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I like chocolate. I mean, I’m more of a salty person than a sweet person. But if you’re making me choose a sweet thing (why? Why would you do that?), I’m going to pick chocolate every time.
I am aware, however, that not everyone feels this way. Especially in the summer. Apparently, some people like their summertime sweets to be fruity.
That’s fruity, if you ask me. But to each her own.
Anyway, since I know other people like fruity desserts – and I like to feed other people – I couldn’t resist giving this pretty pink recipe from It’s My Life a try.
(And, as a bonus, a certain three-year-old in my house loves everything pink, so I knew this would be a homerun for her, despite its lack of chocolate.)
We had friends over for dinner this weekend. Mark grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and we added in corn on the cob and cantaloupe. And I knew it would be the perfect time to try out a pink lemonade cake.
I was right, but – as so often happens – things did not exactly go as planned. First of all, I started working on cleaning up the house and cooking dinner way too late. And simultaneously. [I am brilliant.] So when it came time to make the frosting, I was already cutting it close.
Not too close, though (I thought). The butter was softened and everything but the kitchen was presentable. Not sparkling clean, of course, but let’s be real. I don’t do sparkling often. I got out my mixer and then opened the pantry to grab the powdered sugar.
And realized I didn’t have any.
So, after tossing the corn in some boiling water and reapplying my deodorant (but not looking in the mirror, unfortunately), I hopped in the car to run to the grocery store. Five minutes before our friends were scheduled to arrive.
Of course, that means when I got home, our friends were there. I was sweaty, frazzled and frizzy. And I splashed too much milk into the frosting bowl. This was the result of my sloppy frosting efforts:
Thankfully, my friend was not frazzled (or frizzy, if you’re wondering) and she offered to give the frosting a try. She made it look much prettier. AND she found room in my fridge for it.
The final result was a pretty pink cake that was sweet and tart and – despite its lack of chocolate – perfect for a summer barbecue.
Pink Lemonade Cake
1 white cake mix
3 eggs
1 ¼ cup water
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tbsp pink lemonade mix
A few drops red food coloring
Frosting:
1 lb. powdered sugar
½ cup (1 stick) butter
3 tbsp pink lemonade mix
pink sprinkles
Mix the cake ingredients as directed on the box, then add lemonade mix and food coloring to desired color. (My mix called for egg whites only, but I didn’t mess with that. And the cake was neither the wrong color nor the wrong consistency.) Pour batter into two greased round pans. Bake for 30 minutes on 350 degrees (or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean).
While the cakes cool (if you’re not also frantically picking toys off the floor and brushing cat hair off your couch), mix sugar, butter and mix together for frosting. I found that to be too stiff, so I added a few splashes of milk. Be careful with that. Don’t be like me. (And if you add too much milk, making the frosting runny, just add in more sugar.)
Place one cake on plate and frost the top. Add the second cake and frost the whole thing. Shake on a few sprinkles if you’d like. (And believe me, if you happen to have a small girl in your house, you’d like.) Keep covered in fridge and serve chilled.
It would probably look pretty to garnish with slices of lemon and/or strawberries. Which is why I bought a lemon and new carton of strawberries. Since my last-minute rush didn’t allow for such fanciness, though, I’m only guessing here.
Do you like fruity desserts? What’s your favorite sweet to eat during the summertime?
This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, 33 Shades of Green, Sweet Tooth Friday, Foodie Friday, Friday Firsts and Food on Fridays. It will also be linked to Ingredient Spotlight at Eat at Home Cooks.
just one thing to say… if you HAD to run to the store WHY IN THE WORLD did you not just buy a can of frosting?! :-)
looks yummy!
I know, I know. I thought about it. But I’d already softened the butter (okay – almost melted it, because I didn’t realize how much hot air blows out of this little vent on top of our oven). Plus, since I was going to post it on here, I wanted SOMETHING to be from scratch. AND, I had to add the lemonade mix anyway, so I knew I’d be mixing already.
I know. {feel free to shake head at me now!}
I commend you on not buying canned frosting. From scratch is so much better, and in the end better for you. A lot less crap in it and you get to control every ingredient.
I love the concept of adding the drink mixes to the cake batter and the butter cream. Definitely going to give that a try! was it a strong flavor in both elements?
This looks so pretty and delicious! And I . . . am allergic to chocolate. So, if we ever happen to live in the same city/state and become the real-life-hanging-out-all-the-time kind of friends I know we would be, you can make this when we come over.
Allergic to chocolate? Whaaaa? Okay. I took a deep breath. I’ll be okay. ;) And yes, when we live in the same city/state, I will absolutely make this for you and be your real life-hanging out all the time friend!
That is almost exactly like my strawberry lemonade cookies with pink lemonade frosting, down to the pink sprinkles. I even used a cake mix to make them. My cakes usually look like yours. I’m not too great with frosting and pretty stuff.
My husband likes to say (about ugly food), “It all goes down the same!” I love that about him. :)
I definitely need to make this some time soon!
