April 23, 2024

Strawberry Overload Cake

May 16, 2014 by

Strawberry Overload Cake sliceDespite my tomboy nature, both my daughters are girly-girls.  Princesses, fairies, dress-up, and everything pink rules their world.  This year we ended up celebrating my three year-old’s birthday on Mother’s Day, so I had a lot going on and didn’t want to spend too much time planning and decorating an elaborate cake.  Instead, I found a recipe online for a strawberry cake, created a strawberry frosting for it, and filled it with even more fresh strawberries.  The result is Strawberry Overload Cake!

The strawberry flavor comes from three sources:  fresh berries, frozen berries, and strawberry Jell-O.  Be sure to keep the cake in the fridge until time to serve.  The original recipe called for two 9-inch round cake pans, but I used a rectangular 9×13 pan and cut that in half to make two layers.  Your girly-girl will delight in the layers of pink in this sweet treat!

Strawberry Overload Cake resize

Strawberry Overload Cake

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 three-ounce package of strawberry Jell-O
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 4 eggs, room temperature
  • 2 3/4 cups sifted cake flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup pureed frozen strawberries

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350*F.  Grease and flour your pans (two 9-inch round, or one 9×13 rectangular.)
  2. Cream together the sugar, Jell-O and butter.  Blend in the eggs, one at a time.
  3. In a small bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder.
  4. Add the flour mixture and milk to the butter mixture, alternating flour and milk, and blend well.  Mix in the pureed strawberries.
  5. Pour batter into pans and bake.  Check the cakes at 25 minutes.  I took mine out at about 35 minutes, because I was using a bigger pan.  Do a toothpick test to make sure the cake is not wet inside.
  6. Cool for ten minutes in the pan, then turn out on a rack to continue cooling.

For the frosting and filling:

Strawberry Frosting

Ingredients:

  • 1 8-ounce package of cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 stick butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup frozen strawberries
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 cup whipped cream (or try Cool Whip)
  • 1 cup fresh strawberries for layering

Directions:

  1. In a pot with a lid, simmer the frozen strawberries and break them up with a wooden spoon, smashing them.  When they are all cooked and smashed, add the cream cheese, butter, and lemon juice and beat with a hand mixer.
  2. Add in the powdered sugar, beating well.  Beat in the whipped cream.  Taste.  It should be sweet tart – the cake is very sweet, so I wanted the icing to be a little different.  You can add a squeeze more lemon if you like, or  take it the other direction and add more sugar if you like.  It’s pretty flexible and you can change it to suit your taste.

To assemble:

  1. Cut the large cake in half, width-wise, so you have two 9×6 rectangles (or just put one of the round cakes on a plate.)  On a large serving platter, place the cake on the bottom, and frost the top of it with about half a cup of the frosting.  Slice the fresh strawberries and layer them over the frosting.  Carefully add another layer of frosting on top of the fresh berries.  Then place the next layer on top and frost the whole thing, top and sides.  Garnish with more fresh strawberries.
  2. This cake is kind of dense and rich, so small pieces are a good thing.

 

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

Filed Under: At Home w/ GCH Tagged With: , , , , ,

Tropical Granita

July 26, 2013 by

Tropical Granita

In my last post on the joys of Homemade Coconut Milk, we’ll look at the most traditional use of coconut:  Dessert!  Coconut milk can be used in savory or sweet dishes, but I think most people like to find coconut mingling with chocolate or fruit.  Here’s a recipe that will satisfy your sweet tooth in a healthy way – Tropical Granita!

For some reason, my girls won’t try new fruits readily, but if I put them in a smoothie or in this granita, they love it!  A granita, if you don’t know, is like a cross between a sorbet and shaved ice.  It’s icy, flaky, and refreshing!  You can use any fresh, juicy fruit you want here – mangoes, peaches, any berries – but be sure you add at least one banana.  The bananas create a thicker texture and enough sweetness that you don’t need to add any sugar!  You could use frozen fruit too – pineapple and raspberries would be lovely!  I used nectarines, bananas, and strawberries.

As with all homemade recipes, there are pros and cons.  The pro, of course, is there are no sweeteners, preservatives, artificial color, etc.  The con is that since there are no stabilizers and gums, this granita is a little more difficult to scoop than commercial ice cream.  I take it out of the freezer about half an hour before we eat it, so it can soften up a little.  It’s a great motivator – I tell my daughter I’m taking dessert out of the freezer, so if she wants to eat some, she better start eating that broccoli on her plate!

Tropical Sorbet

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup dessicated coconut and 1 1/2 cups water (or one can coconut milk)
  • 3 nectarines or peaches
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 1 cup strawberries
  • optional toppings:  whipped cream, shredded coconut, strawberry jam

Directions:

  1. In a blender, blend the coconut and water.  Strain through a colander and cheese cloth.  Return coconut milk to the blender.  (If using canned coconut milk, just pour it in the blender!)
  2. Boil a pot of water.  Score an X on the bottom of each peach or nectarine.  Drop each nectarine into the water and let it boil for 30 seconds.  Remove the nectarines to an ice bath.  When cool, peel off the skin.  Cut the flesh from the pits and add to the blender.
  3. Add the banana to the blender and blend for 30 seconds.  Remove stems from strawberries and cut in half.  Add to blender and pulse a few times – I like to see chunks of berries!
  4. Pour into a large, shallow container and cover with plastic wrap.  Freeze until firm, at least 6 hours.  To serve, let thaw for about half an hour, and then scrape up with a spoon or fork.  Mound in a dish and serve with whipped cream, more diced berries or coconut flakes, or a dollop of strawberry jam!

These make great popsicles too!

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

Filed Under: At Home w/ GCH Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,