Watermelon Cake

For 4th of July we decided it would be best to be in town since I had to work early that following morning and wanted to make sure I got enough sleep to avoid any grumpiness. We were invited to our friend's place, Charles and Jessica, and got to join in on their 4th of July fun! They had a house full of BBQ and people and we had an amazing time.

I always work hard to make delicious treats and enjoy when I make something super fun. My mom had ordered me a subscription to Woman's Day magazine, and I really have enjoyed the great ideas for life, health and food. One article focused on this amazing cake, Watermelon cake.

Well, I held on to that magazine for a while since I knew I would one day make that cake. And 4th of July seemed to be the best attempt for that. I threw on my apron, got my flour ready and made the best Watermelon Cake I have ever seen. Well not really- the one in the article looks better- but I think I did a fantastic job!

So if you want to give it a try, I decided to share the recipe! Just be aware that you will use all of the red dye just to get that color right! And I would suggest chocolate covered coffee beans would be better for the seeds. (**And don't make fun of my cake! I wouldn't care if you did since it was fabulicious!**)

Recipe Ingredients

• 1 box (18.25 oz) yellow cake mix
• 1 box (3.4 oz) vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup water
• 1⁄3 cup oil
• 3 1⁄2 cans (16 oz each) vanilla frosting
• Red, orange, leaf green, yellow and black gel or paste food color
• Chocolate-covered raisins (Raisinets)
• You’ll also need: pastry bag, coupler, petal decorating tip 101S or 101 or basketweave tip 44 or 47

Recipe Preparation

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Coat two 9-in. round cake pans with nonstick spray. Line bottoms with wax paper; coat with spray. 2. Combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water and oil in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 2 minutes. Pour evenly into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes until wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean. 3. Cool in pans on wire rack 15 minutes; invert cakes onto rack, remove paper and cool completely. 4. Tint one can frosting red-orange. Using leaf green, yellow and a bit of black, tint one can frosting pale green. Remove 1/2 cup pale green frosting to a pastry bag fitted with decorating tip. Using more leaf green and black food color, tint remaining pale green frosting until it turns dark green. 5. Stack cake layers on a cutting board; cut crosswise in half. Set one piece aside. 6. For large melon slice: Sandwich 3 cake layer halves with 1/3 cup white frosting between each (invert top layer so flat side is up). For small melon wedges: Cut reserved piece of cake into 3 wedges. Frost slice and wedges with a thin layer of remaining white frosting. 7. Frost rounded edges of cakes with dark green frosting. Using flat slide of decorating tip, pipe pale green frosting along edge of dark green frosting on sides and top. Pipe squiggly lines onto sides over dark green frosting. With spatula, smear pale green lines to create the look of watermelon skin. 8. Reserve 1/2 cup red-orange frosting. With remaining red-orange frosting, frost top and straight sides of cakes, leaving about 1/2-in. border of white frosting. Cut chocolate-covered raisins in half lengthwise. Place cut-side up into red-orange frosting for pits. Refrigerate several hours or overnight to set. 9. Remove large melon slice to serving tray, standing it on rounded edge. Frost back side of cake with reserved red-orange frosting; decorate with additional chocolate-covered raisins. Place small wedges on tray with large slice. (To serve large cake, place it back onto a flat side before cutting into slices.)