Strawberry Cake

Spring is my second favorite season of the year.  I love seeing all the new growth bursting forth from the trees, bushes and ground.  Walking around my yard is like attending a reunion of old friends that I haven't seen for awhile, as my perennials peek up from the brown earth, greeting me with the promise of new blooms. 

Years ago, I happened to plant an evergreen shrub by my front door that blooms this time each year.  It is a plain shrub with not much interest except for two weeks out of the year when its tiny white blooms put out the most amazing scent.  I couldn't tell you the name of this shrub because I bought it before I knew much about gardening.  But its scent is so wonderful that I make sure I find time each spring to sit on my front steps and savor its smell.

 Well, along with the amazing display of floral delights, spring also brings strawberries.  In a month or so, we will go to Harvold's U-Pick berry farm out in Carnation so that we can pick boxes and boxes of nature's best dessert.  We used to get out there 2-3 times during strawberry season, but as the kids have gotten older and schedules have gotten busier, we are now lucky to get there once a season.  But, also since the kids have gotten older, I am finding that they are much better pickers (not noses--strawberries, oh, and bluegrass too!) and that one time of picking brings us plenty of strawberries.

When they were little, it was all I could do to keep them in one row putting more strawberries in their buckets rather than their tummies.  But now, even though they are still eating a lot of berries as they pick, they are picking with much more focus.

 We usually divide into teams and then see which team can pick the most berries as determined by weight.  I came up with this competition years ago when I was just trying to get the kids to pick the berries instead of hurdling the rows of strawberry plants, chasing each other with mudballs, or sword fighting with the row marker stakes. 

After picking, during the drive home, the car is filled with the delicious smell of fresh strawberries.  A quick trip to the grocery store for some ice cream begins the first of many strawberry delights that last all the way to Christmas with preserved strawberry jam made as gifts for friends. 

Here is one of those many delights we enjoy...

Strawberry Cake

1 cup fresh strawberries (you can use frozen too)

1 (3-oz.) pkg. strawberry flavored gelatin

1/2 cup boiling water

3/4 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 (18-oz.) white or yellow cake mix

Sprinkle fresh strawberries with 1/4 c. sugar. Let stand 1-2 hours.  Drain.  Combine gelatin and boiling water stirring, until dissolved.  Then cool.  Combine oil and eggs with gelatin and strawberries.  Sift cake mix into mixer bowl, and add gelatin mixture blending on low speed.  Then beat on high speed for 4 minutes.  Pour into 2 greased and floured 9-inch layer pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

For the icing, I like to use a cream cheese frosting...

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz. softened cream cheese
1/2 cup soft margarine
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups of powdered sugar
small amount of milk to mix

Combine all ingredients with 1 Tbsp. milk or more and mix until smooth.

This recipe comes from my favorite cookbook, Mennonite Country-Style Recipes & Kitchen Secrets by Ester H. Shank.

Comments

[Kathryn]

What's your first favorite season? Summer. And you actually have room on your front steps to sit on with all those shoes?

On a more serious note. Can you give me a call when you're going picking so my mom and I can come with you?

[Alicia]

yeah mom needs more jam...but I'm a raspberry fan myself.

[Kathryn]

Raspberry, Shmaspberry and I would have left out the p if you hadn't already spelled it.

[Sally Hess]

You guessed right...it is summer. It used to be spring, but my springs are too busy to be my favorite. Plus, I love going to the beach and if you go to a NW beach in the spring, it is rather depressing...

And, of course! If you all want to go berry picking with us, we'd love it!!

[Sally Hess]

Also, Harvold's has raspberries too later in the summer! So, you can come then too! The air around the rows of raspberries smell like raspberry pie!
Alicia, what is your favorite berry?

[Kathryn]

We would love to join you - that'll be fun. We haven't gone berry picking for a while -our jam stash is getting low. I have never heard of raspberry pie, I've got to try it!

[Alicia]

Fav is probably Raspberries. But then probably Marionberries, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, all GOOD!