Fizzy

While looking for a box of Wheat Thins in my mom's pantry the other night, I stumbled on...many...boxes of cake mix. I grew up on cake mix cupcakes, but reading the list of ingredients on the side of the box freaks me out now (what ARE some of those anyway?). I promise I'm not a snob. I can't taste the chemicals like some people claim they can. I don't even eat cake much anyway so the boxed vs. scratch argument doesn't really apply to me. But I am a college student; therefore, I can't afford to be picky when making cake for someone. Literally. Everyone knows we have no money. But being the little experimenter I am, I have to add some and change some things to make a plain white cake mix my own. So I snagged a box of white cake mix and continued on (without the box of Wheat Thins)

I went on an epic internet search and ended up at this recipe from Bakerella. You should check her out, she's pretty legit. I really enjoy reading her blog. But on to the recipe, which is for her Simple Sprite Cake. But even then I wasn't fully satisfied (4 eggs?!). I heard somewhere that you can make cake with just a box of cake mix and a can of sprite, so I decided to compromise.

1 white cake mix
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 box instant vanilla pudding (3 oz. size)
8 oz. can of Sprite (the mini one)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans.
• Mix ingredients on low until combined and then increase speed to medium and mix for about 2 minutes.
• Pour batter into pans and bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

I used this recipe above (the Bakerella one) but substituted 1 cup of plain apple sauce for the 3/4 cup of veg oil, and used 2 eggs instead of 4. I also made mini cupcakes instead of one cake, just because I really like cupcakes better (because if given a cake I tend to want to eat the entire thing). Because I made mini cupcakes the cooking time was cut down to 15 minutes.
*This recipe made about 5 dozen mini cupcakes, and if I hadn't filled the pans so full I could've gotten about 6 dozen*

I poked holes in the cupcakes and topped them with my own lemon zest glaze:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tbs (1/8 cup) milk (I used whole because that's what was in the house)
• zest of 1 small lemon
• 2 tbs lemon juice

Mix ingredients together and spoon over cupcakes after they cool.