Strawberry cake with white frosting.

Note: Because the frosting for this cake uses fresh whipped cream, the cake must be refrigerated.

Easy Strawberry Cake Ingredients

• 1 Betty Crocker White Cake Mix (SuperMoist)
• 4 egg whites
• 1-1/4 cup milk
• 1 box White Chocolate Pudding Mix (1 oz size)
• 1/3 cup strawberry puree
• 1/3 cup oil
• Food coloring (optional)

Artificial color vs. natural strawberry coloring.

And no, I don’t usually bake the layers in two different colors… that was all for you.

Easy Strawberry Cake Recipe Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl.
2. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds.
3. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl to ensure all dry mix is incorporated.
4. Mix at medium speed for an additional two minutes.
5. Use baking time and temperature listed on box (varies dependent on size and type of pans you use)

While the cake is baking, prepare the strawberries for the middle layer.

Fresh Strawberry Layer Preparation

• 4 – 5 fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup sugar

Soak strawberries in sweetened water.

In a medium bowl, combine sugar and water. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Place thinly sliced strawberries in the sweetened water. Cover and refrigerate until needed (or a minimum of 30 minutes).

Creamy Confectioner’s Frosting Ingredients

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 8 oz unsalted butter (2 “sticks”) at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk

Creamy Confectioner’s Frosting Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine whipping cream and granulated sugar.
2. Using a wire whisk (either mixing by hand or with an electric mixer), whisk the cream and sugar until it forms thick soft peaks.
3. Refrigerate whipped cream while you prepare the next portion of the frosting.
4. In large mixing bowl, cream the butter with the vanilla (for electric mixers, use the paddle or “beater” attachment)
5. Add 1 cup of powdered sugar, cream thoroughly. Repeat until all of the powdered sugar has been added.
6. Add the milk, beat at medium speed for 4 minutes.
7. By hand (no electric mixing), gently fold the whipped cream into the powdered sugar mixture. Do not overmix — this is not a smooth textured frosting.

Add layer of sweetened strawberries to cake.

Frost the bottom layer of the cake and place the sliced strawberries on top of the frosting. Place the second layer of cake and frost entire cake. Don’t bother with trying to smooth this frosting — just add some homey swirls and blips with the frosting knife.

Strawberry cake with white frosting.

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Tags: easy strawberry cake, strawberries

Frosted microwaved cake -- good enough to eat.

I quickly discovered that many microwave cakes have a rubbery texture and/or more than a hint of “poached egg” flavor. Another big difficulty with microwaved cake is how quickly they dry out — which is quickly. Very, very quickly.

So I started experimenting. Approximately sixty microwave cake recipe experiments later, I had this cake.

Gathering microwaved cake supplies.

Microwave Cake Ingredients

• 1 box cake mix
  I strongly recommend using one of the Betty Crocker “SuperMoist” mixes. I tried several different brands/flavors and the Betty Crocker “SuperMoist” was the standout every time.

  IMPORTANT: Avoid dense cakes like “fudge cake” or “pound cake”. Those are just hockey pucks waiting to be nuked.

• 1 box (3.4 size) instant pudding in a similar or complementary flavor
• 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon meringue powder
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1-1/3 cup milk

Additional Supplies

• Non-stick cooking spray
• 2 – 9″ glass (or other microwave-safe material) pans
• Your favorite easy-to-spread frosting

The Not-So-Secret ingredients: meringue powder

The Secret Ingredient

Eggs are a vital ingredient in most cake recipes… but when you microwave a cake with eggs in the recipe, you can easily end up with cake that has a hint of “poached egg” taste and the texture of a rubber chicken. I tried a variety of alternate recipes including: eliminating egg (good for making cake crumbles), substituting egg with applesauce (not bad if you like applesauce cake), substituting egg with prepared pudding (good for a burnt candy flavor), and a host of experiments not worthy of mention.

I know that Meringue Powder isn’t a standard ingredient in a lot of kitchens, but it’s the secret to making a moist “non-eggy” microwaved cake. Meringue Powder can be found in most cake supply stores or craft stores with a cake decorating section. I buy it at the local Michael’s Arts & Crafts store.

Batter will be lumpy -- it's okay.

