We’re big fans of sweet treats in our house. Big. HUGE (cue Julia Roberts). When we run errands, I can always count on Piper piping up and asking, “Mommy… are we getting a sweet treat?” And of course, the answer is always “yes” because life is short and dessert is SO good. Sweet treats above all else. Especially laundry (Really, ANYTHING above laundry. I’d rather cut the grass with nail clippers, in the rain, blind folded and naked, listening to Baby Shark on a loop than fold the clothes.). So on Monday when I was overlooking** the mountain range of darks, whites and colors, Piper’s welcome request to “bake a cake” trumped the task. Mission aborted. Matching tiny socks can wait til 2021. We’ve got a cake to bake.
** Tye’s euphemism for “laundry avoidance” is “marinating.” He’ll ask, “Are you letting those marinate?” if a pile sits for an extended period of time. I like that. Makes it sound intentional. Like it’s a culinary art style. Please don’t bother my piles – they’re marinating. Someone please pass me a toque blanche already.
Full disclosure – I came across this AH-MAZING recipe for a strawberry cake on a B/S/T page on Facebook a while back – so credit goes to the poster. I’m slowly learning that there is no such thing as a “good cook” or a “bad cook.” It comes down to who can read, and who can’t. If you can follow a recipe – you can make this cake.
Strawberry Cake:
- One package of Duncan Hines White cake mix
- One package of strawberry jello (6 oz)
- 3 tbsp of all purpose flour
- 1 cup of canola oil
- 1/2 cup of water
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup of strawberries (liquefied in the blender)
- Spray a round cake pan with cooking spray
- Mix all ingredients together and bake at 375 for 35 minutes (or until cooked all the way through).
PS: If you have idiot dunderheaded tendencies like me, do note that you have to pour HALF the batter into the cake pan – bake – then do it again. Better yet – own two pans and bake them both at once. Otherwise, you end up with a Hiroshima mushroom cloud cake because you CAN’T pour ALL the batter into the pan at once. Low moment. Owning it.
Icing:
- 1/3 cup of melted butter
- 1/2 cup of strawberries (liquefied in the blender)
- 1lb bag of powdered sugar
- Mix together with blender to make a stiff icing. Let cake cool completely before icing.
- Don’t eat ALL of the icing while you’re waiting for the cake to cool. Otherwise, you’ll only have enough to ice half. And then when you take a picture of your cake – you’ll have to TURN your cake around so no one knows the other half is naked. Heaven forbid anyone know.
- Enjoy! It has strawberries in it so it’s basically a salad. It’s healthy!
Tye got home from work and asked, “What’s for dinner?” The only suitable response: “Um… we baked a cake today. Oh… and don’t bother those laundry piles. They’re marinating.”
PS: Tye DID get dinner. I would never let him starve. I might however let him sport his birthday suit for lack of clean, folded clothes. That is, after all, my favorite look.
Adrianne Buckley 