Spring Party Cake Made Simple!

I am the Queen of Simple.... But I like to LOOK elaborate.

It's an art.

:)

Kudos, commendations, ooooos and aaaaahhhhhhssss.....

LOVE THEM!!!!

But youse guys know that my time disappears.... I work full time, I have a house that breaks regularly, a husband (Does that count as another full-time job, perhaps????) an amazing writing career that has taken on a life of its own and leaves me happy-dancing and scratching my head wondering how on earth I got here....

and a host of kids and grandkids. Plus some interesting creatures that lurk in the edges of both my yard and consciousness, so when brilliance STRIKES!!!! I grab hold and run with it.

Here is the cake:

Swoon worthy, right????  And I could have shaved chocolate on the edges, but really, it wasn't necessary.

So here you go:

Make the custard filling, RECIPE HERE...  and remember, this recipe is tried and true, it's an amazing custard and you need about two cups here so you can do the two-cup recipe (just cut the measurements in half) but my rule-of-thumb is if you're making it, why not use the full four-cup recipe because having a dish of sweet custard in the fridge could never be construed as a bad thing, right????

Bake cake of your choosing. We used a white cake mix but any flavor would do.

Whip about two-cups of heavy whipping cream sweetened with 1/2 cup sugar

Once cake is cool, slice one layer in half... freeze the other layer for next time then you can skip the cake-baking part.  SUHWWWWWEEEEEEEET!

Spread bottom half with chilled custard... and it's okay to go on thickly, there is no such thing as too much custard. Really. I saw that online and you know they can never put anything that isn't true on the World Wide Web.

Right?????  :)

Slice a banana or two over custard layer.... Add top layer. Frost with whipped cream. Now I have a cake decorating kit so I got a little fancy schmancy with the whipped cream, but you can simply frost the sides and top.... and leave a thick ridge around the top edge if'n youse don't have a "star" tube and pastry bag... Then layer fresh strawberries (I used some strawberry pie filling too, for glaze, but it's not necessary) around the middle.... If you want to glaze them for "sparkle", keep a small jar of apple jelly on hand. You just heat up a couple of tablespoons of that apple jelly, take a little pastry brush and "paint" the jelly on the strawberries on top... That way they won't get funky if they sit, but I promise youse, this cake will not SIT.

It will be eaten and folks will jump up and down, clapping and exclaiming with joy and really the only thing you had to MAKE was the pudding... and the cake mix.... And now you've got a frozen layer so next time you don't even have to do THAT!

And that's my simple/delicious fun cake of the day....

And here's a pic of the peeps I made this for:

Here is the pretty FANCY table that Casey and Taylor (two of my double-digit peeps) set for Ruthy's Bistro Cafe on Monday:

And here was our "wait staff" for the day:

Casey and Taylor, ready to rock and roll the party!

And here is Casey gathering the drink orders!!!!

While Taylor jots down food orders on her waitressing pad....

Our dessert?

You guessed it!