Microwave Cake Instructions

1. Combine box of cake mix (dry), pudding mix (dry), and meringue powder in a large mixing bowl. Thoroughly mix ingredients. Break up any large clumps.
2. Add oil and milk. Mix by hand for approximately one minute.
3. Don’t worry about small lumps in the batter.







Batter spread in pan

4. Spray two 9″ x 9″ microwave-safe containers with cooking spray.
5. Spread 1/2 of the batter in each pan. Spread evenly. Or as evenly as humanly possible. Don’t worry about those few little bits of dry mix — it’s part of the microwave’s magic to make those disappear.
   
   
   
   

   Watching cake in microwave.

6. Place one batter-filled pan in microwave. Now here’s the dicey part: Cooking Time. As you likely know, microwave ovens vary greatly in “power and efficiency” and that means there are no absolutes when it comes to “just how long” you should microwave your cake.

   My microwave is ten years old and lists “wattage output” at 1100W. The perfect microwaving time/power setting with my microwave is 3 minutes and 45 seconds at Full Power. If your microwave has a lower wattage, you might need a longer bake time. If your microwave has a higher wattage, you might need a shorter time (or less than full power).

   When the first layer is finished “baking”, cover tightly and then microwave second layer. When finished, cover second layer. Allow both layers to cool before frosting (but keep tightly covered). Covering the cakes helps keep them moist — as mentioned earlier, one of the biggest difficulties with microwaved cakes is how quickly they dry out.
   

   

   Finished microwaved cake.

   Finished Microwaved Cake

   And here’s the unfrosted cake — in just over seven minutes of “bake” time, you have moist, delicious cake!

   “Lumpy?” Yes, it does look a bit lumpy, but it doesn’t taste lumpy at all. And I’ve not found a solution to the visual problem that doesn’t sacrifice taste… so always remember: frosting is our Cakey Cosmetic friend.
   
   
   

   

   Frosted microwaved cake -- good enough to eat.

   Frosting the Microwaved Cake

   Microwaved cake is more fragile than an oven-baked cake and requires a “soft” frosting. Homemade buttercream frosting works well. If you’re selecting a “canned frosting”, select one of the whipped varieties as the standard canned frostings will be nearly impossible to spread on microwaved cake without shredding the cake.
   
   

   Suitable for Company?

   The taste of this cake is certainly suitable for company, but because you can’t make this cake too far in advance and then the cake has to cool before frosting, it’s a difficult dessert to prepare without abandoning your guests.

   But it’s the perfect quick and easy treat for casual gatherings and lazy family weekends.

   
   
   

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   Tags: microwave cake recipe, microwaved cake

Low Carb Almond & Coconut Cake

This cake is delicious. It is low carb but high in calories and high in fat.

Low Carb Cake

180g Ground almonds (Almond meal)

3/4 cup of splenda or equivalent

2/3 cup of dessicated coconut – I used fine but would use a mix of courser shredded and fine next time to give that slight
interest to the texture

2 Tbls Flaked Almonds

1/4 tsp salt

200g butter

4 eggs

1.5 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond essence

Optional: grated rind of orange or lemon

Preheat oven to 180 C and grease/line a 6 inch cake pan (a deep one) or a 7 inch, shallower one.

Melt butter and allow to cool

Place the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix together well

In a smaller bowl whisk the eggs, vanilla and almond essence together well. Mix in the melted butter. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir together until you have a well mixed yet sloppy batter.

Pour mixture in and spread evenly then sprinkle almond flakes over the top of the cake.

Bake in the mid-section of the oven for 40 minutes or until cake springs back. Let cool in pan.

Serve cold (a heavier cake) or slightly warmed

I take no responsibility for the nutritional information. It is provided as a guide only. It was just taken from the site when I wrote down the recipe. I recommend if nutritional information is important to you that you enter the ingredients into a calculator yourself to check the accuracy.

Nutritional Information:

Total cake:
101g protein 307g fat 39g carb 3442 cal

Per serve (8 reasonable sized slices per cake) 12.6g protein 38.3g fat 4.8g carb 430 cals

I grabbed this recipe online late last year but never made a note of the source. After a quick scout online I believe the original recipe can be found here http://www.apinchofhealth.com/forum/vbb/showthread.php?t=5718

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Tags: almond, atkins, coconut, diet, Low Carb Cake, Paleo, South beach

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