I hope this week finds everyone hanging in there and staying strong through these unprecedented times.
It was announced last week that school facilities are to be closed the remainder of the academic year. All sports and other extra-curricular activities are canceled as well. School administrators are looking into ways to still have some type of graduation ceremonies, and will release that information when available.
RECIPE—These past three weeks I have shared some of my mom Kay’s recipes in this space, as we have not had a lot going on. One of the ways my family has kept busy during the recommended stay-at-home order is to bake. My mom loved to bake and has passed that on to me and my two kids.
This week, rather than sharing one of my mom’s recipes, I am going to share a recipe that my daughter, Hannah, found and tweaked to her own design, fresh strawberry cake with homemade cream cheese icing.
She makes this for our spring and summer family gatherings and on special requests (I’m talking to you Erica Gaston).
The key to this recipe is to not have the strawberries too cold. If you refrigerate your strawberries, set them out to room temperature. If they are too cold, the extra moisture in the mix will not allow the cake to cook evenly.
Fresh Strawberry Cake For the cake:
1 box cake mix (white, yellow or strawberry)
4 eggs (refrigerated)
1 cup crushed fresh strawberries
1 gallon-sized Ziploc bag
3-oz. box of strawberry gelatin mix (Jell-O)
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
For the icing:
1/2 block (4 oz.) softened cream cheese
2 cup powdered sugar
1 tbs. milk
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Preheat oven at 350 degrees F. Spray either a 9x13-inch cake pan, a fluted bundt pan, or two 9-inch round cake pans. (Hannah gets several requests to make this recipe as cupcakes.)
Thoroughly rinse strawberries and gently dry with a paper towel. Remove stems and dice the strawberries. Stick them in a plastic gallon-sized Ziploc bag and crush them with any heavy object like a rolling pin or meat tenderizer. Beat for one to two minutes until strawberries smoothed out.
In a bowl, combine cake mix and strawberry gelatin powder; stir well with a fork. Then stir in oil, eggs and water.
Once those ingredients are combined, add in one cup of your crushed strawberries (see below for what you can use left crushed berries for). Stir this by hand to combine, then pour batter in to prepared baking dish(es).
The cooking size depends on the baking dish. Follow the recommended baking times on the cake box for the variety of cake pan sizes. Once baked, stick a toothpick in the center of the cake pan, and if comes out clean, the cake is good to go. Allow the cake(s) to cool completely before adding the frosting.
To make the frosting, start with softened butter and softened cream cheese. Beat until smooth, creamy and lump-free.
Mix in powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk. Combine until smooth and creamy. Mix these in gradually and add more of any according to the taste and consistency you want your icing. Final product should be smooth and creamy.
If you have left over crushed strawberries, you can add that to the frosting before spreading over the cooled cake items.
Be sure to store leftovers in refrigerator.
STAY SAFE—My prayers include that everyone is continuing to stay safe and healthy during this extended time of physical distancing and at home education. Stay strong and remember we are all in this together and will come out better on the other side of it. Be sure to wear your masks and wash your hands.
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