Question from one of our Members.. Strawberry Cake?

By serena On May 12, 2012 · Leave a Comment

Laura Humphrey From TRIED AND TRUE RECIPES ON FACEBOOK ASKS….

Does anybody have a tried and true recipe for strawberry cake made from scratch? I’m getting ready for my little girl’s birthday and I’m not wanting to do the store bought cake mix this time but don’t have extra time to be experimenting with recipes. Thank you in advance!

- Michelle Hiser You know I don’t because I was asking you 🙂
  
  Yesterday at 10:48am · · 1
- Laura Humphrey I know I was thinking can I just take that recipe I passed onto Michelle and just toss in strawberries? But when I was experimenting baking strawberry cakes (getting ready to do a wedding cake) every one I made from scratch flopped. I have over 20 people coming on Monday and can’t have a flop cake. LOL!
- Serena Adkins Ellison STRAWBERRY CAKE FROM SCRATCH
  
  first mix your Basic Yellow Cake Batter
  
  YELLOW CAKE
  
  2 c SELF RISING flour
  
  1 1/4 c white sugar
  
  1/2 c. shortening
  
  1 c. half and half milk
  
  2 eggs
  
  1 tsp vanilla
  
  Cream shortening and sugar beat in eggs. Add flour milk and vanilla.
  
  NOW….
  
  Add 1 tsp Strawberry Flavoring
  
  a drop or two of red food coloring you want it PINK not red Beat till smooth batter
  
  Next 1/3 cup of finely diced hulled strawberries folded in carefully to the mix
  
  350 degree oven
  
  Pour into prepared pans. and bake 20-25 min according to the pan your use and the oven… careful or you will over bake and it will be dry.
  
  Laura Humphrey Are you kidding me, that is it? That looks like a super simple recipe! Thank you Serena!!!
- I think I found out where I was going wrong. Instead of folding in my strawberries (that were once frozen and defrosted) I was beating them in with my mixer and it made extra juices in the batter. The cake took forever to bake and the density was just off.
  
  Thank you, thank you! This recipe alone just saved me about $10 in cake supplies. I have everything I already need for this recipe, minus the strawberries.
- Serena Adkins Ellison LOL you can thank me after you make it and see if it is what your after.. Hope so .. =) Wow you make wedding cakes? I am so impressed. You go girl I wish I could decorate .. I would LOVE to get lessons some day on cake decorating.
- Serena Adkins Ellison I would use fresh strawberries that are rinsed and dried..
  
  Laura Humphrey Yes very true, I will let you know how it turns out. I make cakes as a hobby and was asked to make a 3 tiered rubber ducky themed wedding cake. The wedding got put off and the couple has since separated, so I never got to make it, but long to one day. I have the design image in my head and NEED to get it out and create this cake.
- This cake I am making for my little one (or not so little anymore) is going to be Spongebob! Strawberry cake, with banana flavored frosting for the body, chocolate icing for his britches and she wants blueberry flavored icing for his shoes but I may fake my way through that one. 😉 I think I am more excited for this party than she is!
  
  Laura Humphrey Thank you for that tip, I will definitely do that!
- Joanna Stringer Goff This recipe does use a cake mix but has several things you add.
- 1(10-ounce) package frozen reduced-calorie strawberries in syrup, thawed
  1 (18.25-ounce) package white cake mix (such as Duncan Hines)
  1 (3-ounce) package strawberry gelatin
  1 1/4 cups water
  1/4 cup vegetable oil $
  3 large egg whites $
  1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  Cooking spray
  1 (8-ounce) container frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed
  1 quart fresh strawberries, sliced $
  2 tablespoons sliced natural almonds, toasted
  
  Preparation
  Preheat oven to 350°.
  Drain thawed strawberries well; discard juice. Pulse in a food processor until pureed; set aside.
  Combine cake mix and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at low speed 30 seconds. Add pureed strawberries; beat at medium speed 2 minutes. Stir in vanilla and almond extracts; pour into a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray.
  Bake at 350° for 28 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly touched in center. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
  Spread whipped topping over top of cake. Arrange sliced strawberries on whipped topping, overlapping slightly. Sprinkle almonds over cake.
  
