Doctored Strawberry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This cake has received rave reviews. I'll start with the story...

Tim has an assistant.

Her name is Mary.

Mary is going to kill me for putting up a picture of her on my blog.

Mary, please forgive me, in advance.

I also have a husband. His name is Tim.

Tim needs assisting. Tim needs a lot of assisting.

That is one of the many reasons I love Mary so much. Tim needs Mary's assistance. Mary assists Tim. Tim is happy/less stressed; therefore, I am happy/less stressed.

Mary, we love you.

So it was Mary's birthday, and I believe in taking care of my husband's assistant. I think my mother ingrained it in me since I was young. At his job, my father had-count 'em-5 assistants. Assisting some of these men is no easy feat. This is why I bake them cakes. To keep them around. To keep my husband happy at work. To keep the husbands of the world in line while their wives catch a break.

Now, I love a homemade cake just like everyone, but I didn't have the time to do such a thing. I decided to doctor a strawberry cake mix instead, and like I said...rave reviews.

Ingredients:

• 1 strawberry cake mix
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 oz container of strawberry gelatin
• 10 oz (or whatever's closest) pack of frozen strawberries

Directions:

First, we're going to grab these three ingredients-they're what I consider the "doctoring" part of the cake.

We're going to purée the strawberries, juice and all.

In a mixer, we're going to combine the cake mix and the gelatin powder. I got the generic brand of gelatin for about $.30.

Add in all of the except for a small splash (about 1/8th of a cup).

Mix it up!

Add the eggs.

Toss in the oil and the water.

Toss in the oil and the water.

Bake in whatever size pan you choose at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until cooked all the way through. 

I used my tried-and-true cream cheese frosting. After making the frosting, I added in the leftover "splash" of the strawberry purée.

Top with a few sprinkles.

Happy birthday, Mary! You are loved and appreciated.

Love and the women that help keep things together,

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Red Velvet Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting

There's nothing quite like a red velvet cake, but make them bite size, and you've got quite possibly the best dessert for any activity, from sporting events to birthdays to Valentine's Day. And all God's people said...

"Amen."

You can choose whether you want to bake standard-sized cupcakes or minis. I went with minis. They're just so darn cute.

CAKE
Ingredients:

• 1 package (18.25 ounces) plain German chocolate cake mix
• 1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream (trust me on this one)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 bottle (1 ounce) red food coloring
• 3 large eggs

Directions:

• Mix all ingredients together. Fill individual cupcake liners and bake as the box mix instructs.
• I recently discovered that the longer you mix a cake mix (or anything similar), the fluffier it will be because of something to do with oxygen. Don't ask me — I can barely do cupcakes, and I definitely don't do science.
• Fill 3/4 way full to get a  full, fluffy top.

FROSTING
Ingredients:

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Red velvet cocoa powder

Directions:

• Mix ingredients and put on cupcakes when cooled. Top with red velvet cocoa powder or sprinkles.
• I am so uncoordinated it's ridiculous. I love baking cupcakes, but when I try to decorate them, it's way out of my league. I found this Wilton Dessert Decorator at Walmart, and it has literally changed the way I decorate desserts. It comes with numerous different decorating tips for all types of designs, and it cuts my decorating time in half. Just sayin'. 

Get ready to be the most popular child/parent/employee/friend once you make these. This recipe has helped me save a job or two, but we won't get into that now.

Love,

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