Time for a Birthday Cake Break

Yesterday was my birthday and I made my favorite cake. (My husband is down with a broken ankle, so I made my own fun!)

Mary Ward’s Strawberry Jell-O Cake*

1 package white cake mix
1 small box strawberry Jell-O
3 T flour
4 whole eggs
1/2 C water
1/2 C strawberries and juice
3/4 C cooking oil

Combine dry ingredients.

Beat eggs until lemon colored and light. Add water and oil and continue to beat until well mixed. Add dry ingredients to egg mixture and again beat well. Stir in strawberries at the last.

Bake in two layers (pans greased and floured) for 35 minutes at 350.
May also bake for same time in a 15x12x2” pan.

Frosting:

1 stick butter (softened)
16 oz powdered sugar
1/2 C strawberries and juice

Mix well and spread on cooled cake.

*Mary Ward was the beautiful, adoring wife of Charlie Ward, who headed up the staff when I worked for a U.S. Senator in Washington in the late 1980s. She brought this cake to the office one day and I’ve been making it ever since–always requesting it for my birthday. Since I have a gluten intolerance, I used a gluten-free vanilla cake mix from Namaste and rice flour instead of regular flour. It’s heavier than a normal white cake mix, but at least I got my cake!