Celebration-Day 12

I was going to blog about something else, but commenters were interested in yesterday’s cake, so I’m posting a recipe. We don’t do elaborate birthday parties at our house, but we do have two special traditions.

1. We always have a homemade cake.
2. We eat cake and unwrap presents at breakfast.

Strawberry Cake

• 1 package white cake mix
• 3 T flour, sifted
• 1 box strawberry dessert gelatin, dry
• ¾ cup cooking oil
• 4 eggs
• ½ cup frozen strawberries, thawed
• 1/2 cup water

Add flour, dessert gelatin, water, oil and unbeaten eggs to cake mix in a large bowl. Beat two minutes with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add frozen berries. Beat one minute. Pour into two nine-inch prepared cake pans. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

White Chocolate Icing

• 4 oz white chocolate chips
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• 2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 2½ cups confectioners’ sugar

Place white chocolate and cream in a small microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high 15 to 30 seconds; whisk until smooth. Let stand 2 minutes; cover with plastic wrap and chill. In a large bowl beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium high for 2 minutes. Beat in cooled white-chocolate mixture until blended. On low-speed, add confectioners’ sugar in batches and beat until combined. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until fluffy, about one minute.

Assemble, with icing and fresh sliced strawberries between the layers. After the entire cake is frosted, use whole fresh strawberries to hold the birthday candles.