Pockets of Lemon Cake

I remember the first time I ever made this, my mom had invited some friends over to her house and asked me to come too and bring a dessert. I had just seen this recipe in some magazine and was anxious to try it out. It was such a hit I have made it many, many times since.

The little pockets of lemon filling are such a nice surprise when you cut the cake and really add to the look of the finished cake.

Before you start though I am going to warn you this is going to look really bad coming out of the oven because of way the batter raises up around these little pockets of filling.

The topping is nice and light and does a fantastic job of covering up the top of the cake.

Pockets of Lemon Cake

Cake:

I box white cake mix (about 18 oz)

ingredients called for on box of cake mix

Filling:

1 can (15.75 oz) lemon pie filling

Topping

1 16 oz tub creamy vanilla frosting

1 teaspoon lemon extract

3-4 drops yellow food coloring (if desired)

zest of 1 lemon

1 8 oz tub frozen whipped topping, thawed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit

Grease and flour 13”x9” baking dish

Mix the cake mix up according to the directions on the box and spread evenly in the prepared baking dish. Using a spoon drop spoonfuls of the lemon pie filling evenly over the cake batter in the pan, these will become your pockets of lemon.

Bake cake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until the edges pull away from the sides of the pan and the top is golden brown.

It should look something like this:

Allow to completely cool to room temperature.

Combine the frosting, extract, food coloring and lemon zest in a medium bowl. Carefully fold in the thawed whipped topping.

Spread evenly over cooled cake.

Store in refrigerator.

Cut into 16 pieces to serve.