Mtn. Dew + Cake = One Happy Girl!

It's Memorial Day weekend and I want to start this post by saying THANK YOU to all of the men and women and their families who have sacrificed to provide freedom and liberty for me and my family.  I am proud to know many military families and I am proud to be a granddaughter of a WWII Veteran.  God bless each of you and watch over those who are currently serving in the armed forces!

My baby sister is in town, the weather is perfect, we're playing baseball games all weekend, so we decided to do a little cook-out at my parents' tonight.  I have really been thinking about a pound cake in the back of my mind for a few weeks now.  I haven't made one because my husband is not a fan of pound cake.  Just ask him... of course he has a story to go with it. :)  If I make a pound cake, I have to find people to help me eat it.  Otherwise I eat it all or throw half of a cake away.  So today, after baseball practice, football signups, and a baseball game, I decided that I am going to make that pound cake!

My sister Jenny has made a Sun-Drop Pound Cake before and it was so good!  I do not keep any "yellow" soft drinks in the house -- I'm a Pepsi-Max or Diet Cherry Pepsi kind-of gal, so I knew that Sun-Drop wasn't an option.  However, I found two Mtn. Dews in the basement fridge, from a family gathering a few weeks back.  I decided that Mtn. Dew would suffice.  I found a good recipe for a Sun-Drop Pound Cake here,  but I had to make a few adjustments.  Lemon flavoring?!??  Who really keeps that on hand... well, not me - I've got vanilla, rum, and almond extracts, but not lemon.  So, I modified things...  It turned out to be AMAZING - very light and moist!  My hubby hasn't gotten home yet, but I think even HE will like this version of pound cake.

Here's What You'll Need:
2 sticks of butter (soft/room temperature)
1/2 cup of Crisco (+extra to grease the cake pan)
3 cups of sugar
5 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 tsp. lemon juice
3 cups (minus 3 Tbsp) of all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Mtn. Dew

Here's What You'll Do:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Grease and flour a bundt or tube pan, then set it aside.
2. Mix the butter, Crisco, and sugar together well, until creamy, using a mixer.
3. Add the eggs one at a time.  Let it mix well in between each addition.
4. Add the vanilla, lemon zest & juice and mix well.
5. Add the flour and Mtn. Dew  - alternate flour, Mtn. Dew, flour, Mtn. Dew, etc., mixing well after each addition.
6. Pour the cake batter into the greased/floured pan and bake for 1 hour -1 hour & 15 minutes.  I check mine starting at 50 minutes and go from there.  When a butter knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, then it's ready!
7.  Make Mtn. Dew Drizzle to ice the cake and drizzle it onto the warm cake, after it has cooled about 10-15 minutes.

Here's the Drizzle Recipe:
1. Mix 2 cups of confectioner's sugar (10x sugar), 2 Tbs. softened butter, and 3-4 Tbsp. Mtn. Dew, using mixer. Add more Mtn. Dew if the "drizzle" is too thick. Don't add too much, because if it drips down the sides of the cake too much, it will all just be around the bottom of the cake.  You want it to adhere to the cake somewhat.