My strawberry cake!
The question is, is homemade strawberry cake really better than Duncan Hines's marvelous, monstrous, candy-flavored version? I mean, it's the tacky, bright-pink, sugary smoothness of it that's so appealing, right?
Mr. Hines's Strawberry Supreme.
The answer is yes and no. The box mix cake is extra moist and super fluffy and tastes just like a strawberry Skittle, so it's pretty much the best thing in the world. However, real strawberry cake is similarly moist, but it isn't so tender or so fluffy. With real fruit in the recipe, I don't think it's possible to obtain the same texture as a chiffon cake. And the homemade cake definitely isn't baby pink!
The naked strawberry cakes.
The cakes turned out to have a sugary, slightly dense texture, with an almost crispy crust; they were a little like a scone on the outside but were purely cake-like on the inside. They definitely tasted just like strawberries!
Crushed strawberries for the cake batter.
I had been wanting to make fresh whipped cream frosting for some time, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to try it. I used strawberry puree (strawberries, a bit of sugar, and a dash of lemon juice) to take the frosting from plain to strawberry flavored.
The strawberry puree and fresh whipped cream frosting.
The pretty, petal-colored strawberry frosting.
The cut cake.
However, I ran out of frosting for my last cake round, so I used the strawberry glaze recipe that comes with the cake recipe. It was pretty tasty, too, though I didn't like it as well as the whipped cream frosting. The whipped cream was light and fresh and smooth and darn pretty. But the glaze looked chunky and *ahem* a little unappealing. Besides, even though it was delicious, it somehow made the cake taste more like a muffin than a proper cake.
The glazed cake.
But that just means I'm allowed to make this recipe in cupcake form and and eat it for breakfast, right?
A slice of the glazed cake.
I liked this recipe quite a bit, but I would like to find a chiffon version (if, indeed, that is possible with fresh fruit!). This cake was a touch heavy for me, even though it was wildly popular; pieces seemed to fly mysteriously from the platter every time I turned around! But it was a great way to deal with the vast amount of strawberries I usually buy each spring, futilely hoping that I can finish them before they start to go bad.
My favorite fruit.
Oh, and did I mention the best part of all? I suspect that all my frozen leftover strawberry puree will make some pretty fantastic margaritas come summer time! Hooray for buying in bulk!
1 comment:
I'd be there for the cake, too, but when it is margarita time--I'm your girl!
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