In our house we have one rule for birthday cakes and it is that the inside is more important than the outside! I try to doctor up cake mixes and add fillings to make them as tasty as possible. I mean...I TRY to make them pretty but my skills are limited soooo....you work with what ya' got.
(Pineapple Upside Down Layered Cake, Peaches and Cream Cupcakes, Chocolate Cream Layered Cake are a few examples!)
A few years ago for Cassidy's birthday I made her a Strawberry Cake that was literally the best Strawberry Cake I've ever made. She (like her mother) doesn't care much for chocolate and I love to make her cakes. The recipe I used was Paula Deen's Simply Delicious Strawberry Cake. The recipe calls for a Strawberry Cream Cheese Icing but we like to use what we call "Fruit Dip Icing". It's fruity and light and extravagantly delicious all at the same time.
This year for Jo's second birthday I decided to break out the recipe again, only this time it became Strawberry Lemonade Layer Cake. I layered it with Lemon Cook N Serve Pie Filling and Fruit Dip Icing and then iced it with the Fruit Dip Icing.
I doubled the recipe that way I had four thin (ish) layers of cake.
Paula Deen's Simply Delicious Strawberry Cake.
- 1 Box of White Cake Mix
- 1 3 oz Box of Strawberry Flavored Instant Jello
- 1 15 oz Package of Frozen Strawberries in Syrup, thawed and pureed.
- 4 Large Eggs
- 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
- 1/4 Cup Water
Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour 2 (9 inch) round cake pans.
In a large bowl, combine cake mix and Jello Mix. Add pureed strawberries (I was not going to go to the trouble to puree with a machine...I squished them...with my hands...very well), eggs, oil and water. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour into the prepared pans and bake for 20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. ( Mine baked for probably 30 minutes...)
Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove and cool completely on wire racks. (I have, like, 20 seconds a day to get stuff done, so I baked mine, cooled, wrapped in Saran Wrap and left in the refrigerator for a day.)
The icing for this cake is very simple...in fact it is technically fruit dip. That stuff with marshmallow creme and cream cheese. Yep. Mix some cool whip into that stuff and ice a cake.
Fruit Dip Icing
- 1 8 oz Package of Cream Cheese, softened
- 1 7 oz of Marshmallow Creme...or Fluff...depending on what you buy.
- 1 Large (16 oz) Container of Cool Whip, thawed.
Mix the cream cheese and marshmallow creme together well. Fold in the Cool Whip. Done.
To layer the cake, arrange bottom layer onto a cake plate...or just a plate. Spread a dollop of icing on the top. If you have a fruit filling (strawberry jam, lemon curd, etc) or fresh fruit or even a cream filling, now is the time to throw that on there. Set your next layer squarely on top, covering the sides and top with your remaining icing. If you were to double your recipe for the icing and had left overs, no worries. It will keep for a couple days in the fridge and make killer dip for strawberries, grapes, apples...or just your spoon.
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