Try this Easy Strawberry Cake recipe, or contribute your own.
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 pkg white cake mix
- 1 (3 oz) pkg strawberry jello
- 1 cup fresh strawberries mashed or finely chopped
- 1 cup vegetable oil (i always use canola)
- strawberry cream cheese frosting
- 1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese
- 1/2 cup butter room temp
- 3 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
- 3/4 cup fresh strawberries mashed or chopped fine
- Carbohydrate 67.0941885203627 g
- Cholesterol 161.480416666667 mg
- Fat 11.1648820835211 g
- Fiber 0.443333333333333 g
- Protein 4.4632375 g
- Saturated Fat 5.93593004170422 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (132g)
- Sodium 102.578000001878 mg
- Sugar 66.6508551870294 g
- Trans Fat 1.11596608332958 g
- Calories 378 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Lightly spray pans with non-stick spray.
- Place the cake mix, jello, strawberries, oil, milk and eggs in a large bowl.
- Mix 3 minutes, stopping to scrap down sides of bowl a couple times.
- Divide the batter evenly among layer pans or pour into 9x13 inch pan.
- For 9x13 pan bake 28 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- (Cook layers according to directions on box of cake mix.)
- Remove cake and cool completely.
- For Cream Cheese Frosting: Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth.
- Sift sugar and add one cup full at a time to cream mixture.
- Add strawberries and incorporate completely.
- Pour over cake and smooth out covering entire cake layer.
Standard vanilla butter cakes rely on creaming solid fats to trap air, but this method uses a fluid emulsion driven by oil and liquid dairy. Commercial cake mix provides a stable chemical foundation that supports the addition of heavy fruit purees without collapsing the crumb structure. Boxed bases eliminate the tedious weighing of flour and chemical leaveners while delivering consistent height.
Overmixing the batter remains the primary error leading to dense, rubbery textures. Gluten development accelerates rapidly once liquid hits commercial starches, so combine the ingredients for precisely three minutes while scraping the bowl intermittently. Incorporating fresh fruit introduces high water content that can disrupt the bake if the pieces are not chopped finely enough to distribute evenly.
Fresh fruit provides distinct cellular bite and bright acidity, whereas preserved alternatives concentrate sugar and flavor through dehydration. Using fresh berries requires thorough mashing or fine chopping to prevent heavy pockets of moisture from sinking during the 28 minutes in the 350 degrees F oven. Excess surface liquid on large chunks prevents the surrounding crumb from setting correctly.
Sifting confectioners' sugar directly into the cream cheese and butter base prevents grit in the final icing. Beat the dairy fats until completely smooth before incorporating the sweetener incrementally. Chill the finished pastry within two hours to maintain the structural integrity of the high-fat dairy frosting.
