A few days ago I had some girlfriends over to celebrate one of their birthdays so I quickly put together a little lunch and playdate for all of our kids. We had originally talked about going out to eat to celebrate together, but sometimes finding a time where everyone can get a babysitter is difficult so a last minute party at my house just worked out. I always get nervous about having people over because we don’t have a huge house, I don’t know if the kids will be entertained, and life gets so busy but I have to say the best advice someone gave me was to never wait for a clean house to have people over because what matters the most is how they feel in your home. Sharing some delicious food and getting to visit with friends is the best so I hope you’ll remember to always go-for it and throw that party you’ve been talking about because you won’t regret it. I am loving all things lemon right now so I opted for a lemon poppyseed bundt cake with tillamook vanilla bean on the side for dessert and I remembered how much I love this recipe so I wanted to share it here. This glaze is a little different with the lemon juice because it adds a little zest so if you want a more traditional glaze you can use powdered sugar with a little milk and almond extract.

LEMON POPPYSEED BUNDT CAKE RECIPE

| INGREDIENTS |

1/4 cup poppy seeds

1/4 cup milk

1 box yellow cake mix

1 package instant lemon pudding mix

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs room temperature

zest and juice of 1 large lemon

| DIRECTIONS |

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10 inch bundt pan. In a large bowl, stir together cake mix, pudding mix and poppy seeds. Make a well in the center and add eggs, sour cream, vegetable oil, water, lemon zest, and juice. Beat on low speed until blended. Scrape bowl, and beat 4 minutes on medium speed. Pour batter into bundt pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool cake in bundt pan for a few minutes on cooling rack before removing. Remove cake onto cake stand and prepare the icing. Blend powdered sugar with lemon juice, mixing until a nice consistency that isn’t too thin. You can adjust the amount of lemon juice you need.

| ICING |

3 cups powdered sugar

juice of 1 lemon

When cake is hot right out of the oven take a roasting fork and poke deep holes in the cake, letting the icing sink into the cake and keep covering the cake until frosting is gone.