Pink Lady Cake

Another birthday at work last week. I have a recipe for a strawberry cake that is made from a cake mix and jello but went in search of a scratch cake that was comparable. The first one that came up was from a well known blog Smitten Kitchen. I searched further and it seems this particular cake has been done a lot. It comes from a cookbook called Sky High: Three Layer Irresistable Cakes. I need to check the library for this book. If this cake is any sampling then it must be a good one. This cake gets mixed up in an unusual way. The recipe seems long, but I believe it's worth every step. This is definitely a cake to try.

PINK LADY CAKE
(adaptation)

For the cake:
4 1/2 cups cake flour
3 cups granulated sugar
5 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups pureed frozen strawberries
8 egg whites
2/3 cup milk
3 drops red food coloring
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray or butter three 9-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment or waxed paper and spray or butter the paper. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixer bowl. With the electric mixer on low speed, blend for 30 seconds. (I just used a whisk.)

Add the softened butter and strawberry puree and mix to blend the ingredients. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. The batter will resemble strawberry ice cream at this point.

In another large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, milk, vanilla and red food coloring and blend. Add the whites to the batter in two or three additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl well and mixing only to incorporate after each addition. Divide the batter among the three prepared pans.

Bake the cakes for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the layers to cool in the pans for 10 to 15 minutes. Invert and turn out onto wire racks and peel off the paper liners. Let stand until completely cooled before assembling the cake, at least an hour.

I made a standard cream cheese frosting and added 2 tablespoons of strawberry juice for the frosting.

Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
5 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk or cream
2 tablespoons strawberry juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cream ingredients together and frost layers and cake.