Miss Vetra’s Strawberry Cake

Joyous summertime in the South. The sounds of tree frogs chirping, cicadas humming and the gentle buzzing of the streetlights illuminating the path home after a long day of play. The smells of sticky honeysuckle, rain-soaked streets on a hot, humid day, and tomato vines in bloom. The taste of ice-cold watermelon; fresh shucked corn, milky and sweet; and the intoxicating aroma of sugar soaked strawberry cakes fresh out of my grandmother's oven.

Layer cakes are a “thing” in the south; they are meant to shock and awe, to win the crowd. You had best believe that if Miss Martha June shows up to the family gathering with a layer cake that she is throwing down the gauntlet and she did not come to play.

Most families in the south make layer cakes which are specific to not only the region but to their families. To make a layer cake is not a simple thing; it takes patience, a certain level of skill and will power. Also, the recipes are almost always guarded and held within the family.

It is a badge of honor if you were chosen, the one who not only makes the cakes, but guards the recipe and decides early on who will be the next family member to carry on the tradition. My grandmother, Miss Vetra, chose me to be the keeper of the family recipes.

Strawberry layer cake was a cake that Miss Vetra was known for, not only within our family but within our community. Many a birthday, church picnic or club meeting were graced with Miss Vetra, snap purse in one hand and strawberry cake filled Tupperware cake carrier in the other hand, smiling and loving like she did. Miss Vetra was a boss and she did not come to play most days, but she was never boastful or mean–a proud and strong southern woman who knew she made some damn good cake.

As a child I was pretty much in tow to all of these events and unbeknownst to me was being trained as a strong southern woman and taught to make this cake as the keeper of tradition, which makes the information that I almost lost this recipe downright shocking. But alas, it's true, which is why I have decided to share this recipe with all of you, in the spirit of family and tradition and the memory of Miss Vetra. It will not be lost, but loved and carried down with the generations as you make memories within your own families and share in the communion of friends.

This cake hits all the notes of an old school southern strawberry cake. During the period of literal years that I had misplaced my grandmother's handwritten recipe, I searched low and high for another recipe that had not only the taste but the color and texture of the strawberry cake I longed for from my childhood. I could never find one, some were better than others but none were the same. Upon finding her recipe I laughed out loud reading the ingredients–none of the things as a chef that I thought should be in the cake were actually in the cake. Never in a million years would I have known that she was using a lemon cake mix as the base, because that is crazy! But sometimes crazy is what makes the world go round and just what we need.

This cake is neon pink on the inside, sticks to your fork moist, exploding with strawberry flavor and so sweet that you will be running through the house barefoot screaming whoopee.

It's genius and it's perfect. Who would have known that sweet, in-the church-every-Sunday-Miss Vetra was actually practicing witchcraft in her kitchen.

Well played, Miss Vetra, and thank you.

Love, Dixie Belle.

Miss Vetra’s Southern Strawberry Cake

Makes 10 Servings

Cake Ingredients

1 box Duncan Hines lemon cake mix
3 TB all-purpose flour
1 (6 oz.) package strawberry Jello mix
¼ tsp salt
½ cup water (room temperature)
½ cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs, beaten
1 (16 oz.) package frozen strawberries, thawed and drained

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.. Lightly spray two 9-inch round cake pans with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together cake mix, flour, Jello mix and salt. Add water, oil and eggs and whisk until batter is smooth. Do not over mix.

Fold in strawberries until evenly incorporated.

Divide mix evenly between prepared pans.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool for 1 hour on a cooling rack.

Frosting Ingredients

¾ cup butter, softened
¼ cup of shortening
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup strawberry jam
1 drop red food coloring

Directions

Using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, cream butter and shortening on medium speed until smooth. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on low and blend until sugar is incorporated. Scrape down the sides again and add 1 more cup of the powdered sugar, jam and food coloring and turn the mixer on low and whip 3-4 minutes or until light and fluffy.

Frosting the cake instructions:

Apply a layer of frosting in between layers of cake and then crumb frost the cake with a thin layer of frosting. Place cake in the fridge for 30 mins-1 hour to let the frosting set up.

Remove and using a spatula, apply remaining frosting to sides and top as desired.

Notes

This is a very sweet cake, so feel free to adjust the amount of sugar in the frosting to your personal taste. If you prefer it less sweet, taste after adding the two cups of sugar and continue to add more sugar gradually until it hits the desired sweetness.

Crumb frosting simply means applying a thin layer of frosting to the cake which collects most of the crumbs and gives you a smooth base to frost. After the crumb coat sets up, the remaining frosting will go on smoothly, resulting in a cleaner cake.