Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

I made this cake to take to a bishopric dinner.  It was super easy, but tastes like it came from a fancy restaurant.  Light, sweet, and lemony, this cake would be a fun treat for a warm summer day.  I found the recipe here on allrecipes.com.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package lemon cake mix
• 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1/2 cup poppy seeds

• 1 (21 ounce) can lemon pie filling 

• 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant lemon pudding mix
• 1 cup milk
• 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and vanilla pudding mix. Make a well in the center and pour in eggs, oil water and poppy seeds. Beat on low speed until blended. Scrape bowl, and beat 4 minutes on medium speed. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool completely. Spread lemon pie filling over the cooled cake.
4. In a large bowl, mix instant lemon pudding with milk. Mix well and let stand about 5 minutes until fairly set. Fold in thawed whipped topping. Spread over pie filling. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

*I made a two layer cake instead - I put the pie filling in the middle, and used the cool whip/pudding mixture for frosting.