Strawberry Cake Recipe

I may be trying to slim my figure, but that won't stop me from baking - at least, not for a good cause. My father-in-law's birthday was on Saturday, so Dan and I took his parents to Rocca for dinner then had them over to our place for cake and ice cream. I made my childhood favorite strawberry cake. My mother made this strawberry cake/cupcake recipe countless times growing up, and was my "most requested" cake for various birthday parties over the years. I can't resist sharing the recipe, because it is really that good, and also quite easy to make.

Strawberry Cake (from Helen Exum's Chattanooga Cookbook)

1 package white cake mix

1 3oz. package strawberry jell-o

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup water

1 10oz-16oz package of frozen strawberries, thawed and drained (saving the juice)

3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 nine-inch round cake pans. Stir gelatin into cake mix. Add the oil and water and beat 2 minutes in the mixer. Add eggs and beat 5 minutes more at medium speed. Fold the drained and defrosted berries into the batter, saving the juice. Pour into two 9-inch greased and floured cake pans. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Take from oven and let stand in pans 10 minutes before cooling on rack.

For the icing:

Soften one stick of butter and mix with 1 box sifted powdered sugar, adding the sugar gradually with 4 tablespoons strawberry juice. It may take a little more juice or a little less. When you have the right consistency frost the cake.

HINTS: Room temperature ingredients are key to all baking, but for some reason I've found this recipe to be especially finicky with ingredients that are any warmer/cooler than room temp. I made my first batch of icing this weekend with butter that was too soft, it turned out runny and I had to start over. Butter that indents when pressed but doesn't mush apart is about right.

This cake is so delicious, I can't say it enough, and perfect for summer. I like to decorate the top of the cake with fresh strawberries just before serving. A scoop of vanilla ice cream makes it taste, all together, almost like a strawberry creamsicle. Mmmm. I'm proud to report I had only the tiniest piece, with a mere dollop of fat-free vanilla frozen yogurt. Serious self-control, people! But now there's a whole half a cake left over at our house and the temptation has been almost unbearable. Dan has had cake for breakfast the last two mornings in a row.

Our experience at Rocca was good, overall, and Dan's parents absolutely loved it. For appetizers we shared the arancini (fried risotto balls) with fresh basil and tomatoes, warm ricotta served with crostini, and parmesano-reggiano with wild honey and toasted walnuts. My father-in-law actually ordered the octopus appetizer but they brought us the warm ricotta by mistake. We decided not to alert them of the error, because cheese versus octopus? Not much of a contest. For my entree, I had a very simple spaghetti tossed with tomatoes, sage, basil, pine nuts and parmesan. For some reason the most bland-sounding dish sounded really good to me that night, but it turned out to be anything but boring. All the herbs made it incredibly flavorful, but no one taste was too over powering. The pasta was perfectly al dente. I loved it, and the rest of the table each devoured their entrees as well.

My only gripe with Rocca: both Dan and I were shocked that a restaurant as "hip and trendy", as Rocca is made out to be, could possibly have decor that screamed "BAD CRUISE SHIP" and "SUBURBAN HOTEL BAR" so loudly. I really couldn't get over how tacky and nouveau-riche the much of the restaurant's interior was, it didn't fit with the style or execution of the menu at all, and is all wrong for the South End. Terrible design aside, I would go back sometime and probably will now that my in-laws are in love with it and want to bring all their friends. Truth be told, I'm a little worn out on hostessing right now and look forward to going out to some new places, more than staying in, for the next few weekends. There are a lot of restaurants on my "must try" list right now, so it'll probably be awhile before I want to go anywhere twice.