Saturday, April 25, 2009

strawberry layer cake

It is that time of year again - strawberries season. I personally love strawberries. They are sweet and tart. Plus, they pack in great nutrients like vitamin C. In one study, strawberries topped a list of eight foods most linked to lower rates of cancer deaths among a group of over 1,000 elderly people. So, when I see them popping up in the store I always start plotting when I am going to make this layer cake. The carnivore devours it without thinking about all the fruit I am sneaking into his dessert.

This recipe is inspired from a similar one in The Best-Ever Vegetarian Cookbook. You will need 3/4 cup of soften butter, 3/4 cup of sugar, 3 eggs, 1 1/2 cups of bisquick (or other pancake mix), a small container of heavy whipping bream, 1 splenda, 3 tblsps. of strawberry jam, lots of strawberries, and a bit of powdered sugar for dusting.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 7 inch round pans. Cream the sugar and butter together till smooth. Beat the eggs and add them in slowly. Fold in the pancake mix. Divide the mixture between the pans and bake for 25-30 minutes (until golden brown). Allow the cakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes then turn onto a cooling rack. Meanwhile, whip the heavy whipping cream and splenda together until firm. Clean and slice strawberries. Once cakes have cooled, top one with jam and then 1/2 of whipped cream. Stack other cake on top. Then slather on the rest of whipped cream. Arrange sliced strawberries on top and around edges. Dust with powdered sugar.

Your friends and family will be so impressed. This recipe is super easy, but it looks very fancy. When sliced the layers are beautiful. They will think you have made something really special, but it is so simple. (It kinda reminds me of the old rice krispie treats commercials where the mom was allegedly slaving away in the kitchen.) Anyway, feel free to play it up. Either way, you and your family are sure to enjoy this strawberry cake!

Note: You can vary this recipe with other flavors of fruit and jam. Blackberries or raspberries would be nice, for example.

6 comments:

  1. Looks fantastic. I am so ready to start using fresh berries!

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  2. Very pretty, I love spring and summer recipes!

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  3. This looks wonderful and so refreshing!

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  4. Your cake looks wonderful! I'm sure it was tasty!

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