This Semi-Homemade Lime Cake Is What Our Summer Dreams Are Made Of

I grew up in a home where we only had homemade desserts. While it bothered me at the time — we couldn’t afford Oreos, Chips Ahoy, or those dreamy Drake’s Fruit Pies very often — I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I remember my father telling me he thought homemade desserts just tasted better and I literally didn’t understand his reasoning. Just like I didn’t understand why he thought his burgers were better than McDonald’s burgers. In my mind, store bought varieties always won, but my friends would come over and die over our homemade desserts. I’d even trade my mom’s slices of chocolate cake at school for any dessert that came out of a package.

Now, my adult taste buds will take a homemade slab of pie or fudge over a boxed dessert any day.

Because of my childhood, I have a sweet spot for baking. It reminds me of being a little girl and playing hard outside the house then coming in and feeling the breeze of the fan in the kitchen window as my mom stood over the stove mixing fruit for pies, or pulling brownies out of the oven.

I find myself telling my kids my homemade desserts are way better than that box of Sour Patch Kids they’d rather have because the truth is, we really do turn into our parents in some ways.

I really do love putting together desserts or baking bread in my kitchen. It soothes my soul and relieves stress and anxiety.

However, I know lots of people who hate to bake. It stresses them to the max instead of taking it away. They don’t like the mess it makes and feel like it’s a lot of work.

Whether you are a regular Martha Stewart or hate to bake, I have a great recipe everyone should try: It’s an Easy Lime Cake from the blog Love From The Oven, and you need it in your life.

Trust me, it’s one of the easiest things I’ve ever made, is the perfect summer dessert, and turned out so well I’d dare say it’s foolproof.

Oh, and if you love the tang of citrus fruit, you are going to want to bake this up for your next family barbecue or your kids’ birthday, because I’m dying for you to stand over a beautiful bundt cake and eat it with a fork right from the pan, like I did.

I have a daughter who prefers pies over cake and loves lemony-lime things. She’s also not a fan of frosting and always saves it for me, so the glaze on this cake is perfect for those who don’t love globs of thick, crusty, buttery frosting (not sure what’s wrong with them but oh well, more for me) because it’s coated with more of a light icing, which lets the zesty lime flavor shine through.

The base of the cake is made with a white or yellow cake mix, which makes it so easy and really, no one has to know it’s not a from-scratch cake. Then you add in your eggs, oil, and the secret ingredient is lime yogurt. You also mix in some lime juice and zest and let me tell you … (Find the full recipe here.)

It has the perfect tang without being tart and was probably the most moist cake I’ve ever made.

I have an egg allergy, so instead of using four eggs, I added in another cup of lime yogurt to the recipe (you can do this with any cake, by the way — just add in ¼ cup of yogurt for each egg), and you would never know the difference.

I love this cake for a few reasons: It’s the perfect summer dessert and changes things up if you feel like you keep making the same things.

It’s so easy and you don’t even have to pull out your mixer. I just used my hefty wooden spoon and a bowl.

It turned out so pretty and can be decorated in different ways with herbs or fresh flowers or lime zest.

You can easily make cupcakes with this recipe.

I find it makes a good breakfast too. I mean, if you are going to eat cake for breakfast, this has fruit in it so it’s healthy. Right?

It turned out so pretty I was almost hesitant to stab it with a fork and fill my mouth, but I went with it anyway because God forbid I actually cut a slice of cake, put it on a plate, and sit down and enjoy it.

Going at it with a fork is much more satisfying and when I saw my daughter do the same thing when she got home from work, it made me laugh. See, I told you we really do turn into our parents in some ways. I’ll wait a bit to tell her that though.

Next time you are at the grocery store, pick up your cake mix, a few limes, and some lime yogurt and throw this semi-homemade cake together.

You won’t regret it. I promise.