If baking is any labor at all, it’s a labor of love. A love that gets passed from generation to generation. ~ Regina Brett
A mixer is worth a thousand words? What is this crazy lady talking about now? A kitchen mixer – that’s what I’m talking about. A question was posed to me about mixer-related childhood memories, and as odd as it sounds, there is some nostalgia there. Weird right? Let me tell you why…
When my sister and I were younger, my mom was a single mom most of the time. She worked hard and she worked a lot. Now she cooked, don’t get me wrong, but a lot of the time is was convenience foods, one dish combos or something of the sort. There’s nothing wrong with that, it was great for our situation and my sister and I were happy and well fed. There just wasn’t a ton of “from scratch” stuff going on in the kitchen on a daily basis. Every now and then though, we’d see that mixer come out and we knew we were in for a treat!
One of my very favorite treats that my mom would whip up is an Apricot Nectar Cake. She usually saved these for my birthday and very special occasions. I just remember not so patiently waiting to lick the beaters when she was done with the mixer. (That’s still my favorite part and I still request an Apricot Nectar Cake every single year for my birthday!)
So that my friends, is why I have such fond memories of a kitchen mixer. It’s amazing now that I take a moment to reflect, how important a role a kitchen appliance can play in a child’s life. I will definitely be sharing the Apricot Nectar Cake recipe with my daughter and hopefully when she is older, a simple mixer will remind her of love and family too.
In the meantime, since my daughter is only 2.5 and loves to eat cake, but is not quite ready to use any mixers on her own, I’m going to share this amazing recipe with all of you – let me know what you think! Also, I’d like to thank PartSelect for giving me this food for thought and asking me a random question about a mixer — I may have never realized the importance otherwise! Now for the cake…
Apricot Nectar Cake
Ingredients:
1 (18.25 ounce) package lemon cake mix 4 eggs
1/3 cup white sugar 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
½ cup vegetable oil 2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 cup apricot nectar
Baking Instructions:
- Grease and flour a 10 inch bundt cake pan & preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C)
- Combine cake mix, sugar, vegetable oil and apricot nectar. Mix until combined (about 2 min). Add eggs once at a time beating each for about 30 seconds before adding the next. Pour batter into bundt pan.
- Bake 50-60 minutes (until you can poke a toothpick into the center and it comes out clean). Cool for at least 10 minutes before turning cake out on to a plate.
- In a small bowl, mix your lemon juice with confectioners’ sugar and drizzle glaze over top and sides of cake.
Yum, this sounds so tasty.
It’s such a cute story. It’s great to have items that remind you of family and love. Also, I love the design on the mixer you showed! It’s beautiful!
Wow, this cake looks amazing. Thanks for the recipe. I really need a new mixer!
that looks yummy. i want a mixer
This sounds so yummy! I´ve never heard of this cake before, but I think I have to try making it!
This looks divine! I will have to cheat and try this Gluten and all. 😉
What a gorgeous cake! & I adore that design!
Holy cow that mixer is adorable! And the cake looks yummy too!
This cake sounds so tasty! And can I have that mixer? So cute.
What a cute memory. I am not a baker but there’s something about Kitchen Aid mixers that make me want to bake! Maybe it’s how cute they are, especially now that they come in all those cute colors 🙂
Thank you for sharing!
You blew me away with this cake recipe! I love lemon cake and I love apricots. And the simplicity of the recipe. A big thank you. The look of the blender is so old-fashioned cute. Would go well in my kitchen. Love it all!
Great simple recipe! I’ve got a Kitchenaid mixer myself (though not as snazzy looking as yours) so I’ll have to check this out the next time I’m in the mood for a tasty treat!
I bought my wife one of these a long time ago, she refused to use it so she gave it to her brother.. next thing i know she now has the neighbors for years..
That mixing bowl is so pretty!! And that cake looks incredible. I really wish I was more of a baker!
I’ve never had an Apricot Nectar Cake before! Sounds good – plus a reason to get my mixer out.
What a beautiful cake!! I make one very similar, but it has pudding in the mix as well. It is a family fave and goes quickly!
That cake looks perfect in every way, I need to have some.
Nice memories, and that cake looks amazing. Funny, I have a mixer and never use it. Maybe this is a reason to!
Certain foods brings back memories for me too! I think it’s great that your family has a special recipe that you can pass on to your daughter. That is the coolest design on that mixer!
This sounds amazing! I would love to make that sometime really soon!
That mixer is hot! I love it
I don’t think we owned a stand mixer when I was growing up but I own one now and hope to make some great memories for my daughter. And man oh man does that cake look amazing!
That cake sounds absolutely delicious!
Wow, that is a super cute mixer and I love the story that goes along with it. Thanks for sharing! The cake looks delicious.
I had to pin that as it looks so good! I want to try it so much!!
Love the design on the mixer. Although I had to upgrade my mixer from the kitchenaid because we like to double recipes and it died. I love the recipe though, It looks a lot like what my grandma used to make.
http://www.thesavingswife.com
Yeah that pretty much looks amazing. Wow!
Beautiful Mixer and Cake! I LOVE my mixer, though I have a Bosch Universal Plus!