The first thing I noticed was the strawberry gelatin included in the ingredients for the cake batter, which I thought was rather interesting.  I have not seen that before.  When I stirred up the batter with the JELL-O and the strawberries, it smelled so good!  It dawned on me, that other flavors of JELL-O could be substituted to make other fruit flavors.

 

    This opens up a whole slew of ideas for more cakes and cupcakes!  Raspberry with fresh raspberries and lemon with some lemon curd came to mind.  Peach with fresh peaches, or cherries, there are lots of possibilities.  Right?

 

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                         Strawberry Cake                                  

 Preheat oven to 350°

1 – 18.25-ounce package of white cake mix
1 – 3-ounce package of strawberry gelatin
4 – large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries (with stems removed)
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
 

Prepare the two 9-inch pans with parchment paper or grease and flour.  

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Soak the Wilton Bake-Even Strips in water, wrap around the pans, and secure, which guarantees your cake won’t dome.

  *(The original recipe from Southern Living Magazine does not say to do this.  I just like to have the dry ingredients combined.)

 

Add the eggs, chopped strawberries, oil, and milk.

Beat for 1 minute at low speed on your mixer.  Scrape down the sides and beat for 2 more minutes at medium speed.

 

Pour the batter into prepared pans.  

For two 9-inch pans, bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until the cake springs back to the touch.

 Before frosting, let the cake layers cool.

 Frosting

 

  For this cake, I used the Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting recipe.  Thinking that it would not need the entire recipe, I made only 2/3 of the recipe, using the measurements below.  (If you want a thicker coat of frosting, use the link above.) The additional time for beating the butter is key to a light fluffy buttercream.

 

Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting

• 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 3 Tablespoons Heavy Cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla

 

Beat softened butter for 7-8 minutes until butter is fluffy and white.

 Add sugar, cream, and vanilla.  Beat for 6 minutes longer.

 

   For the filling between the two layers, chop one big strawberry, or more,

and mix with about 1/3 of the frosting.

 Frost the sides and top of the two layers with the remainder of the frosting.

 

Top with fresh strawberries.

 

I tried to make strawberry roses for this, but clearly, I need some practice and one of those curved knife blades.  I opted to use strawberry slices instead.

  The grandkids love the cake!  Aidan said this was the best cake I have ever made!

Sophie said she liked the frosting best.  She always eats most of the frosting before the cake.

 

   This Strawberry Cake with Buttercream Frosting and Fresh Strawberries may just be one of my favorite desserts, too!