The Birthday Boy and Lemon Cake

Happy birthday, Jake!!  Tomorrow is his 9th birthday.  Whoa...where did the time go?  We are praying this is the last celebration in our family without baby J!!  We received a new picture of J last week and it was so great  to see an updated photo and know that he is well taken care of but we just long for the day when he is here with us!  Things are moving in the process and one of the families in front of us are almost home with their son and another family has a court date!!  We are so excited for these families!! Keep praying for us and  please pray for this sweet family.  It is a gift to have other families to go through this with and this is one of those families. They are such an encouragement to us!  Their son is in the same orphanage as J and they have been waiting longer than we have so please lift them up too!!

Back to the birthday boy...Jake asked for a lemon cake this year!  I am definitely more of a chocolate person so thankfully my Mom had given me a recipe for one and I thought I would share! 

Lemon Cake

1 package of white cake mix
1 package instant lemon pudding
3/4 cup of oil
3 eggs
1 cup of Sprite
Lemon frosting recipe  (or you could just buy lemon frosting)

Grease cake pans.  Preheat oven to 350.  Combine cake mix, pudding mix,oil, and eggs.  Beat on medium speed for 1 minute.  Gradually add Sprite and beat until smooth (about 2 min.)  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes if using 2 round cake pans, or if using a 9x13 bake for 40 minutes.

Lemon Frosting
1 teaspoon fresh lemon rind, grated
3 tablespoons of butter
3 cups of powdered sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 tablespoon water


Add lemon rind to butter, cream well.  Add part of sugar gradually, blending after each addition.
Combine lemon juice and water, add to creamed mixture, alternate with remaining sugar, until right consistency to spread.  I ended up having to add a little more water.

Jake told me the frosting tastes really good! 

Love

Tracy