Ultimate Lemon Bundt Cake

Christmas Cake Murder

Preheat oven to 350°F, rack in the middle position.

* box of Lemon Cake Mix, the kind that makes a 9-inch by 13-inch cake or a 2-layer cake '(I used Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme)
* 5.1-ounce package of DRY instant lemon pudding and pie filling (I used Jell-O)
* 12-ounce (by weight) bag of white chocolate or vanilla baking chips (11-ounce package will do, too—I used Nestle)

### Directions

* Prepare your cake pan. You'll need a Bundt pan that has been sprayed with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray and then floured. To flour a pan, put some flour in the bottom, hold it over your kitchen wastebasket, and tap the pan to move the flour all over the inside of the pan. Continue this until all the inside surfaces of the pan, including the sides of the crater in the center, have been covered with a light coating of flour.
* Crack the eggs in to the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix them up on LOW speed until they're a uniform color.
* Pour in the half-cup of vegetable oil and mix it in with the eggs on LOW speed.
* Add the quarter-cup of water and the quarter-cup of lemon juice. Mix them in at LOW speed.
* Scoop out the container of sour cream and add the sour cream to your bowl. Mix that in on LOW speed.
* When everything is well combined, open the box of dry cake mix and sprinkle it on top of the liquid ingredients in the bowl of the mixer. Mix that in on LOW speed.
* Open the package of instant lemon pudding and pie filling and sprinkle in the contents. Mix it in on LOW speed.
* Shut off the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl, remove it from the mixer, and set it on the counter.
* If you have a food processor, put in the steel blade and pour in the white chocolate or vanilla baking chips. Process in an on-and-off motion to chip them in smaller pieces. (You can also do this with a knife on a cutting board if you don't have a food processor.)
* Sprinkle the white chocolate or baking chips in your bowl and stir them in by hand with a rubber spatula.
	+ **Hannah's 1st Note**: *Florence, down at the Lake Eden Red Owl Grocery, carries mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, but she can't get any other flavor of chips in a mini version and she doesn't even think anyone makes them. The regular-size chips are larger and heavier than the mini version, and they will sink down to the bottom of your Bundt pan if you don't chop them into smaller pieces.*
* Use the rubber spatula to transfer the cake batter to the prepared Bundt pan.
* Smooth the top of your cake with the spatula and put it into the center of your preheated oven.
* Bake your Ultimate Lemon Bundt Cake at 350°F for 55 minutes.
* Before you take your cake out of the oven, test it for doneness by inserting a cake tester, thin wooden skewer, or long toothpick. Insert it midway between the outside edges of the pan and the metal protrusion that makes the crater in the center of the pan. If the tester comes out clean, your cake is done. If there is still uncooked batter clinging to the tester, bake your cake longer until the tester comes out clean.
	+ **Hannah's 2nd Note**: *The Bundt pan was invented by a man from Minnesota so that it would be easier to cut uniform slices of cake. The crater in the center is there so that the cake will bake evenly all around.*
* Once your cake is done, take it out of the oven and set it on a cold stove burner or a wire rack. Let it cool in the pan for 20 minutes and then pull the sides of the cake away from the pan with the tips of your impeccably clean fingers. Don't forget to do the same for the sides of the crater in the middle.
* Tip the Bundt pan upside down on a platter and drop it gently on a folded towel on the kitchen counter. Do this until the cake falls out of the pan and rests on the platter.
* Cover your Ultimate Lemon Bundt Cake loosely with foil and refrigerate it for at least one hour. Overnight is even better.
* Frost your cake with Cool Whip Lemon Frosting. (Recipe and instructions follow.)

**Yield**: At least 10 pieces of sweet and tangy lemon cake. Serve with tall glasses of ice-cold milk or cups of strong coffee.

## Conversion Charts

See Baking Conversion Chart for non-USA baking conversions.