Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Whipped Cream Frosting

I have been meaning to make a pink cake for a long time now. And what better occasion than Valentine’s Day, right?

I searched high and low on the internet for an easy strawberry cake that still needed real strawberries. That’s right, you can make strawberry cake with absolutely no real fruit in them. A couple of months back, before my blogging days, I attempted an authentic strawberry cake (no cake mix, no jelly powder). Guess what? Strawberry cake with real strawberries in them comes out of the oven brown in color. There was absolutely no way to get the pink color without some kind of enhancement.

So, I came to a compromise. I used cake mix, jelly powder and real strawberries. Ha!!!

You will need:

• 1 box yellow cake mix (I used a 16-oz Pillsbury box)
• 1 pack strawberry flavored gelatin powder (I used a 3-oz Jello packet)
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• About half a pound fresh, ripe strawberries
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 cups whipped cream dessert topping (for frosting)

How to:

• Wash, hull and chop the strawberries. Add 2 tsp sugar and let rest for about half an hour.
• Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 350 deg.F and grease two 8-in cake pans or a 13×9 large pan.
• Once the strawberries have released their juices, mash them well with a firm spoon. (You can puree them completely, but I personally like the mashed texture.)
• In a large mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients together (cake mix and gelatin mix).
• Add the vegetable oil and mix well.
• Add eggs one by one and mix well.
• Add 1/2 cup of the mashed strawberries (reserve the rest for frosting). Beat till fully incorporated in batter.
• If cake batter seems too thick, add a couple teaspoons of milk or water.
• Bake for 18-20 minutes or until they pass the toothpick test.
• Let them cool in pan for 10 minutes. Then remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Frosting:

• Simmer the remaining mashed strawberries till they reduce to a thick syrupy consistency.
• Strain the syrup. (Do not discard the strawberry pulp. Use them in a shake or eat them straight up!)
• Add the syrup, a teaspoon at a time, to the whipped cream till desired color is attained.

Note: While working with whipped cream, make sure the ingredients, the bowl and whisk are chilled well.

Cake assembly:

• Trim the sides of the two layers.
• Frost between the layers.
• Finally, frost on the top and all over the cake.

• Decorate with strawberries and serve with a hot cup of coffee!

Linking up at Savvy Southern Style, The Shabby Creek Cottage, The Shabby Nest, Southern Lovely, House of Hepworths, Mom on Timeout, Finding Fabulous, French Country Cottage, Common Ground, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Tatertots and Jello, My Romantic Home, C.R.A.F.T, Under the Table and Dreaming, Gooseberry Patch Blog, Colours Dekor, and the Spring Fling at Jo, My Gosh!.