Key Lime Cake

Cooking & Spirituality:

By Lucia Ferrara

This recipe will make a three-layer cake with cream cheese frosting. The key limes give the sweet cake a tanginess that will please any palate. The tangy key limes also make this a refreshing desert of snack as the summer heat lingers into the fall.

Remember, too, that you “first taste with your eyes.” This is such a pretty cake, it is perfect of potlucks or picnics. I know you, your family and your friends will love it.

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare 3 8-inch round cake pans by either spraying with cooking oil or greasing pans with butter and flouring.

Cake Ingredients

• 1 box lemon cake mix
• 1 3-oz package lime Jello
• ¾ cup orange juice
• 1 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• A couple drops key lime natural oil (optional)

Beat all ingredients together. Pour batter into three pans evenly. Bake 16-18 minutes.

Icing Ingredients

• 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1 8-oz package cream cheese
• 1 cup of butter (softened)
• 3 tbsp fresh lime juice (reserve rinds for zesting) *
• 1 drop key lime oil.

Beat together until smooth and cream. If too stiff, add more lime juice. If too running, add more confectioner’s sugar.

*If you can’t find key limes, regular limes will work, but try to use key limes; they do make a difference.

Cooking as Spiritual Practice

The following is excerpted from Everyday Holy: Finding a Big God in the Little Moments, 100 Devotions by Melanie Shankle (Zondervan, 2018).

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic,
“Rabboni!” which means “teacher.”
— John 20:16

Certain people in my life can call me on the phone and after I say, “Hello?” they can respond with “Hey, it’s me.” And I know exactly who is on the other line. Their voices are as familiar to me as my own. … As soon as [Jesus] spoke her name, [Mary Magdalene] knew him instantly. … She knew … it was her Lord standing before her because she recognized his voice.

The thing about knowing someone merely by the sound of their voice is that it signifies how close you are to that person and how often you talk. It is a sign of intimacy. As I read the story of Mary Magdalene, I’m challenged to ask myself if I know the voice of my Lord as well as she did. Do I hear him speak my name? …

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[Lucia Ferrara, the Director of Hospitality at Precious Blood Renewal Center. Share your thoughts with Lucia or ask her questions using the form below or by sending an email to info@pbrenewalcenter.org.]

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