Is this countrytime powdered lemonade mix? Or do you mean a frozen concentrate lemonade?
Just to clarify before I make this. Thanks.
It was the powdered mix!
That cake does look pretty but I have to agree with you that chocolate is the best. I’m glad that all turned out well in the end with your cake :) I wanted to invite you to stop by and show off your cute pink cake at These Chicks Cooked Recipe Spotlight tomorrow (Wednesday) Have a great day :)
Katie
LOVE fruity desserts. LOVE chocolatey desserts.
My favorite summer dessert, which you will also love, Mary!:
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream, softened
1 container Cool Whip
1 package Oreos (or mint Oreos–YUM), crushed
Mix all, spread in 9×13 pan, and freeze. So easy and so perfect for summer!
Oh my. Yes, I believe I will love that!
I always go for chocolatey desserts. However, I have friends that are more likely to serve fruity desserts and after digging into some delicious concoction, I wonder why I don’t give those desserts more of a chance. This recipe looks delicious and refreshing!
It was good, and a nice change of dessert pace. But I’m not going to lie – I will always choose chocolate first! ;)
What a beautiful pink cake. Love the flavors, it’s a perfect summer dessert!
I’m with you. Feel free to throw in a little fruit if you want, but keep the chocolate! (maybe chocolate-covered strawberries or something:) That pink lemonade cake, although pretty, does not sound very yummy to me — too tart. But I could be wrong. I was pleasantly surprised by that snickerdoodle cake a while back. :)
Mmmm…the snickerdoodle cake. Maybe we should make that when I come visit!
That looks really yummy. And seems very refreshing after spending time outside with a bunch of second graders. I’m wondering if it is essential to have the lemonade mix in the frosting or if plain would be okay too.
I actually think it would be BETTER with plain frosting! Last night I ate the last piece and scraped off the frosting. Which is SO not like me. It was just too much for me – taste and texture both.
here’s the great thing about runny looking frosting… it’s still frosting. which means it’s still YUMMY!!! we always had jello cake in the summer that you keep in the fridge. it’s delicious and you top it with cool whip, which is even easier. do you have the recipe?
Jello cake is not my favorite, but all that really means is that I forget how much I like it until someone else fixes it. Because, let’s be honest: do I ever turn down cake? :) (And this actually tastes very similar to jello cake!)
Amen. It’s just wrong to make a girl choose between sweet and salty. Just wrong.
Muahaha, nice fruity line there. :) And why is it your stuff always seems to “go not quite according to plan”?
But it does look like it turned out um, fairly nice. ;) I really love strawberry smoothies in the summer, that’s my fav!
This looks awesome! I’m so glad I stumbled upon your blog. My husband loves pink lemonade and lemon flavored desserts. I think I’ll give this a try this weekend!
Oh, yay! I hope you (and your husband) liked it!
I just skyped you and tRIED TO email you but it bounced back. Have you checked your stats? Did you see the surprise on this post that I stumbled and reviewed for you. Go check skype.
YOu WILL DIEEE!! That is an understatement. I am dying for you!
This cake is absolutely pinkalicious. My daughter would love it! I love that it has a little tang of lemonade. Will definitely be trying to make it soon. Thanks for sharing!
Oh yeah – it didn’t even matter how it tasted to my daughter. Just the fact that it was pretty pink was enough!!
It’s so pretty! I can practically taste it.
Thanks for stopping by and linking up with Sweet Tooth Friday!
I told my daughter I was going to make her a treat this weekend, and she just assumed it would be pink. I may have started something here…!
We love any sort of lemon cake…especially in the summer! While, like you, I usually prefer chocolate, I just can’t resist a lemon cake on a hot summer day!
Thanks so much for sharing ! I can’t wait to try this!
Another reader suggested using chocolate frosting with this. Sounds like the best of both worlds to me!
This cake looks yummy and it’s my favorite color too. I’m following from Sweet Tooth Friday.
Thanks for stopping by!
this looks great! also, i really enjoy your correct use of ‘its.’ not many people get that anymore. made my day.
Haha! This comment just cracked me up. Because – I am crazy about punctuation and grammar and spelling, but I’m also bad at proofreading my own stuff. And I was APPALLED to realize after I hit “publish” that I’d actually left an apostrophe in “its”! As you can see, I fixed it immediately! :)
Ooh, I can’t wait to try this! It would be perfect after a long day of baseball/softball games–or a day in the garden. :)
Yay! I hope you love it!
My mother always did an interesting “fruity” cake for summer gatherings and thought I would share.
1 box white cake mix
1 package jello (we used orange most of the time)
1 container cool whip
1 package koolaid (preferably the same flavor as the jello)
1 package “garnishment” (we used the orange gel slices)
Bake off the cake as directed on the box. Immediately after cake comes out of the oven, pour the dissolved jello mixture over the cake evenly. Allow to set up in the refrigerator for an hour or so.
Combine the cool whip and koolaid powder to create a frosting. Frost the cake.
