I can’t bake. I can’t bake. I can’t bake.
Ok, I take that back just a tiny bit. I can bake a very ugly cake that tastes divine. This is an original recipe, so if you try it and your mouth waters, come back and tell me. I should also disclose that I was not having a good camera day and everything was off for me, and so these pictures pretty much represent how messy and disorganized this cake really was. Do not, under any circumstances, let it persuade you from the yummy sugary goodness.
I am going to name this my:
UGLY CAKE RECIPE
(aka Strawberries and Cream Cake)
Growing up, my mom would always ask me what kind of cake I wanted for my birthday and I almost always picked strawberry. I mean, everyone would go for chocolate or vanilla with sprinkles, so I had to be different. This was the one time of the year we all got some strawberry. So around my birthday earlier this week, considering I am the only one who will actually make me a cake, I decided to bring it back to old school strawberry with a little twist…more of a strawberries and cream.
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 box strawberry cake mix
- carton of strawberries
Cream Frosting
- 3 sticks of butter (1.5 cups)
- 4 cups powdered sugah (that is how we say it down south)
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 ts vanilla
optional: Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips/Chilled
Step 1: Make your cake as directed on the box and let it cool COMPLETELY. I know it’s tempting to right now pull it out in 15 minutes and slather it with frosting, but don’t. It will melt and be even uglier then the job I did. Plus, it will all drip to the pan instead of on the cake where it should be.
Now since this is a layered cake, if you are a fancy cook you probably already have several round or baking pans. Feel free to either make some even layers in 3 separate pans (remember, only one box, divide by 3) and round probably works best. I only have one baking pan, so I made it and cut it into 3rds, which also works, but becomes extremely messy; especially with a moist cake. I had to slice the top off of my cake to help it lay more flat. Or flat enough.
Step 2 : Cup up strawberries in little bite sized pieces..maybe a cup or so would be fine. I also sliced some for the outside so I could lay them flat on the cake all around it. This helps cover all the insane looking frosting with crumbs everywhere.
I also suppose this part depends on how much strawberry you enjoy, but I say kill a carton or two on it. Go hard or go home!
Step 3: Once the cake is completely cool and you have either pulled them out of your 3 pans and put them on wax paper or cut your 1 cake into 3 pieces and laid on wax paper, you can start assembling frosting.
Step 4: Frosting Directions: Put butter into the bowl and whip on high speed for a few minutes. Then add two cups powdered sugar and blend in..once that is done, add the remaining cups. Next, add your milk and vanilla and run for 2-3 minutes so its all fluffy.
Step 5: Assembly of cake. This part is where I totally #Fail. Put your bottom layer on a cake pan, frost generously, and cover with your bite sized strawberries. Layer cake, frost, strawberries. Last layer on top, frost the entire cake and then use strawberry slices around it. If you like chocolate with your strawberries, feel free to make the top layer with some cut up semi-sweet chips or chunks (i prefer chunks) but they need to be COLD. Chill them first.
(PS the last shot of the cake finished I took today…its now like 8 days old…I guess I got so excited I put it right in the fridge and forgot, so thats why its all smashed. My cake lid was too small. HA!)
Step 6: You MUST put this cake inside the fridge. I know you want a piece, but this frosting is best served COLD and wont have the same affect otherwise. It hardens to a very sweet and breakable chunk that really makes the cake different from a regular frosted out of the jar cake. I put mine in for about 2-4 hours before we tried it. It was AWESOME.
There you have it…Ugly Cake, Perfected Goodness.
I hope one of my baking friends can redo this cake in all its glory.
~Trisha
I might just make this tonight, I can’t eat it but the kids sure will YUM!
My son would love you forever for that. He ONLY eats strawberry cakes.
Kas
WOW… that sounds SO delicious!
I’ll definitely try it some day soon.
You are too harsh. I think it looks yummy! My son is a Strawberry Freak and would love this.
And your kitty looks so adorable!
My favorite thing in the world is strawberry shortcake. I can’t wait for my next diet cheat day, because I think that this new recipe is going to ROCK!
strawberries = yummmm no matter what they look like!
Ha, I just made my friend a birthday cake that fell apart. Looked like a raptor turd. Posted the picture on facebook, hilarity ensued. YOUR cake looks tasty. I may try it this week. Not ugly at all.
eight days later and it still looks yummy, smooshed or not! And your kitty is soo pretty!!
Ugly? Nope looks amazing. I suck at baking so won’t recreate lol
I wish I could eat sugar right now. But agree with everyone, this cake looks anything but… ugly.
It may look ugly but it sounds so delicious! I’ll make one of these for the family soon!
UM – I think it looks fantastic. I love messy food. Food that looks too clean and tidy is just suspect – especially desserts!
YUM, it sounds delicious! And perfect timing here, we’re gearing up to make Strawberry Jam in the next week or two.
mmm…looks delicious! I can feel my blood sugar rising as I stare at it
I am going to have to make a strawberry cake within the next couple days if not tonight. My daughter is flying in from Texas for the summer vacations. We always celebrate her arriving home with cake. Then we give her a goodbye cake when she goes back. She loves strawberry cake.
I’ll have to give it a try and take a picture for you. My kids LOVE strawberries
please do, strawberry cake challenge. HA!
I’m actually going to try this for you, I already have the cake mix just need to get the berries. I will report my finding!
ok good!!
It sounds delicious!
It doesn’t matter if it’s ugly to me, as long as it’s good.
I love the picture with your cat peaking over.
im hoping that you or cat or someone w/ a sense of baking can test it out and make it look pretty and let me know what you think.
It looks delicious…not ugly. I love strawberries, though, so maybe I’m biased.
I think it looks delicious!
Heading for round two of strawberry picking this weekend. I will have to give this a whirl! Looks awesome, and not ugly either.
yes yes, try it!! will not disappoint. Put in FRIDGE after you make it. Its lovely. But it is sweet.