I think I’m supposed to hate cake mix.  I think, once you get a chef’s coat, you are supposed to turn you nose up at all things packaged, pre-mixed, and all around too good to be true.  Well the truth is, I don’t hate cake mix, or at least I don’t hate it as much as I should.

I could bore you with a pro and con list detailing my love hate relationship with cake mix, but I won’t.  I’ll just say this- I love cake mix because my Mom buys it for 35 cents and then passes it along to me, with that oh-so-great-I-found-a-bargain feeling.  Cake mixes are easy beyond belief, moist every time and really hard to screw up.  But the truth is, even easy to make, 35 cent cake mix isn’t really a bargain.  It’s filled with loads of oils and sugars that I can’t even pronounce.  If I can’t pronounce it, there’s a good chance my insides that don’t what to do with it either.  So, you win and you lose.  Sounds a lot like life, doesn’t it?

I whole heartedly reject what the directions on the cake mix box tells me to do.  If I’m going to make a boxed cake, I’m certainly going to do it my way.  I’m not sure if I can make cake mix couture, but I’m sure as hell going to try.   So to my yellow mix I added lime zest, orange zest, orange juice and toasted coconut.  Hmm…. couture enough?  I don’t know.  I’ll probably have to find a skinny French model wearing a skinny French couture dress to stand next to my cake… then I’ll be able to reasonably call it couture.  Yea…. that’ll do it.

Orange, Lime and Toasted Coconut- Haute Couture

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1 box yellow cake mix

1 box vanilla pudding

4 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1 cup sour cream

zest of 1 orange

zest of 1 lime

juice from half an orange (a scant 1/4 cup)

1  cup toasted sweetened coconut

Lime Glaze

Juice of 1 lime

1 cup powdered sugar

Toasted Coconut for extra fanciness on top of the cake

1.  Mix all of the ingredients together in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or a large bowl with a hand mixer, on low for 30 seconds, and then on medium for about 2-3 minutes.  Scape down the bowl as necessary to incorporate all of the ingredients.

2.  Pour the batter in a well greased and floured Bundt pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 39-44 minutes, or when a thin knife inserted in the cake comes out clean, and that cake has a nice golden color.

3.   Remove the cake from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Invert the cake onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

4.  Embellish with a lime glaze- The juice of 1 lime added to 1 cup of powdered sugar.  Whisk until no lumps remain.  Pour over Bundt cake, letting the glaze drip down the sides, and sprinkle with toasted coconut