  Joanna Stringer Goff makes a pretty cake
- Jeanette Scott sounds good, will have to try, my daughter-in-law loves strawberries.
- Serena Adkins Ellison I love strawberry anything LOL
  
  Laura Humphrey ‎Serena Adkins Ellison, what sized pans did this recipe call to use?
- Thank you all for the recipes!!
- Serena Adkins Ellison ‎9×13 or 2 8 inch rounds
  
  Rosetta Sperring Strawberry C ake:
- 1¼ cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
  1¼ tsp. baking powder
  ¼ tsp. salt
  1 cup sugar
  1½ oz. strawberry gelatin
  8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
  2 large eggs
  ½ cup milk
  1½ tsp. vanilla extract
  ¼ cup sweetened strawberry puree*
  
  To make the strawberry cake, butter and flour the edges of a 9-inch round pan, shaking out the excess flour. Line the bottom with a round of parchment. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend and set aside. Combine the sugar, strawberry gelatin and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat the eggs into the sugar mixture one at a time, mixing well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix just until incorporated. Blend in the milk and vanilla extract. Add in the remaining dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated. Blend in the strawberry puree.
  Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake, rotating halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edges, then turn the cake out onto the rack and let cool completely.
  
  For the Strawberry Buttercream Frosting:
  
  1½ cups fresh strawberries (8 oz.), rinsed, hulled and coarsely chopped*
  4 large egg whites
  1¼ cups sugar
  3 sticks (1½ cups) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  *To make the strawberry puree, process partially thawed frozen strawberries with a bit of sugar in a blender or food processor until smooth. If using sweetened frozen strawberries, no additional sugar is necessary.
  
  To make the frosting, place the strawberries in a food processor or blender. Puree until completely smooth. Combine the egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Heat, whisking frequently, until the mixture reaches 160° F and the sugar has dissolved.
  Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer** fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form and the mixture has cooled to room temperature, about 8 minutes. (The bowl should be cool to the touch.)
  Reduce the speed to medium and add the butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, adding more once each addition has been incorporated. If the frosting looks soupy or curdled, continue to beat on medium-high speed until thick and smooth again, about 3-5 minutes more (or longer – don’t worry, it will come together!) Blend in the strawberry puree until smooth and completely incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
  
