Memories and Recipes: Strawberry Jello Cake Two Ways

The last time I made this cake, it was for a 50^th birthday party.  The birthday boy had requested this particular cake for his birthday, so I said “Sure, I will make the sheet cake version.”  I suggested this way as we had several people coming over after a “Surprise!” birthday dinner for him that his sister and aunt planned.  Every one of his siblings and their families were going to be at the restaurant and come back to my house afterwards for dessert.

To my cake suggestion, he replied “No, I want the layered version and I want you to put fresh sliced strawberries between each layer.”  Ok, he wanted a blend of my different methods for this cake.  Now I was not sure how I would make the cake stretch.  I made the cake in the morning and refrigerated it.  Then made two small pies of my Quick Key Lime recipe and froze them that same afternoon, knowing they would be well set by the time we finished dinner. 

The extra strawberries between the layers was a big hit! However I had to warn everyone to eat slowly since I had to use lots of toothpicks to keep the layers from slipping apart.  Below is my original Strawberry Jello Cake recipe, as well as the refrigerated sheet cake version.

Strawberry Jello Cake – 3 Layer Recipe

Ingredients:

1 package white cake mix

1 small package strawberry jello

4 eggs

¾ cup cooking oil

1 cup well-drained strawberries

Directions:

1.      Line three 8-inch cake pans with wax paper, greased under wax paper and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.     Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl and mix thoroughly, beating for 2 minutes.

3.     Pour cake batter equally into the 3 prepared pans.

4.     Bake for 25 – 30 minutes.

5.     Allow to cool, and then frost with strawberry cream frosting.

Strawberry Cream Frosting Recipe

Ingredients:

½ cup butter

1 box powdered sugar

½ cup drained strawberries

Directions:

Mix ingredients together until smooth.

Strawberry Jello Cake – Cold Sheet Version

Directions:

1.     Make cake per directions above, except pour batter into one 9x13 pan without wax paper.  Bake time will change to 30 – 35 minutes since pan is larger to insure center cooks.

2.     Frosting the cake – either use the frosting above OR instead top the cake with a layer of fresh sliced strawberries and then cover the berries with cool whip. 

3.     Refrigerate cake until ready to slice and serve.