Strawberry Pink Lady Cake
Carrie’s Birthday
Carrie had a birthday last week))) I wanted to make a special cake so I pulled out my mom’s recipe for Strawberry Pink Lady Cake. She always made this on special occasions, and on not-so-special occasions too))) She enjoyed making desserts and trying new recipes. I’m fortunate to have some of her very special recipes in a booklet that one of my sisters put together a long time ago. Both my sisters are gone now, and my mom, so you can guess how special that recipe booklet has become)))
The Recipe
Strawberry Pink Lady Cake Layers
Strawberry Pink Lady Cake Frosting
Preparation
I decided to make three layers so the first thing I did was to prepare three cake pans of the same size. Line the pans with parchment paper or prepare them in your favorite manner. I like to outline the bottom of the pan, cut out the parchment paper, and give the pans a shot of cooking spray too.
Preheat the oven to 350° (My oven seems a little hotter than this so I reduced my heat to about 325° and also reduced the baking time from 25 min to about 15. Since I planned on three layers the layers were a little thinner and cooked quicker.
The Batter
The recipe called for 3 tablespoons of flour, it didn’t say self-rising or plain. Mother baked most of the time with self-rising, so that is what I used.
Typically I use sugar-free gelatine, but for this Strawberry Pink Lady Cake I used a small box of the regular kind since it might have made a difference in the bulk of the batter had I used sugar-free.
Frozen strawberries used to come in a 10 oz box I believe. What I had was a 15.5 oz tub so the amount of strawberries was a bit of a guess. I did drain the strawberries and reserved the juice since the recipe called for juice twice. I divided the drained strawberries between the batter and the icing and still had juice left over.
The recipe called for salad oil and I used vegetable oil. Frying was usually done with Crisco shortening when I was growing up so “salad oil” was probably reserved for something like a cake recipe.
Mix the cake mix, flour, gelatin, water, strawberry juice, and oil with a hand or stand mixer. Add eggs one at a time and blend well. I felt like the batter was a little thin, but went with it.
Divide the batter evenly between the three pans and tap lightly on the counter to release air bubbles. I divide the batter as evenly as possible using a ladle to add a spoonful to each pan and just keep repeating keeping them as equal as I can.
Bake according to your oven, and test for doneness. I usually stick a toothpick in the center and if it comes out clean….the cake is done. Or you can press lightly in the enter with your finger and if the indention remains, it needs a few more minutes.
Cool the layers in the pans for 10-15 minutes and then turn them out onto cooling racks. Peel the parchment paper away. Cool layers completely before frosting.
Strawberry Pink Lady Cake Frosting
Instead of one stick of oleo, I used a stick of softened (not melted) butter and creamed it with the powdered sugar in a stand mixer. Start SLOWLY so the mixer won’t blow sugar out everywhere)))) A box of powdered/confectioners sugar is one pound.
Add the strawberry juice just a spoonful at a time until you reach a spreadable consistency.
Since I made three layers instead of two, I added 2 more cups of powdered sugar and another 1/2 stick of softened butter to be sure there was enough frosting for three layers
Spread the frosting between the layers, sides, and top. I’m no cake decorator, but I did put pieces of parchment paper (or you could use wax paper) underneath the edges of the first layer and removed them after the icing was finished. This just made for a neater cake plate.
You don’t have to put anything on top, but I had some fresh strawberries, so I dipped a few in chocolate and used them as a garnish for the Strawberry Pink Lady Cake. My grandchildren love chocolate-covered strawberries, so they went for the garnish first)))
Old Recipes
Sometimes it’s hard to follow those old written down recipes from years ago. So you just have to improvise and experiment))) I still had strawberry juice left over…but I probably had a larger container than Mother had used 30-40 years ago. Anyway….the cake turned out delicious and it’s all gone now!
