’s Lemon Blossoms.  I think I succeeded!

These little bites of goodness are so petite and cute that it wouldn’t be hard to make oneself sick eating them.  You could very easily down a dozen before you even knew what you were doing.

This is a glorious little recipe that begins with a boxed cake mix.  Take it from me, there is no shame in taking a little help from a cake mix now and then.  Especially when you doll it up with some extra ingredients.  And certainly when you are a mother to two little monkeys!

I’m sure you could find this recipe elsewhere online, but if you’re interested, I decided to save you the trouble and post the recipe here.  It comes from the book Paula Deen & Friends.

Lemon Blossoms (Makes approx. 5 dozen)

• One 18.25 oz. package yellow cake mix
• One 3.5 oz. package instant lemon pudding mix
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil

Glaze:

• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• 3 Tbsp vegetable oil

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray miniature muffin tins with cooking oil spray.
2. Combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, and oil and blend well with electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes.  Pour a small amount (about 1 Tbsp.) batter into each cup of the prepared tins.  Bake for 12 minutes.  Turn out onto a tea towel.
3. To make the glaze:  Sift the sugar into a mixing bowl.  Add the lemon juice, zest, oil, and 3 Tbsp. water.  Mix with a spoon until smooth.  With fingers, dip the cupcakes into the glaze while they are still warm, covering as much as the cake as possible.  Place on wire wracks over wax paper to catch any drips.  Let glaze set thoroughly (this may take an hour) before storing in containers with tight-fitting lids.

Enjoy!

Lindsey