Our California niece wrote in her New Year’s greeting, “For one of her assignments, my daughter was supposed to bring a food item related to her cultural background to share with her classmates. So - we made Southern Strawberry Cupcakes (with the box of Jello.)”
We were delighted, but surprised that our great niece, a high school sophomore, had chosen to honor her maternal grandmother, a Georgia girl, in this manner. With her paternal hispanic heritage, she loves Mexican food.
I had served my favorite Strawberry Cake when mother and daughter visited us last year, but since I had clipped the recipe from The Dallas Morning News a half century ago, I had never thought of it as “Southern,” nor “Western,” either. Our Texas friends still serve it and I know many Wayne Countians have this recipe in their files, too. The concept of “Southern” sent me in search of the history of this cake.
It’s not a regional recipe; it’s another mid 20th century recipe offering shortcuts, like cake mixes and Jell-O, for the busy housewife. Although gelatin, rich with protein, was first discovered by boiling meat bones in France in the 19th century, Jell-O made it an American classic during the 20th century.
According to author Jeremy Jackson, his grandmother Mildred was famous in her small Missouri town for her strawberry cake. “Legend has it that one of the families in town loved the dessert so much, they ‘commissioned’ her to make it for them once a week.” Jackson never remembers eating a piece of this cake, but after he found her recipe, he told NPR’s Serri Graslie that he wanted to honor his grandmother. For his latest cookbook, Good Day for a Picnic: Simple Food that Travels Well, he includes both his grandmother’s original recipe with a cake mix and Jello and his own revised version using staples to replace these shortcuts. His recipe makes a dozen cupcakes.
Jackson concedes that the shortcut of frozen strawberries is actually better than fresh. He says, “They’re very consistent and picked when they’re ripe, and better overall for this recipe.”
I have used fresh strawberries when my grocery store was out of the frozen variety, but converting fresh to 10 oz. has proven to be my biggest concern in experimenting with this substitute. I’ve converted a couple of our other favorite cake recipes to cupcakes, but I had never adapted the Strawberry Cake recipe to cupcakes until now.
For Valentine’s, I served Strawberry Cake Cupcakes. The recipe makes 30 standard size cupcakes. Regardless of the format, I have always refrigerated this cake because of the cut strawberries and butter in the icing. My family really likes this cake served cold because the icing stays firmer, a plus when served as a cupcake. Although the recipe works well as cupcakes and would be the perfect way to serve classmates, I still prefer to make one layer cake in a 9x12 - inch pan. I serve from the pan. But thanks, nieces, for prompting me to experiment and research the recipe.
Although we Southerners may not take credit for inventing this Strawberry Cake recipe, we Southern cooks easily adopt good shortcuts as our own and we have long enjoyed serving strawberries in a variety of ways. After all, strawberries are a tasty part of good old Southern hospitality.
Strawberry Cake
1 box white cake mix
2 tablespoons plain flour
4 eggs
3/4 cup salad oil
1/2 of a 10 oz. box of frozen strawberries, thawed (I use most of the juice in the cake)
1 box of strawberry gelatin (Jell-O)
1 cup of hot water
Dissolve gelatin in hot water and let cool. Mix dry ingredients together. Alternately add beaten eggs and oil with dry ingredients. Add cooled gelatin and thawed strawberries. Pour into greased and floured 9x12 inch cake pan. (Can be made in layer pans, bundt pan or lined cupcake pans). Bake at 325 degrees until done. (My original recipe says cook about one hour for the bundt pan. Other formats require less time.)
Icing
1 box confectioner’s sugar
1 stick margarine or butter
Remaining strawberries
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cream butter and sugar. Add strawberries and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Ice cooled cake. Refrigerate.
2017
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