Hal's school had a cake auction to benefit Relay for Life, a race that raises money for the American Cancer Society. Since it was heading into Easter weekend, we wanted to make a lovely springtime cake worthy of the Easter table. What I came up with is a rip on one of
Sandra Lee's recipes. You know how I like to replace water with alcohol in my baking - well this was a similar idea. Make a regular strawberry cake according to directions, cutting oil down to 1/4 cup and replacing the water with one 11.3-oz can of strawberry nectar. I found this in my local Kroger's international section for $0.50. It would also have been great with pomegranate juice.
This is where I went in a bit of a different direction: between layers, I added pomegranate jam mixed with strawberries slurried in my food processor. It was probably about a cup of strawberries, and then I just mixed in the jam until it was thick enough to stay put on top of the cake. I think this added an extra layer of flavor, and brought down the sweetness just a touch.
With a thick layer of the mixture between cake layers, I mixed 1 container of whipped cream cheese frosting with half a container of strawberry frosting, and added two small shakes of ground cardamom - just enough to bring in that lovely floral scent and a hint of spice, again to calm the sweetness since there is SO much strawberry in the cake. Apply frosting generously. :)
I'm happy to say that the cake looked lovely in the auction, and sold for $50. What a sweet way to start the Easter weekend!
PS - I believe I have now corrected the issue with email followers being able to comment, if you care. :)
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