My Sweet-Toothed Sis-In-Law

Yes, it's all her fault. My sweet, sweet-toothed southern sister-in-law innocently (or not?) posted her facebook status a couple of weeks ago: "Eating a pink lemonade cake square from Dewey's. I really think there should be as much icing on the top as there is cake on the bottom! :)"

Had I ever in my life heard of pink lemonade cake before? No, I had not. Maybe it was raging hormones, maybe it was homesickness for some decadent southern treat, maybe it was the fact that I had been fasting from desserts for about 40 days . . .

At any rate, I became obsessed with finding out how to recreate that cake. Now, I'm a long way from Dewey's, which is in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, so I started combing the 'net for a receipt. I found this one by Paula Deen, which just had to be on the right track, right, y'all? And I decided it would be the perfect thing for our Easter Dinner with friends. I watched the video of Paula and her son making the cake, I dreamed about it, I made my grocery list and checked it twice.

Then I decided that I just wouldn't be satisfied if I wasn't making the same cake my sister-in-law enjoyed in North Carolina. I had my husband quiz her about it when they were talking on the phone. Here's what he found out: the cake is pink with yellow icing (perfect for Easter, I thought); EVERYbody has one of these cakes for every baby shower, wedding shower, birthday, you name it  - definitely a local favorite.

Ok, just one more week. I could make it that long.

Since I'm pretty messy at baking and frosting cakes, I decided I'd better spend Saturday afternoon concentrating on getting the cake ready for Sunday. I did decide to do it just like Paula's so I wouldn't mess it up too badly. It was very, very easy. My cake was light pink and the frosting, a shade darker pink.

I really wish I had taken a picture. It was lovely to behold. Probably should have put some marshmallow chicks or bunnies on it or something, but I just served it naked (the cake, not me). Geez!

There were fourteen of us there for dinner. And that cake was pretty much wiped out! So good with a cup of coffee or tea. And such a refreshing lemony flavor - sorta tart, sorta sweet.

This will definitely go down as a family favorite.

And next time we're all home, Tina, dear, I'd appreciate a taste of the Dewey's version!

Photo Credit: www.deweys.com/info/about-us/