Here's a little Valentine's treat you can whip up...Since my little boy is allergic to strawberries (yes, so sad!) we have ended up with an abundance of them in our freezer since they come in the bags of frozen fruit that we buy at Costco pretty much weekly to make our green smoothies. Anyway, my husband had been begging me to find something to do with all these strawberries, so I did a google search for some recipes that used real strawberries & came across this little gem from A Dash of Sass. It's simple, homemade & delicious! Oh and most importantly-- it calls for fresh or frozen strawberries! Below is her recipe (which was adapted from one of Paula Deen's). Oh and a quick note from me... if you like the idea of little pieces of strawberry baked into the cake, then you can mash the strawberries instead of puree them! Also, I made 6 cupcakes & a bundt cake from this amount of batter-- I topped the cupcakes with sprinkles & a strawberry gumball for a little whimsical touch. I filled the center of the cake strawberries rolled in sugar & sprinkled it too. Note: when using the frozen strawberries in the center of the cake, the juice will seep into the cake a bit, so you may want use fresh strawberries for that part instead. Oh and I used 2 cups of powdered sugar for the frosting (instead of closer to 3 as the original recipe called for).
Homemade Strawberry Cake
Ingredients-
For the cake:Nonstick vegetable sprayAll-purpose flour, for pans3 cups self-rising flour2 cups granulated sugar3/4 cup vegetable oil1 1/2 cup pureed strawberries, strained*1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract1 teaspoon lemon zest4 large eggs, beatenred food coloring**For the cream cheese frosting:1 (8oz) package of cream cheese, softened1 stick of butter, softened1 teaspoon vanilla extract~ 3 cups (approx. 1 box) confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)1 tablespoon milk (if needed)
Directions-
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray and flour three 8-by-2-inch round cake pans, tapping out excess flour; set aside.- Prepare the cake batter; in a large bowl, stir to combine self-rising flour, sugar, oil, pureed strawberries, vanilla, lemon zest, and eggs.- Divide batter evenly between prepared pans, smoothing with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until the tops spring back when gently pressed with your fingertips, 26 to 28 minutes.- Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto wire rack. Re-invert cakes and let them cool completely, top sides up.- Prepare the cream cheese frosting. Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth.- Slowly add the sugar in 1 cup batches until desired sweetness is achieved. You may need less than 3 cups if you like your frosting less sweet.- Stir in vanilla. Add milk slowly if you need a looser consistency.- Frost cake as desired and refrigerate until ready to serve.* You can use fresh or frozen strawberries. If you use frozen, let them defrost on a cookie sheet. Then place in a food processor and pulse until pureed. Run through a medium-sized strainer to remove the seeds.** While I did manage to avoid using red colored gelatin, I did add some food coloring to achieve that perfectly pink color. If you don't care about getting the pink color, feel free to leave it out. I used about 5 drops, but you should add them one at a time until you achieve the color you are looking for.(the above recipe is from
A Dash of Sass, check it out
here! Photos, decorating & adjustments by
DesignLovesDetail)
