Cake

Just a little sneak peak of this strawberrylicious cake I made today.....I wish I was brave enough to show you the mess behind the pretty paper....sure is not as pretty back there as it is in the front!!!! Hahaha ohhhh well it was all worth it and both the my kids sure had a blast helping both making it and eating it. Now I'm gonna go have a slice of yumminess before bed. My little boy decided to go to sleep at 6:00 this afternoon so I'm sure I will be up somewhere around 3:00 this morning while the rest of the world is still sleeping. Maybe I will have another slice then with a cup of coffee....hehe!!! Recipe to come tomorrow or well early this morning :)

Strawberry EVERYTHING cake
adapted from Mangio da Sola

Cooking Spray
2¼ cups cake flour, plus more for dusting the pans
1 pkg strawberry gelatin
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 cup + 2 tablespoons whole milk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup strawberry purée
1 1/2 cups strawberries with stems removed (fresh or thawed)
1/4 - 1/3 granulated sugar (depends on how sweet the berries are)
Juice of 1 lemon
Prepare the purée: Place the cut strawberries in a blender or food processor. Add sugar and lemon juice. Purée the mixture until smooth.
The Cake: Set oven rack in middle position. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray; line the bottoms with parchment or waxed paper rounds. Spray the paper rounds, dust the pans with flour, and invert pans and rap sharply to remove excess flour (If you use the baker's spray, you don't need to do all of those steps. Just spray and proceed to the next step).
Pour milk, egg whites, and extracts into 2-cup glass measure, and mix with fork until blended.
Mix cake flour,gelatin, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of electric mixer at slow speed. Add butter; continue beating at slow speed until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no powdery streaks remaining.
Add all but ½ cup of milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed (or high speed if using hand-held mixer) for 30 seconds. Add 1/2 cup of purée and beat for 30-45 seconds. Then, add remaining ½ cup of milk mixture, and beat 15 seconds more. Add another 1/2 cup of purée, and beat for 15 seconds more. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium (or high) speed, and beat 20 seconds longer.
Divide batter evenly between two prepared cake pans (I weighed them out on a scale); using rubber spatula, spread batter to pan walls and smooth tops. Arrange pans at least 3 inches from the oven walls and 3 inches apart.  Bake until thin skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 22 to 24 minutes.
Let cakes rest in pans for 5 minutes. Loosen from sides of pans with a knife, if necessary, and invert onto wire racks. Re-invert onto additional wire racks. Let cool completely, about 1- 1½ hours. 

Strawberry Frosting
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1/2 cup shortening
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 - 1/2 cup strawberry purée
Beat butter and shortening for 3 minutes. Slow down beater or mixer, and add powdered sugar one cup at a time. Once the mixture is well-integrated, add in the purée until desired consistency is reached. I had just a little frosting left over so I added a couple drops of red food coloring to decorate the top and add the little dots on the side of the cake. I also used fresh strawberries and layered them in the middle.