Strawberry Lemon Cake

It’s summer!  I love summer.  I love that students our out of school, so I can park closer to my office.  I love that the sun rises super early and sets super late.  I love the way the warm AZ sun thaws me out, when I’ve been inside too long.  I love BBQs with friends.  And I love light summer desserts!

Last night we went over to Jayla’s house for dinner, dessert and doggie playtime.  Of course, I was in charge of the dessert…since its my favorite thing to make!  :)

A few days ago, I was watching Paula Dean's show and I saw her make a Lemon Cake.  Hmmm…I love lemon.  She made the lemon curd filling from scratch.  Hmmm…I have lemon curd in the fridge.  I thought to myself, “Hmmm…we might be onto something here.”  After looking on the Food Network website and reading the reviews for the recipe, the comments on the cake weren’t that great.  So, I thought to myself, “Hmmm…I could always use cake mix, but what goes good with lemon?”  Then, it came to me…strawberries!!  Since after Paula’s show, Sandra Lee was on, I thought, “Hmmm…I’ll make this Semi-Homemade style!”  And voila, this delicious cake was created.

I used Pillsbury Strawberry cake mix, store bought lemon curd, Paula’s frosting (which got good reviews with the recipe) and fresh strawberries, to decorate.  This cake was moist, sweet, tangy and a delicious addition to our summer dinner!  With the cake mix, I made it the “cholesterol free” and “high altitude” way.  As for Paula’s frosting, I really liked it!  It has a marshmallow texture and the recipe makes a lot, so your cake can be nice and fluffy (but I only used half b/c it was way too much for my liking).  Plus, it doesn’t need to be refrigerated.  To continue with my lemon theme, I added a bit of lemon extract to the frosting, just to round out the flavors.  This is a very tasty cake and if you’re looking for a summer dessert, I highly recommend it.

Enjoy!

Mmm…strawberries.

I’ll admit…one reason I like it, is because it’s pink.

The boys eating their cake.

Us girls eating ours.

Sara’s Strawberry Lemon Cake

Ingredients

• 1 box Strawberry cake mix
• Lemon curd (store bought or make your own)
• Paula Dean’s Frosting (recipe below)

Directions

1. Make cake mix as directed for a 8 or 9 inch cake pan and allow to cool on wire racks.
2. Poke holes in the top of one of the cake layers and spread on as much lemon curd as you’d like.  Top with remaining cake layer.
3. Frost with Paula’s Frosting and garnish with strawberries.  (I’m sure you could put more lemon curd on the top layer, if you’d like, because the frosting is so thick that it wouldn’t spread the curd around.)

Paula’s Frosting, by Paula Dean

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar or 1 tablespoon white corn syrup
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 egg whites
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp lemon extract (my addition)

1. Place sugar, cream of tartar or corn syrup, salt, water, and egg whites in the top of a double boiler.
2. Beat with a handheld electric mixer for 1 minute. Place pan over boiling water, being sure that boiling water does not touch the bottom of the top pan.
3. Beat constantly on high speed with electric mixer for 7 minutes.
4. Beat in vanilla.