Life is as good as cake.

Sometimes it just is.

I’ve just finished unpacking from our trip to Haida Gwaii and am now packing up our (freshly cleaned and organised) gear again for a little island camping.

More on that when I return. For now, let’s talk about baking…

I’ve been talking a lot and linking to Joy the Baker recently. You might think I loved her. You’d think right. I love Joy the Baker. She makes me laugh. She makes me hungry and she’s made me a better baker. Plus, my friends love me even more when I make one of her recipes.

For Cam’s birthday I made two cakes. I simply couldn’t decide on just one since Cam has two favourite flavour profiles when it comes to sweets- coffee and lemon. Not wanted to put those together, I opted for Joy’s Glazed Lime Cake, which I adjusted to make lemon and her Mocha Coffee Coffee Cake with Espresso Glaze. Mm mm good. Both were a big hit. Here’s what I did:

Glazed Lemon Cake

• 3/4 cup Butter, room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups Icing Sugar
• 2 large Eggs, room temperature
• 1/4 cup Milk (I used almond)
• 1 1/3 cups Self-Rising Flour
• 2 to 3 large Lemons
• 1/4 cup Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Butter and flour 8-inch square baking pan.
3. Cream butter and 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar in large bowl. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in milk, then mix in flour.
4. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top.
5. Bake cake until toothpick inserted into centre comes out clean, about 35 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, finely grate enough lemon peel to measure a couple tbsps and squeeze enough juice to measure 1/4 cup. Mix peel, juice, and 1/4 cup sugar in small bowl. Set lemon syrup aside.
7. Using skewer, poke holes all over baked cake. Spoon half of lemon syrup (about 3 tablespoons) over hot cake. Cool.
8. Whisk 1 cup powdered sugar into remaining lemon syrup; drizzle over cake. Let stand 1 hour. Cut cake into squares.

Mocha Coffee Coffee Cake with Espresso Glaze

• 2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 3/4 cup Unsalted Butter, softened
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 large Eggs
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder dissolved in 1 1/2 tbsp Hot Water
• 2 Tbsp Instant Espresso Powder dissolved in 1 tbsp Hot Water

1. Put a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Generously butter and flour 8- inch (6 cup) Bundt pan.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
3. Combine butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with the sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until just incorporated.
4. Transfer about one third of the batter to a small bowl. Add espresso mixture and stir until combined. Transfer 1/3 of the remaining vanilla batter to another small bowl and add the cocoa mixture and stir until combined. Spoon all three batters into the Bundt pan, alternating so each flavor is distributed through the pan.
5. Bake until cake is golden, or until a wooden spoon inserted in the center comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack for 30 minutes, then invert onto a rack to cool completely.
6. (This recipe can be doubled and baked in a 10- inch (12 cup) Bundt pan. Increase the baking time to about 1 hour.)

Coffee Glaze

• 1 1/2 tsp Instant Espresso Powder
• 2-3 tbsp strong brewed Coffee or Espresso
• 3/4 cup Icing Sugar, sifted

1. Stir together espresso powder and most of the coffee in a bowl until powder is dissolved. Add icing sugar and stir until well combined. If glaze is not pourable, thin with remaining coffee if necessary.
2. Pour glaze over coffee cake and let cake stand until glaze is set, about 10 minutes, before serving.