In the South, sharing recipes is a part of life. I’ve known Lynn about as long as I’ve known anyone, I think. We went to elementary school all the way through high school together. Lynn had the most amazing parties back in the day… she was a big time party-thrower, even as a kid! I cannot hear Sly & the Family Stone to this day without thinking about spend the night parties at her house. I saw a Facebook post where someone was asking Lynn to make this cake for them and they were raving about it… so I asked her to share it with us. It has been a spring tradition for several years now and is the perfect cake to kick of strawberry season!
LYNNBO'S FRESH STRAWBERRY CAKE... A PERFECT PARTY DESSERT
LYNNBo’s FRESH STRAWBERRY CAKE with STRAWBERRY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
INGREDIENTS
1 strawberry cake mix (plus eggs and oil as required by the package)
1 1/2 cups fresh chopped strawberries plus more strawberries for garnish
1/2 cup of unsalted butter (1 stick) softened
12 oz cream cheese, softened
3 cups powdered sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons heavy cream or evaporated milk
1 small box strawberry Jell-o; add this to taste. (I used about half of the box)
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 (or to package directions)
Prepare or spray your pans as directed on the package
First, chop up 1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries and mash them so they resemble a puree.
Make the cake mix as directed except exchange the mashed strawberries for the water the package directions call for. Pour evenly into the prepared pan (s). Bake as directed or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Lynn recommends using a 9×13 pan but I used two 9″ round pans for mine. Allow them to cool before frosting.
For the frosting:
Cream together the cream cheese, butter, sugar, and Jello at medium speed of your mixer. Add the milk and vanilla and mix well.
Garnish with lots of strawberries. Lynn recommends adding them just before serving because there is so much moisture in the strawberries, they will slide all over the cake if you add them too soon. She also recommends to pat the strawberries dry before topping.
Hope you enjoy this one…. perfect for Spring and strawberry season!