White Cake with Strawberry Cream Filling and Strawberry Frosting

Maggie requested "strawberry" for her birthday cake. She also wanted an animals party, and we ended up with a strawberry circus elephant cake! I made a white cake, filled it with strawberry cream, and frosted it with homemade strawberry frosting. It was delicious, if you like excess of sugar.

To make the elephant cake, I baked two round cakes, and cut a cone-shaped trunk out of the center of one. The two sides of the cut cake served as the ears. I had to cut and bend the trunk, as it didn't fit on the baking sheet.

White Cake Recipe

2 cups sugar

1 cup butter

4 eggs

2 tablespoons vanilla extract (yes, tablespoons)

3 cups flour

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup milk

Cream together butter and sugar. Beat well until fluffy. Beat it a lot, or your cake will be heavy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Again, beat the batter a lot. Stir in vanilla extract, then add flour mixed with baking powder. Stir in milk until batter is smooth.

Bake in two greased 9" pans at 350 for 30-40 minutes (until cake springs back when touched).

Strawberry Cream Filling Recipe

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup diced strawberries

Beat cream with sugar until it forms stiff peaks. Stir in strawberries. Don't make this too long beforehand or the cream will sink.

Split the cake in the center, remove the top half and spread with strawberry cream filling. Replace the top half of the cake.

Strawberry Frosting Recipe

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup strawberries, pureed (about 1/4 cup after pureeing)

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups powdered sugar

Beat butter, and blend in strawberry puree and vanilla. Mix in powdered sugar until you get a frosting consistency.

This stuff is so good. It tastes like strawberry ice cream. This made just enough to frost two separate cakes, including all the cut edges.

Sources:

white cake recipe

strawberry frosting recipe

elephant cake