Simple. Easy. And so good.
But. It was UGLY.
I started off by greasing and flouring my baking pans, made the batter, and it baked beautifully. I set my timer and waited for the cakes to cool in the pans. While I was waiting, I made the icing. This began the downward slope to my cake's demise.
I thought my butter was "close enough" to room temperature. Evidently "close enough" only counts in hand grenades and nuclear warfare. NOT in creaming together butter and sugar.
I wound up with a sugary, strawberry-y MESS. After cursing, and yelling and general carrying-on, I added a little more butter and a little more sugar....and FINALLY came up with a beautiful pink fluffy icing.
The cakes were waiting patiently on the wire racks, secreting planning and scheming to MAKE ME LOSE MY MIND. They sat there on their wire racks for a full ten minutes (NO MORE!) and when I flipped them onto a plate. THIS is what happened.
No.
It gets WORSE.
I am not even kidding you.
I don't even know what happened to this one. (There are CHUNKS of cake MISSING and I have NO IDEA WHERE THEY WENT.)
I managed to frost it VERY carefully with my chunky buttery strawberry icing.......
The finished product! ........ and those white spots in the icing? Definitely CHUNKS of butter. mmmmm. butter.
"Mr. Photographer, I think I’m ready for my close-up tonight. Make sure you catch me from my good side..." * Yes, that is a Britney Spears reference. Don't judge.
The cake tasted amazing, but definitely needed some help in the "aesthetically pleasing" department. Next week: Banana Cake with Quick Caramel Frosting
Strawberry Cake with Fresh Strawberry Icing
Ingredients:
1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix 1 (3-ounce) box strawberry-flavored gelatin 1 (15-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed 4 large eggs 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup water
Strawberry Frosting
1 stick butter, softened (This is not a suggestion. Seriously.)
1 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
7 cups confectioners’ sugar
Freshly sliced strawberries, for garnish, optional
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans.
In a large bowl, combine cake mix and gelatin. Add pureed strawberries, eggs, oil, and water; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour into prepared pans, and bake for 20 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 frosting:In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in 1/4 cup of the strawberry puree and the strawberry extract. (The rest of the puree is leftover but can be used in smoothies or on ice cream for a delicious treat.) Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, beating until smooth.
Spread frosting in between layers and on top and sides of cake. Garnish with sliced fresh strawberries, if desired.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before slicing. TRUST ME on this one.
I think I would either 1) substitute the butter for cream cheese, marscapone, or creme fraische or 2) do half butter, half cream cheese/marscapone/creme fraische. The icing, if it has a thicker composition, may help with the aesthetically pleasing part of the cake. ^___^ And just grease the crap out of your cake pans (and I bet you that butter would taste better than vegetable oil in the cake as well as help out with the sticking-together of the ingredients while baking) and you should have less worries about crumbly layers.
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