A few years ago my cousin Diane gave me this fantastic book called the Cake Mix Doctor.

Every recipe in the book begins with a box of cake mix. I can’t tell you how fantastic this is if you entertain a lot or if you have kids and have to bake for school function a lot. A box of cake mix and some extra ingredients and you are on your way to a great dessert!

We’re heading to a family Labor Day barbecue. And we were asked to bring a dessert.

This means two things.

1. We’re engaged and so are adults and need to contribute

and

2. We’re engaged so I’m part of the family and can’t just hang out anymore (which is not a bad thing!)

SO I turned to the Cake Mix Doctor. And found this recipe for Lemon Cheesecake Squares.

I like lemony desserts at barbecues because they’re light and cut through all the richness of all the foods you ate throughout the day.

So here it is.

You will need

• 1 box classic white cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1 8 oz package of cream cheese
• The juice from 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a 9×13 baking dish.

Pour the cake mix, vegetable oil and one egg into a large bowl.

Stir until combined. The mixture will be crumbly. Almost like sugar cookie dough.

Pour the mixture into the baking dish and press it down. This will be the crust. Pop it in the oven and bake for about 13 minutes.

While that bakes, stir together the cream cheese, sugar, remaining egg and the lemon juice until the mixture is smooth.

Remove the cake from the oven and pour the cream cheese mixture over top.

You get a cakey crust on the bottom and a tangy lemony cheesecake on the top. Two desserts in one.

Pop the pan back in the oven and bake for another 13-15 minutes, until the cheesecake is set.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Then slice up into bars. I got 24 out of the pan. (The below is only half)