Monday, February 8, 2010

Celebrating 55 Wonderful Years!


Today is my mom's 55th birthday! ♥  To celebrate, I made Paula Deen's "Simply Delicious Strawberry Cake"--which also fits this week's "Sweets for My Sweet" theme for the My Girl, Paula! group.  Even after 30+ years in the U.S., my parents and grandmother have never picked up the American Sweet Tooth (or chocolate obsession), so anything I make for them has to be mildly sweet--and preferably fruity.  With this in mind, I had to make a few modifications to the cake recipe to make it more suitable for their palates.  Did they like it?  Oh YEAH!!! (in my best Kool-Aid man voice)  What made it all the more enjoyable was eating it while watching the Saints win the Super Bowl!  *huzzah*  Even Grandma was watching with us!


Strawberry Cake  (Serves 12)
Adapted from Paula Deen recipe 

Cake:
18.25 oz. box French vanilla cake mix
3 oz. box strawberry gelatin
24 oz. tub frozen strawberries with sugar, thawed (Divided use)
4 large eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup water

Filling and frosting: 
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
½ cup powdered sugar
½ box Wilton® Whipped Icing Mix

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Lightly grease three 9" round pans.

Puree strawberries in blender or food processor.  Measure out 15 oz. (about 2 cups) puree and set aside for the cake batter.  Place the remaining puree in a small saucepan and reduce over low heat, stirring occasionally, until about 1/3 cup remains.  Set aside to cool while cake bakes. (Will thicken considerably and appear like jam)

In a large bowl, combine cake mix and dry gelatin.  Add 15 oz. pureed strawberries, eggs, oil, and water; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.  Pour into prepared pans.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

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

For the filling: 
Combine softened cream cheese with the reduced & cooled strawberry puree.  Mix in powdered sugar.  Spread between cake layers.

For the frosting:
Prepare the Whipped Icing Mix according to package directions, then spread over top and sides of cake.  Refrigerate until serving time.

14 comments:

  1. Happy birthday momma koala :) This cake looks great...can you bring a slice to NY?

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  2. yumm!! looks delicious. i'll have to attempt to convert all the ounces etc and make it with what is available here (new zealand) yummm

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  3. This looks delicious, Dorothy! And yes, the Saints victory was great! What a nice birthday gift for your mom.

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  4. Awesome cake! I will definitely be trying this one...and your frosting is beautiful :)

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  5. Happy Birthday!!! That's amazing. I like it. :)

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  6. Happy Birthday to your mommy! My mom is turning 55 next week! :D The cake looks delicious, and I like that it isn't as sweet, that's how I prefer things too!

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  7. We are snowed in right now but as soon as I can get out your surprise will be in the mail! GO SAINTS! Being LA born and AR bred they've always held a special place in my heart!

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  8. Wow, that is a gorgeous cake! Happy birthday to your mom! :)

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  9. Just loved this post... coming from SITS. Random, but are you going to Bloggy Boot Camp in Baltimore?

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  10. Hi Kat! I would love to go to Bloggy Boot Camp, but it's just too far away and would cost too much for me to attend. Hopefully they'll come by somewhere closer to me, like New Orleans or Houston (a gal can dream!) Thanks for stopping by!

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  11. Happy Birthday to your guy, and thanks for the recipe! I've got a couple of strawberr-o-holics around here, so I think I'll try this one soon. SITS sent me by, and I'm glad they did!

    High Steaks Grilling

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  12. Happy Birthday to your mom! What a great cake! :)

    Paloma.

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  13. I made two of these over the weekend! OMG! So moist and yummy... very strawberryrry... ; ) yummo! I prefer strawberry icing so I added strawberry puree to the icing. That made the icing a little to soft, so I'd have to find a solution to that next time, but oh my, it was soooo good!

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