Strawberry Filled Cake

Last week was my dear friend Denise's birthday.  I decided to bake a cake and bring it to our small group.  Since it had been really hot lately I decided the cake needed to be light and refreshing, so I did some experimenting.  I didn't have time to bake from scratch so instead I started with a Duncan Hines Classic White Cake mix.

This cake slicer came from Walmart a while ago, but I love it!  It makes leveling/cutting the top off a cake and slicing it in half a breeze!

Remember this cake is supposed to be "light and refreshing" therefore I decided to shy away from traditional icings.  I chose to make a whipped icing from my favorite Cool Whip!  After some googling I came across this recipe:   http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cool-whipped-frosting/
Super easy!  Mix a box of pudding with a cup of milk, then mix it together with Cool Whip.  I chose to use White Chocolate Pudding instead of the vanilla it called for, and I left out the tablespoon of vanilla because I wanted the frosting to taste more like the white chocolate and I wanted it to keep its crisp white color.  Note: I also doubled the recipe to make sure I would have enough frosting.

I decided I wanted the cake to have a strawberry filling so I took some thawed frozen strawberries and put them in the food-processor.  Then I strained them so they wouldn't be so runny.  I then began to worry that the strawberries might still be absorbed into the cake, so I decided to put down a layer of icing and put them on top.

 

A tip of mine is to always line the bottom of the cake pan with a piece of parchment (I've had enough failed cakes to last me a lifetime - I want that cake out of the pan in one piece).  Now, onto some frosting!

Now you might be wondering why there is paper underneath my cake.  This is an awesome Martha Stewart trick to keep icing from getting on the cake stand.  I decorate my cakes right on their stands, and I can be a bit messy.  All you have to do is place the wax paper beneath the edges of the cake and then pull it out when you're done and you're golden!  **Make sure to use several pieces and do not put them very far in**

Next up was decorating, my favorite part!  I whipped up some royal icing in a bowl using the Wilton recipe: http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Royal-Icing and added some pink food coloring.  Another totally cool trick I learned, this time on Pinterest, sorry I never actually pinned it, just saw it on someone else's board.  Anyways the trick is to put your pastry bag in a glass and turn the cuff of it out.  Then you can scoop your frosting in without needing a third hand (my husband was pleased not to be my third hand this time)!  Wa-la, no mess!

By this time I was running out of time for fancy decorating and had to put together some quick embellishments.  I love decorating with fruit, it lets everyone know what flavor is in your cake!  So I chopped up some fresh strawberries and added some swags to the sides of the cake.

We didn't end up eating the cake right away, as we had someone running late.  Even though I put the cake in the fridge the pink frosting began to melt into the cake, maybe the freezer would have prevented this, but I think the best option is to just eat it right away!  Still yummy though!

Baking is always so rewarding and such an adventure!