Recipe Review: Strawberry Valentine Cake

Recipe Review:

Strawberry Valentine Cake

Ingredients

            1 box white cake mix

            1 pint heavy whipping cream

            2 teaspoons of vanilla

            Sugar or confectioner sugar to taste

            Food coloring optional

            1 box frozen strawberries in “syrup” (usually comes in a 16 oz. box)

                       thawed and strained.

            Fresh strawberries for garnish

           

Directions

Make the cake as directed on the box for a 2-layer cake. Let cool completely

Whip the cream in an electric mixer with sugar until sweetness desired and forms stiff peaks. Add vanilla. If you want to dye the cream a color, do it now. 

Mix about 1/4 to 1/3 of the whipping cream with the strawberries.

Place one of the cakes down on a platter and top with whipped cream and strawberry mixture. Place the second layer on top and frost the whole cake with the remaining whipping cream.

Refrigerate until ready.

Garnish with strawberries.

Ease of Preparation: Overall this recipe was the most difficult I have made thus far; however, for what the end product is, it isn’t as hard as it looks. The white cake mix was very simple: you just follow the directions on the box. With the proper electric mixer, the homemade whipped cream is a breeze too and seems to easily impress people! Frosting the cake in the whipping cream is a little tedious but is not too difficult.

Quality of Recipe: The only part of this recipe I can complain about is there is not sufficient whipped cream to make the filling and frost the whole cake. I would suggest using a pint and a half of whipped cream just to be safe. Just for appearance, I would be sure to garnish the cake with fresh strawberries otherwise the final product will look a little boring. I would use 1/3 of the whipped cream, not 1/4, with the strawberries for the filling to ensure it does not end up runny; therefore, causing the two layers to slide around.

Taste: This cake is a great one! My mom and I have been making this every Valentine’s Day for years now and it’s always a hit. It is a very light, fresh cake and is festive for the holiday. The white cake is moist and fluffy, the filling is sweet and the outer frosting of whipped cream is creamy but not too sweet so it perfectly balances the other flavors. I recommend this cake for Valentine’s Day and really any other day for that matter. For beginner cooks who want a little more of a challenge this is the perfect recipe.