Pippy's Strawberry Cake

Today is my daughter’s 2nd birthday! And what birthday confection goes best with her vast array of girlie gifts: a brand new baby doll, a Hello Kitty necklace, Snap n Style Dolls and a stack of girlie books? A very PINK strawberry cake, of course! This absolutely delicious recipe from Paula Deen is loaded with pureed strawberries that give the cake & frosting a delightfully pink hue- no food coloring needed whatsoever!

Paula’s recipe calls for frozen strawberries in syrup. I have used frozen strawberries before and the cake turned out great! However, I could not find frozen strawberries in syrup at the grocery store this time. So, instead I substituted the frozen for one whole carton of fresh strawberries (green tops cut off) and 1/2 c. sugar. I pureed the strawberries & sugar in the blender until smooth. It yielded approx. 2 cups of strawberry puree. I used 1 cup in the cake and 1/2 cup in the frosting. Below is Paula’s recipe exactly. But, please feel free to try it my way with the fresh strawberries- both ways make a delicious cake!

Strawberry Cake:
1 18oz box of white cake
3 oz box of strawberry gelatin
1 10 oz. pkg frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed & pureed
4 eggs
1/2 c. canola or vegetable oil
1/4 c. water

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/4 c. butter, softened
1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1 10 oz pkg frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed & pureed
1/2 tsp strawberry extract (find this with the vanilla extract in the baking section of your grocery store)
7 c. powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350F

Lightly grease two round 9-inch cake pans.

In a large mixing bowl, use a whisk to combine cake mix and gelatin. Add pureed strawberries, eggs, oil and water. Use a whisk or a hand mixer to beat ingredients until smooth. Pour evenly into prepared pans and bake for 20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean.

Let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

For frosting: In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add 1/4 c. strawberry puree (FYI, I used 1/2 c. puree), reserving remaining puree for another use (how ‘bout a smoothie?!). Beat in strawberry extract. Gradually add the powdered sugar, beating until smooth.

Spread strawberry cream cheese frosting in between layers and on the top and sides of the cake. Garnish with sliced fresh strawberries, if desired. Enjoy!