Add the garnishment as desired. Serve and enjoy!
Yes, this tasted a lot like a jello cake – and reminded me how much I like jello cake!
I am going to frost this with the darkest chocolate I can find. The tart lemon is perfect with good chocolate – my favorite flavor combination.
Ooooh, how pretty would it be (or perfect for a baby girl shower) covered in a shiny chocolate ganache?!
I made cupcakes instead of cake with this recipe! Also, I used neon pink food coloring instead of red and they were even prettier! They’ve been a huge hit among everyone I’ve fed them to!!
Oooh, neon pink sounds good!
I have to say I tried this cake tonight, and was really excited by the idea. How ever, mine wasn’t very good. I was wondering what kind of lemonade mix you had used. If it was like a kool-aid mix or if it was like country time,because mine was REALLY tart. and it looked so good.
Sorry your cake didn’t turn out well, Kat. I used Country Time lemonade mix, and while I really liked the cake, I’ll probably make the frosting different next time.
Looks gooooooood.
However, I am a little confused.
I live in India, and here we don’t get all the canned stuff that easily, and since Betty Crocker etc are imported, they are freakishly expensive, so I make it a point to make everything from scratch. So I am usually disappointed when I find recipes that tell me to use certain ‘mixes’ :(
I know this is a long shot but, do you have any idea how to make pink lemonade frosting from scratch?
Disha! For me, that IS from scratch!! :) I don’t actually know how to make lemonade mix from scratch, but I would think that lemon extract or lemon juice would work? Good luck!
Thanks :) I’ll give it a shot!
I did this recipe in cupcake form. The cupcakes turned out great! Although, if you eat just the cake, you really don’t taste the pink lemonade in it. I didn’t like the way the icing turned out…mine was really tart and tasted like butter to me. I used this icing recipe instead: http://americanfood.about.com/od/desserts/r/Lemon_Icing.htm
It’s kind of a cross between an icing and a glaze. Doesn’t taste like lemonade, but it was still good! :-)
I also took Kayla’s suggestion and used neon pink food coloring.Perfect! :-) It was the EXACT color of pink lemonade :-)
Thanks for the frosting suggestion. I didn’t love this version, either, so I’ll try that next time!
Delightfully pink cake is tart and a great summertime dessert.
I LOVE YOU, OKAY?? I saw this recipe a week or so ago and it’s been on my mind ever since. And AS WE SPEAK I’m making it. I cannot believe how easy it is!!! I’ve never made my own frosting before. I bought some just in case but it turned out BRILLIANT!!! You are my goddess, my queen. I feel like a million bucks right now. I don’t usually cook or, hell, bake but I want to start now and this was the perfect boost of confidence I needed. Thank you so much for this beautiful recipe <3
That looks soooooo yummy! I just might have to try it.
As a side note, would you believe that my mom doesn’t like chocolate? Or pizza for that matter……. Yes, I did NOT get her genes!
No pizza or chocolate? Never heard of such a thing!
As I was making the frosting, I really found that 1 stick of butter is not enough! I am still a newbie cook, but I know that the great butter cream recipe my grandmother gave me had 2 sticks of butter to every pound of powdered sugar. I added an extra stick to your recipe and it was fabulous!
Overall, I’m pretty excited to eat the cake! It is cooling right now. I really hate pink, but I’m excited about lemonade and cake in one entity! :)
OMG. these are sinful. I could eat these by the plateful right now! thanks for the share :)
i absolutely love cakes and this is a wonderful recipe. i definitely want to try this out and serve it to my kids. looks yummy :)
This. Recipe. Is perfect! Do you hear me?! Perfect! Buttery, fluffy, sweet and with a bite of tang to it, and the icing/glaze is sublime.
I’ll be making this again, I can tell you that much!
Delicious!! I made it for my family, and they loved it. Will make it over and over again. Thank you for sharing!!
I’m so glad they liked it!
Yum!! This looks amazing! Can’t wait to give it a try!
You should definitely give thiese cookies a try:
http://vancitybookgirl.blogspot.com/2011/07/delicious-healthy-cookies.html
They are even healthy! No butter – No guilt! ;)
I make this all the time and my friends LOVE it! Even though I’m only 14yrs old I bake a ton and this is my friends’ favorite. I’m making this into cupcakes to celebrate a birthday today and can’t wait! Thanks for the great recipe!
I’m glad you like this cake, Sophia! :)
this sounds absolutely amazing. You had me at Pink Lemonade…
I need to try this! We love the strawberry lemonade cookies with pink lemonade frosting that start with a cake mix. It’s only natural to try a cake version. So pretty too!
Thank you for this great blog post and recipe. My daughter is having a pinkalicious birthday party-almost 7 and still loves everything pink! She wants a pink, homemade cake this year. We’re having a backyard BBQ and this will be the Perfect birthday cake :)
Oh, that will be so fun! Yes, my daughter (4) loved the pink cake. She’s easy to please, though – as long as it’s pink, it’s good. Haha!