Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Buttercream

Missy Tippens

Flash back to Super Bowl Sunday. Our beloved Atlanta Falcons were about to play the ultimate showdown. Our hopes were high. Plus, we had a birthday to celebrate! My son's.

Our whole family was coming out to watch the game, so I decided to make one of my son's favorites. Strawberry cake.

But I could NOT find my regular recipe! It had not turned up after our move this past summer. I found all my cookbooks but not the notebook with hand-written recipes from friends and family. (I have since located it in a box in the attic).

So I pulled out Desserts from the Famous Loveless Cafe and found a recipe for strawberry cupcakes. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter two round cake pans and then sprinkle with flour. Tap the pan and discard all extra flour that doesn't stick.

Here's my take on the recipe (based on ingredients I had on hand).

2 cups pureed strawberries, divided (I had frozen whole berries and pureed them up in the Ninja, then let them thaw).

2-1/2 cups cake flour

1-3/4 cups sugar

3-1/2 tsp baking powder

1-1/2 sticks softened (room temp) butter

4 eggs whites

1/3 cup buttermilk (I didn't have any so dropped in a few drops of lemon juice)

1 tsp vanilla extract (buy the good stuff, not flavoring)

Set aside 1/4 cup strawberries for the icing.

Combine cake flour, sugar and baking powder in the stand mixer on low using the whisk. Add the softened butter and 3/4 cup strawberries. Mix on low until moistened. Then increase speed up to medium and let it mix until is fluffy--about 3-5 minutes.

In another mixing bowl, whisk together the egg whites, milk and vanilla. Gradually add this into the dry ingredients. Make sure to scrape the sides a couple of time. And don't over-mix it.

Put your batter into the prepared buttered and floured pans.

Bake until toothpick comes out clean (about 20 minutes, if I remember correctly.) Let cool in the pan about 15 minutes. Then scrape edges with a knife and tap to release from pans. Let cool completely.

Once the cakes are cool, make the buttercream frosting.

Butter Cream Frosting:

3 sticks butter, softened (it calls for unsalted but I usually don't have that so use regular salted butter)

4-1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1/4 cups reserved pureed strawberries

1-1/2 tsp vanilla

Cream the butter in the stand mixer using the whisk attachment. Beat for 1-2 minutes. Add sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing in between. Add the strawberries and vanilla. Mix. Scrape sides. Then mix again, beating 3-5 minutes until the icing is fluffy. Use immediately.

My daughter-in-law wanted to ice the cake. It turned out beautiful!

And the insides were yummy! I can't believe my "baby" is now 27. I also can't believe the Falcons blew that lead! We're still a bit in shock over it. Of course, there's always next year. As longtime Falcons fans, we've had to learn to keep that attitude. :)

www.missytippens.com
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