Easy, Yummy Mountain Dew Cake and Glaze

This is a bit of a departure for me - I've never posted a recipe before!  But when I put the picture of this silly cake on instagram, people started asking.  So here I go - venturing into the unknown.

My husband is Mtn Dew obsessed.  He doesn't drink it regularly enough for me to call him an addict - it's more like his special treat.  For Valentine's, instead of chocolate, he got Dew.  Said it was the best Valentine's EVER.

So when his birthday came up, I decided to surprise him with a Dew cake.  I looked at several recipes, and, as I usually do, ended up combining ideas from a bunch and then added my own twist.  Which is why I'm posting rather than just providing a link. (Not that the world needs one more Dew Cake recipe. I was surprised to find so many!)

The big difference between mine and every other recipe I saw is orange juice.  I didn't see any that included orange.  Lemon, vanilla, almond, even coconut - but no orange.  Yet Mtn Dew isn't a lemon-lime soda - it's orange based.  In fact, a friend of ours (also a Dew lover), told me that he remembers when Dew used to have orange pulp in it.  I don't add a lot of orange to this cake/glaze- and I think I'd like to even experiment more with upping that quantity (though the cake is already so moist I'll have to be careful about my liquid ratios), but the results are quite good.

Out of my 8 tasters, 5 say the cake tastes just like Dew.  The others say it doesn't, taste like Dew, but is one of the yummiest cakes ever.  I'll take that!  So without further ado:

Mountain Dew Cake:
1 box lemon cake mix
1  3.4 oz box lemon pudding mix
4  eggs
1 1/4 c Mountain Dew
2 tsp lime juice
1/2 c orange juice
1/2 c oil

Preheat oven to 325 if cooking in a bundt pan like I did. (Don't bother asking about different pans - I haven't tried yet so I don't have a clue!).  Spray and flour pan.

Combine dry cake mix with dry pudding mix. Add eggs, oil, lime juice and orange juice.  Very slowly add Mtn Dew. (V-E-R-Y slowly, unless you like cake mix foam all over your counter top).  Mix at medium until blended and there are no more lumps.

Pour into bundt pan and bake 45-50 min. (again, I'm clueless as to times for other sizes of pans - maybe follow directions on cake mix box?)

Let cake cool a bit (5 min or so) then turn onto plate or platter.  Cool a little more while making glaze, then poke holes in cake using a fork.

Glaze:

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 c sugar

1/4 c Mountain Dew

2 Tbs orange juice
1 tsp lime juice

Neon green food coloring (optional)

In a saucepan over low heat, melt butter.  Add sugar.  Stir to incorporate. SLOWLY add Mtn Dew, then add lime and orange juice.  Bring to a boil, turning up heat if needed, stirring often.  Boil for a few minutes until glaze is clear and begins to thicken to a syrup.  (At this point, I added a few drops of neon green food coloring to make it Dew colored.  It doesn't show up much on the exterior of the cake, but on the slices, it gives the edges a fun Dew-green halo)

Spoon glaze over cake previously perforated with a fork.  Cool cake completely before serving.  In fact, it's better the next day after sitting in the fridge overnight.

Final note, it may be overkill, but a dollop of whipped cream (or some spray cream in my case) on each slice of cake is just heavenly!









**UPDATE** Vanilla Cream Cheese Icing:
In the year since making this cake, our family has discovered the dangerously delightful combination of vanilla flavored additions to Mt. Dew.  Adding vanilla creamer to Dew, or making a Dew float with some vanilla ice cream.  Thus it followed that if I added a vanilla cream cheese icing to my Dew Cake, it couldn't help but be fabulous...and I was right.  Here's the recipe I used:
1/4 c butter (softened)
4 oz cream cheese (softened)
3 tsp vanilla
1-2 c powdered sugar
milk (if needed for consistency)

Beat together butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.  Gradually beat in powdered sugar.  If necessary to achieve a spreadable consistency, add milk a very little at a time - not exceeding 2 Tbsp. The icing should be thick enough to not run, but thin enough not to form stiff peaks.

Enjoy!

(Funny little inside story, just because it makes me laugh.  Several years ago I begged my husband for a bundt pan for Mother's Day because there was a specific recipe I needed it for.  He has a policy of not giving me kitchen supplies as gifts, so it wasn't until Christmas that he actually gave in and got me the pan I refused to buy myself- by which time I had completely forgotten why I wanted it!  To this day I cannot remember the recipe that made me NEED a bundt pan.  Consequently, THIS CAKE is the FIRST time I've ever used the pan I harassed my poor husband into breaking his gift policies for.  It's fitting that it was for his birthday.)