Lemon takes cake to dessert heaven

Recipes that appear in Idea Alley have not been tested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Last week’s lemon-themed desserts sparked memories. Sue-Carol South writes: “Thanks so much for your ‘lemon’ column today. My mother loved lemon squares better than anyone I’ve ever known, so I made them for her often. After her Heaven-day, I more or less forgot about them until today. This is definitely a tried and true recipe. Doesn’t hurt that it’s super easy to make!

… My entire family absolutely loved it!”

Lemonade Cake

Cake: 1/3 cup butter at room temperature

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar 3 eggs, at room temperature 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup frozen lemonade

concentrate, thawed 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ¼ cups buttermilk

2 drops yellow food coloring,

optional

Icing: 1/3 cup butter at room temperature

4 cups confectioners’ sugar, divided use 1/3 cup PLUS 1 to 2 teaspoons frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed, divided use

For the cake: Grease and flour a 9-by-13-inch baking pan; set aside.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In large mixing bowl, beat butter for at 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. In medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat in lemonade and vanilla. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk, beating on low speed just until combined. Add food coloring if desired. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. (Mine took 35 minutes.) Let cool.

For the icing:

In a large mixing bowl beat softened butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Gradually add 1 cup of the confectioners’ sugar, beating well. Beat in the 1/3 cup frozen lemonade concentrate. Gradually beat in the remaining confectioners’ sugar. Beat in remaining frozen lemonade concentrate to reach spreading consistency.

Spread on cooled cake.

This recipe is from Susan Turnbo via Joe Riddle. Turnbo made the dessert for a recent get-together and, according to Riddle, everyone who tasted it asked for the recipe.

Lemon “Lasagna”

1 (15.25-ounce) package

Lemon Oreos

6 tablespoons butter, melted 1 (8-ounce) package cream

cheese, softened

1 cup confectioners’ sugar 1 (16-ounce) carton whipped topping, thawed, divided use

3 cups milk

2 (3.4-ounce) packages instant

lemon pudding mix

Crush Oreos in a food processor, then add melted butter, mix and press mixture into the bottom of a 9-by-13inch baking dish.

Beat cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar together until smooth in bowl. Fold in half of the whipped topping and spread the mixture evenly over the Oreo crust.

In another bowl, beat milk and pudding mix together on low speed for 2 minutes. Pour over cream cheese layer and carefully spread out evenly.

Top with dollops of the remaining whipped topping and carefully spread out evenly. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Makes 16 servings. Next week: Recipes for ratatouille and sweet pickled Vidalia onions.

Send recipe contributions, requests and culinary questions to Kelly Brant, Idea Alley, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203; email:

kbrant@arkansasonline.com Please include a daytime phone number.