  Laura Humphrey Baked it last night and everything looks well! I did have some issues getting it out of the pan, which I always do. (icing will fix any missing patches though) I will be icing it today and I’ll try to post a pic when I’m done. Thank you again for the recipes, this one is definitely a keeper!
- Rosetta Sperring Laura, do you grease and flour your pans first? Also here are a few other tips: I will sometimes use parchment paper, you can buy it at craft stores and places liek Walmart. Anyway, set your pan on the parchment paper and draw a circle around your pan, then cut it out. Grease your pans first, then lay the parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, making sure there are no air bubbles. Then put some flour in the bottom of your pans and shake side to side, then tilt your pan sideways so the flour coats the sides. Once the pan is coated with flour, I dump the rest into my sink and the tap the pan upside down on the side of the sink to get off any extra flour. Then fill your pans as you always do. After your pans are prepared, you can take an old towel and cut it into long strips, enough to go around your cake pan. Make the strips wide enough so you can fold the towel over a few times to make it a little thick. Then wet the strips and wring out any extra water, and place around your cake pan, you can use a hat pin or a safety pin to hold it in place….then bake. You should have perfect cakes! I know this sounds like a lot of work, but it’s not really. Once you have your towels cut, you can use them over and over and over. Wilton makes cake strips that cost around $20.00…a little pricey for me, but I used a 50% off coupon and got them for $10.00. But the towels also work great, and they are from what you are about to throw away anyway. Last tip is once the cake is baked and cooled, if the cake is not flat on top, use a knife and level that piece off to make it level. Don’t throw the cake part away that you cut off, put it in a zip lock and put in the freezer to use for cake pops at some point in the future. Oh, back to the parchment paper….Once your cake has rested in the pans, and somewhat cooled (approx 10-15 min) turn upside down and dump out…it should come out pretty easy because of the parchment paper on the bottom. Slowly peel off the parchment paper, and I can tell you for sure, the bottom will be perfect…should be anyway! lol I have to stop myself here…I can go on and on with things about cakes! Hope this information has helped you for the next cake you make.
- Kath Hoelzlhammer ‎Rosetta Sperring, I do the same thing, only I learned from Grandma to use wax paper… was what she had in house. I grease and flour the whole pan, bottom too, and then put the paper in and grease and flour that. never have a problem getting a cake out. I also drop the pans on the counter after filling them to get the air bubbles out. I can’t remember were I read that one, but it works.
- Laura Humphrey I do heavily grease and flour my cake pans, always but I tend to have issues with every cake I make. I am learning as I go and I am pretty sure I don’t let it cool long enough before trying to force it out of the pan. Patience is not my strong suit! 😉 I tend to use character cake pans a lot! Would your tip work for that too? Your tip would have been fantastic for this cake as I did a 1/4 sheet cake and when taking it out of the pan I lost craters of cake from the top. I’m not too worried as I am cutting the cake in half length wise and stacking it so the craters will be covered. Loving these tips! Thank you for sharing!
- Kath Hoelzlhammer I always greased my character pans and floured them. yes in some of those you need to get into every nock and craney to get the flour to stick. It does work. I had the first one I ever done crack so I made sure to get enough grease in and then flour. I don’t care if after I tip it out if there is a bit of flour on the cake either.
- Rosetta Sperring Kath is right, grease every nook and craney with pans…any pan, but especially the character ones. I’ll sometimes use the spray with flour to make sure those type pans are completely covered. You can use a pastry brush to get deep in the corners. Wax paper is good to use also, I’m just like parchment paper more. I buy it at a cake supply store and cut them in half and they are perfect size for a cookie sheet. Your right about the not waitihg log enough to let the cake cool enough…that’s very important. If you try to take them out too soon, you risk the chance of it breaking or sticking to the bottom and breaking. Just remember, the little time it takes to let them cool, is worth the time it took and the expense to make it! Icing does cover so many things!! lol
- Serena Adkins Ellison Laura I always used wax paper and butter But NOW I just use a white and blue can in the baking aisle called BAKERS JOY.. you need to try it.. it just sprays in.. it has flour mixed in with it.. it is awesome. I got this tip from a lady who makes Wedding Cakes for a living and it works and is fast and very cheap.
  
  Rosetta Sperring That’t the one I was taking about Serena, I couldn’t remember the name, it does work great. You can also take the pastry brust or silicone brush and smooth it out for areas that may get missed or if an area sprayed to heavy and you want to smooth it out. One thing about greasing pans is to lightly grease the pans…maybe your greasing your pans too much Laura. Only grease them heavy if a recipe says to grease them heavy. When your making a chocolate cake, you can use some of the cocoa that goes in the recipe to coat the pan with instead of flour, this way you don’t have any white flour places on a chocolate cake.
- Rosetta Sperring Another tip to avoid air bubbles in a cake is to take a toothpick and run it through the cake batter across and sideways, this helps to break up any air bubbles….or you can just slam the cake pan on the counter top like I do after the toothpick to smooth it out again! lol
- Rosetta Sperring Ha Ha Kath, I just read where your family slams (or drops..lol) the cake pan on the counter! I don’t know when I started doing that or where I learned it from, but I’ve been doing it most of my life! lol
- Kath Hoelzlhammer All I know Rosetta is that it works. Brush is important with those character pans tough. Laura try doing something that will take 20-30 minutes to do while you wait for it to cool… then you won’t take it out of the pan to early.