Sunday, February 8, 2009

Homemaker Monday: A Moist White Cake With Fresh Strawberry Frosting

Welcome to...


Thank you for joining us! If you're new to this carnival and would like to enter your post, please check HERE for the rules and regs. (By the way, if you have been featured on Homemaker Monday in the past, your name is on my left sidebar. Check it out!)

YOURS: This week's "YOURS" goes to Sarah over at Mrs. D. Lightful, The Mommy Blog! It seems as though most of have debt to deal with after the holidays...


...and I am certainly no exception. This post moved me because it reminded me that it IS possible to pay down debt if you have a plan in place and it's wise to follow a budget. To read Sarah's tips, click HERE. Thank you so much, Sarah, for your tips and participation. This is something we all need to be reminded of every so often. And please feel free to take the "I Was Featured" button from my left side bar. Thanks again!

MINE: Sometimes the kids do things that utterly amaze me. The seven-year-old girl's birthday was on Saturday and, as usual, I hadn't even thought about where the cake was going to come from. As I've said before, it seems as though the only thing on my mind for the past year has been the twins. Enter the 13-year-old girl. As John was just about to leave for the big town to get groceries and a pinata for her party, the 13-year-old asked him not to get a cake because she would be making one. She then informed me of her plans, told me that the 7-year-old girl wanted a strawberry cake, because she happens to have a pretend strawberry cake, and got to work. Of course, as always, the first step was to go to allrecipes.com. She found a simple white cake recipe, which it turns out, does NOT taste simple, but rich, moist and delicious, and she found a recipe for fresh strawberry frosting. We altered it a little bit as follows, and it was one of the most strawberry-y delectable things I've ever tasted! Yes, I cheated just a little on my newfound veganism by trying a small piece of cake and frosting, but I couldn't resist seeing what my 13-year-old was capable of creating! This was, honestly, one of the best cakes I have ever eaten in all of my life. Here it is...


Simple White Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch.

Fresh Strawberry Frosting

4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup margarine, melted
1/4 cup mashed strawberries

To make the frosting: Place the strawberries in a blender and blend until smooth. In a large bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, melted margarine, blended strawberries. Beat until smooth.

To assemble the cake:

The 13-year-old girl laid the first cake layer on a pretty cake plate, then slathered the strawberry frosting all over the top. Because the 17-year-old boy had to do three hours of chores for me as a consequence for a poor decision, he had to cut up lots of strawberries into very thin slices and these the 13-year-old girl layered on top of the frosting. She then spread more frosting over those to make sure the top layer would stick to the bottom layer.

It was time to put the top cake layer on next, then slather the top and sides with the strawberry frosting. To top it off, she again, laid the sliced strawberries in a symetrical pattern over the top and placed a strawberry cut in half with the leaves still on in the center.

This cake would make a perfect cake to serve on Valentine's Day. Perhaps we'll make another for that day, which is also the twin's birthday! Maybe the 13-year-old girl will offer to make their birthday cake, too! One can only hope~!

OURS: Allrighty then, let's see what great ideas all of you homemakers have for us today. If you've never linked up with us, why don't you search your archives for a relevant post and join us today! Have a great Homemaker Monday!





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23 comments:

The Raggedy Girl said...

You are mommie to nine children and you blog and there is a recipe for cake with strawberry icing. What more could anyone ask of you? God bless your day, sweetie!
Roberta Anne

The Raggedy Girl said...

It is me again...checking back and that cake is just looking great.
Roberta Anne

Chantele Sedgwick said...

I am so amazed at your sweet family! You are an amazing woman raising 9 kids! I only have 2 so far and I can't complain about being tired at the end of the day anymore!:) I love your blog, and I will definitely be checking it often!:)
Chantele

Sarah J. said...

Wow, that looks SO beautiful! I love how it's dripping! YUMMY!

Anonymous said...

Hi, I am not a big fan of strawberry but this one looks great! I will have to try it!
Elodie

Bethany Cox said...

a cup of sugar...half a cup of butter...2 eggs...1/2 cup of milk...

i'm shaking my head.

Anonymous said...

WOW! What an awesome job. That is so great that the 13 yeard old wanted to do something for her sister. Looks like a yummy cake for little miss. Happy Birthday to her.

Sarah J. said...

{Squeal!!!} Oh my, that is a surprise! I am flattered! I will be just bursting with pride with your 'featured' button in my side bar! It is so true about the budgeting. Difficult, but possible. Thanks again!

Anonymous said...

It looks great! I love strawberry frosting. My mom makes a strawberry cake with the same frosting. We ask for it on special days!
-Kim

Ivy in the Kitchen said...

Hello! This is my first time posting on your blog, though I've followed it for some time. The cake looks very yummy, so I decided to throw my own recently made cake out there.

-Ms. H.

Diane said...

The cake looks scrumptious and your family sounds just precious! What a joy to read about a woman raising 9 children in the world of seemingly throw-away children! May the Lord bless you and your precious family!

Diane

Lynn said...

Your cake looks amazing! I've never heard of strawberry icing before but I'll bet it's really good. Thanks for sharing this.

Live.Love.Eat said...

This cake looks beautiful!!!! Perfect for V Day!

Anonymous said...

Love your homemaker Mondays! The cake looks soo good, I am having a valentines roundup post and I would love to include this recipe.

Anonymous said...

I just love your blog!!!

I have been honored with a few awards, with this awards I have awarded your blog on my blog. I just wanted to let you know.

Have a wonderful day!

Just A Gal...

Susie said...

That cake looks like a yummy tackle:-)

Buffie said...

That cake looks and sounds so good. I'm going to have to try making it. Probably for Valentines Day. I think my daughter would love it.

Mrs. Frogster said...

I am totally salivating right now - that looks so good! Thanks for sharing!

C said...

I had some. Absolutely divine!

Jerri at Simply Sweet Home said...

This looks very good!

Jessica said...

Okay...I baked six cakes today (seven if you count the earth quake cake my DH is bringing to work tomorrow.
The cakes are heart shaped and stacked (so two cakes are really only as big as a large cupcake, it's not like I baked six 9x13 cakes!) and I was wondering what to do to make them really POP...I don't want to spend a ton of time decorating...then I saw this recipe. I have made the frosting, devoured it on a cupcake and I am super excited to use in on my heart cakes for my son's school. (for teachers, not kids...kids won't appreciate it.)
THANK YOU!!!

Thank goodness I have straws to use to stabilize the cake b/c the frosting is so deliciously gooey I think the cake will slide all over.

Kendra@My Insanity said...

It's certainly not Monday anymore. Hope I'm not too late to join the party!

That cake looks delicious!

threesidesofcrazy said...

WOW - that cake turned out awesome. I think you have a baker in the family.