Pink Lemonade Cake

I made a version of this cake as a thank you gift for Paul. I wanted to do something special for him after he helped my parents paint their new house. When I say a version I mean I used the basic idea and added my own flavor and didn't pay any attention to the recipe. This was not a good plan. That's why I'm going to give you the exact recipe from Paula Deen that I modeled my cake after and recommend that you make it her way. Not mine.

Pink Lemonade Cake

Ingredients 

Cake:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more, for coating pans
1 (18 1/4-ounce) box white cake mix
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons sweetened pink lemonade drink powder
Icing:
1 pound confectioners' sugar
5 tablespoons frozen pink lemonade concentrate
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper or waxed paper.

Prepare the cake batter according to the package directions. To the batter, stir in the lemon zest, vanilla, and pink lemonade powder. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Carefully turn the cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cake is baking, prepare the frosting by beating together the confectioners' sugar and remaining 1 cup butter until fluffy. Beat in the remaining frosting ingredients until combined.

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.

I used a strawberry lemonade mix and decorated it with fresh cut strawberries. Since I didn't pay close enough attention to the ingredients I put in too much of the lemonade mix and it came out too tart.

Although it was edible and it turned out very pretty. So that was worth something, right?

Paul appreciated that I went out of my comfort zone and actually baked something for him. It is true what they say, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach". I believe this to be true for women too, maybe I should speak for myself.

I like this idea for a thank you present, plus if you're lucky the person you give it to will share.