Lemonade Cake

Lucious lemon cake topped with smooth lemon-y frosting. Thanks to the lemonade concentrate in the batter and frosting, it actually tastes like lemonade too!

I know that nobody likes to use their oven in the summer, but for me it's inevitable on at least a few occasions. We don't have air conditioning and so most of the time we use our crock-pot or grill for summertime meals. However, if you know me, then you know I like to bake at night when I can't sleep and for the large part that's when my summertime baking takes place.

I have the tendency to lie down in bed and then let a lot of thoughts fill my head (you know, like my to-do list for the next day and my dreams for the future). Most times I think so much that I get un-tired, if that makes sense, and so I crawl out of bed and bake a cake or a pie. I'm so weird, I know.

A few nights ago, while on one of these midnight baking escapades I ran into this recipe on pinterest and knew I immediately had to make it.

We loved it so much that I brought it to a potluck the next afternoon. It's got just the perfect amount of lemon in it, and the cake has such a beautiful crumb. Just like Baked Bree (the original poster of this recipe) said in her post, I'm going to keep this recipe around for the middle of winter when all I want is a warm summer day. It's summer in a pan, folks. It really is.

Lemonade Cake

For the cake:

1/3 cup butter, softened

1 1/3 cup sugar

3 eggs
1/4 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease and flour a glass 9x13 baking dish.

To make the cake, beat butter in a medium mixing bowl with hand mixer until fluffy. Add sugar and mix until smooth. Add in eggs one at a time. Mix in thawed lemonade concentrate, vanilla, and lemon zest. 

In a small mixing bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the wet mixture and mix until smooth. Add half of the buttermilk, mix again. Stir in 1/3 more of the flour mixture, then the remaining buttermilk, and finally the last 1/3 of the flour mixture. Mix until combined.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:
1/3 cup butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons lemonade concentrate, thawed
1 teaspoon vanilla

To make the frosting, beat the butter with 1 cup of the powdered sugar. Add the vanilla and lemonade concentrate. Beat until smooth. Add remaining sugar. Spread evenly over cake. 

Recipe Yield: 15 servings

Recipe Source: adapted ever so slightly from Baked Bree and Better Homes and Gardens