L is for Lemon Supreme

Cooking is a complete mystery to me--not unlike writing.  I don’t know any of the tricks. Sure I can cook a few things really well, but I can’t say they always taste the same.  I know I’m not the only one with that problem. Years ago, I gave my mother-in-law a cake recipe; she made the cake and accused me of leaving out a special ingredient because hers didn’t taste like mine. Mine never tastes like my mom’s did either. No, it’s not psychological.

After taking some of my mother’s cake pans and a pancake griddle—ones Mom always used Crisco and flour on/in, I learned the hard way that they don’t respond well to my spray Pam. What’s up with that?

Mom baked wonderful desserts. A family favorite was the Lemon Supreme Apricot Nectar cake. Don’t be turned off. You can NOT taste the apricot nectar.  The glaze was to die for—sweet and tart. The first time she baked it, she told us she used a toothpick to jab holes in the cake so the glaze would seep through the holes. Before long, we noticed she’d graduated from toothpick to the end of the wooden spoon—with a double batch of glaze. Yum!

So my L word is for my favorite cake, and I’m sharing Mom’s recipe with you.

1 Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme cake mix

1 cup of Apricot Nectar

¾ cup of Crisco oil

½ cup sugar

4 eggs

Combine the cake mix, nectar, oil and sugar together and mix well. Then add the four eggs. Mix again, thoroughly. Bake in a tube pan or a Bundt pan at 325 degrees for one hour. Or test with toothpick.

 

Glaze: Mix 1 cup of powdered sugar and juice from one lemon. Stick holes in cake with toothpick (or the end of a wooden spoon) and spread over cake while cake is hot.  You can control the tartness/sweetness of the glaze –more lemon or more powdered sugar.

Baking a cake really is a lot like writing, isn’t it? Sometimes my novels crumble.

Have a good weekend!  I’ll post again on Monday with the letter M.