Strawberry See Ya Later Cake

One of mine and Bray's good friends Elliott lived in Clemson for the summer, which you have seen him mentioned in many posts. He sadly had to leave us last week and headed up to Virginia for a Navy Seals camp.. yes, he's THAT intense! The day before he headed north, Alex and I thought we'd surprise him with one of his personal favorites, a homemade strawberry cake.

We found this recipe and knew that it was a winner!

What you'll need:

1 package white cake mix
1 package strawberry jello
1 cup water
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup smashed strawberries
4 egg whites
Your choice of icing

Method:

Step 1: Cut up and smash fresh strawberries until they are a thick jam consistency

Step 2: In a large bowl, combine cake mix, jello powder, water and oil. Beat on medium until all ingredients are combined.

Step 3: In a smaller bowl, add egg whites. Beat on high until stiff peaks form.

This step was a new concept to me! I was fascinated that beating egg whites quickly makes a frothy substance. Alex taught me that this is what helps cakes be fluffier. What do you know, I learned something new!

Step 4: Fold egg whites and mashed strawberries into cake batter. 

Side note: this point in time is when Elliott decided to randomly pop into Alex's apartment.. Alex and I acted super sketchy and had to lie and say we were "making a blogging experiment" and that this concoction was clearly for blogging purposes only. Well, I guess that's kind of true ;) we fooled him!

Step 5: Pour batter into two round 8 in. baking pans. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes.

Mmm these turned out so good!

After letting the cake cool, we then used a butter cream icing to stack and ice the cake. A group of us went to see the Dark Knight Rises (phenomenal by the way!) and then went to a friends apartment to watch the Olympics. We thought this was the perfect opportunity to reveal Elliott's surprise, and he was so thrilled!

The entire cake was eaten before we went home! I'd say that was quite the success!