Stand-Out Desserts

I don’t know about you, but when I come to a family or church dinner, I don’t always like to have the traditional items. Yes, my mother’s banana pudding recipe is to die for, but lots of other people come to get-togethers with banana pudding in tow. I like having a few unusual (but tasty) items to spice things up a bit. Two of my favorites are Mountain Dew cake and blueberry pizza.

Mountain Dew Cake

1 box lemon cake mix
1 (3.4 oz) lemon-flavored instant pudding
1 (12 oz) can Mountain Dew
¾ cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 325°. Lightly grease and flour a ten-cup Bundt pan. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix and pudding mix. Add the soda, oil, and eggs. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for forty-five to fifty minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for ten minutes, then remove and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Simple Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar
4 to 5 tablespoons of lemon juice

Slowly add lemon juice into powdered sugar, stirring well, until desired consistency is achieved. Drizzle over the top of the cooled cake.

Note: This is a recipe that begs creativity. Instead of lemon-flavored ingredients, why not try strawberry cake mix, vanilla pudding, and strawberry soda instead? You can use milk instead of lemon juice in the icing as well. Have fun trying different combinations!

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Blueberry Pizza

1 box white cake mix
1 ¼ cups quick oatmeal
½ cup chopped nuts
1 egg
8 tablespoons margarine or butter, softened
1 can blueberry pie filling
¼ cup brown sugar

Mix cake mix, one cup of oatmeal, and chopped nuts. Reserve one cup. Add the egg and six tablespoons of margarine to the remaining mixture. Mix well and spread in the bottom of a pizza pan. Bake at 350° for twelve minutes. Spread blueberry pie filling on top of baked crust. Add the brown sugar and remaining oatmeal and margarine to reserved mixture. Crumble on top of pie filling and bake ten more minutes.

Note: Feel free to substitute the blueberry pie filling for another flavor of your choice. Be creative and enjoy!