The Result of Getting Busy

Strawberry Cake
This cake is not one of my favorites (I’m more the chocolate type), an oh-my-goodness-you-have-to-make-this recipe, and it’s not a part of our daily diet so I can’t count it as worthy minutia, but I’m going to include the recipe here anyway. The reasons are:

1. It is the tastiest strawberry cake I have tasted.

2. My little girls love pink and cake, so I have a feeling I will get this request again and I wanted to record the recipe for myself.

3. Some of you might have children (and spouses and friends and siblings) who also love pink and cake and therefore could use a recipe for a pink cake. The cake certainly is pink.

4. It is an easy recipe.

5. I already told you about this cake, and it is only fitting that I show you the end result and tell you how I got there.

Note: I used my canned strawberries to make the puree, and instead of using a full cup of milk, I used ½ cup of the canned strawberry juice and ½ cup of milk.

2 cups white sugar
1 package strawberry gelatin (3 ounces)
1 cup butter
4 eggs
2 3/4 cups cake flour, sifted before measuring
2 ½ t. baking powder
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
½ cup strawberry puree

Cream the sugar, gelatin, and butter. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one. In a separate bowl combine the cake flour and baking powder. Alternating with the milk, add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter. Add the vanilla and strawberry puree.

Grease two 9-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with circles of wax paper. Divide the batter between the two pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for ten minutes before running a knife around the edges and gently dumping them out onto a rack to cool.

Cool the cakes completely before icing and decorating according to the Birthday Kid’s specifications.

Updated on July 13, 2008
Now that there is only about one-sixth of the cake left in our fridge and we are a couple days out from premiering the Strawberry Cake, I feel a pressing need to add some thoughts and comments.

First, it really is a very good cake. I can tell because I’ve had a chance to share it with some people and I have neglected to do so. If I hoard something, it means I like it.

Second, the cake needs to be stored in the fridge. We ate it when it was fresh, and while good, it is even better chilled. Then it gets all creamy and cool and smooth.

Third, some of you wondered what I did for icing. I put cream cheese frosting in between the layers, and I frosted the sides and top with whipped cream (tinted pink, of course). It is a rich cake and best eaten in little slivers.

Fourth, I’m not a fan of jello or of processed ingredients, but the jello is a nice addition to the cake. There is good strawberry flavor and a little bit of a gelatin texture to the cake, which is actually very nice.

Fifth, I think this cake has a ton of room for variations. Imagine this: the cake is made with lemon jello, lemon zest, and lemon juice, and lemon curd is spread between the layers and the whole creation is frosted with whipped cream. Or try a lime cake. Or a cherry cake with chocolate. Use jams and puddings in between the layers. What about an orange cake with bits of pineapple? See what I mean? Lots of room for playing around. If you give it a shot, let me know how it turns out—I’m all ears.