Recipe: Grandma's lemon cake

Before my grandmother died in 2012, I spent several years traveling to see her and my grandpa with my girls each summer. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen, helping her prepare meals. And on the visit during the summer before she died, she shared this recipe for lemon cake with me.

She mostly fixed long-time favorites when we were there — meatloaf, pineapple cake, broccoli and cheese soup, a vegetable salad with Jello. But another relative had just given her this cake recipe. She was excited to serve something new and tell me about it. My older daughter helped with the finishing touches, which involve poking small holes over the top so the glaze sinks down into the cake, and we made a lot of memories. I hope you make some memories too when you make this delicious cake.

2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease and flour a 9x13 pan.

Mix together lemon cake mix, pudding mix, water and oil. Beat for five minutes. Add eggs and beat for another five minutes. Bake for 40 minutes.

When done, prick the top of the cake with a toothpick or fork all over so the glaze really soaks in. I let my younger daughter do this, carefully wrapping the hot pan in a towel and supervising her.

Mix the fruit juice and powdered sugar. Pour over cake while it's still warm. You can eat this cake warm or at room temperature. Either way, it's delicious!