As you may have determined, I thoroughly enjoy cooking and I especially like to cook or bake from scratch. Occasionally I use convenience foods to make things a little more simple. It is nice to have an arsenal of convenience foods in the pantry for different occasions. This cake recipe is one that I have been making for approximately 20 years. The original recipe was clipped from The Toledo Blade sometime in the early 1990’s. It was touted as a lighter, healthier version of cake. Its origins are apparently from the Carribbean Islands near Panama – The San Blas Islands. It has become a family favorite for many birthdays and family gatherings. It is called San Blas Islands Strawberry Cake.
This past week there was cause to celebrate the baby of our family, who turned 18. With just three of us in the house, there was no big celebration other than a nice dinner out – but when I offered up a few birthday cake ideas, he jumped at this option. The convenience items include white box cake mix, a box of strawberry jello powder and frozen whipped topping. I did not have the cool whip but did have fresh whipping cream – so we used the real stuff this week – not as light – but oh, was it good!
dry ingredients gently mixed together before adding wet ingredients
all ingredients mixed together
whipped cream for frosting
The “light” part of the cake includes using only egg whites, nonfat – or lowfat yogurt and applesauce instead of oil. I did not have any applesauce in the pantry or freezer so I substituted additional plain yogurt for the applesauce. I think the applesauce version is a little bit better – but yogurt worked just fine. The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries. Fresh strawberries can easily be substitued – but I tend to keep frozen fruit in my freezer for quick smoothies so I just defrosted the needed amount. You could use a box of sweetened frozen strawberries but the added sugar is not needed – the jello powder and cake mix take care of that.
The only thing I don’t like about this cake is the unnatural pink color that it bakes into. It’s rather neon! Some might really like this but it just doesn’t look natural. I’m certain its from the strawberry jello powder. Nonetheless, it is a very bright pink cake!
cooled and baked cake with a layer of strawberry jam
It is best served cold. So plan ahead. After the jam and frosting are added, the flavors blend together well with at least 2 hours of chilling before its served.
Frosted and ready to chill and enjoy!
San Blas Islands Strawberry Cake
Yield 10 to 12 servings
Preparation time 50 minutes. Cooling time before frosting about 1 hour. Chilling time 2 hours.
Ingredients
1 box white cake mix
1 – 3 ounce box strawberry gelatin
2 egg whites
3 Tbs. flour
3/4 cup nonfat vanilla or plain yogurt
1/2 cup applesauce (double the yogurt if you don’t have applesauce)
1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries, defrosted
1/4 cup water
strawberry jam
1- 12 ounce container light whipped topping – or 8 to 12 ounces whipping cream, whipped and sweetened to taste.
Instructions
Lightly Grease and flour one 9 x 13 inch pan. Preheat oven to 350′.
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except jam and whipped topping. Mix with electric mixer on medium high speed 3 to 4 minutes. You do not need to worry about a few lumps of cake mix – its better not to over mix and make the cake tough.
Pour mixture into a 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center.
Cool for approximately one hour. Spread a layer of strawberry jan onto the cooled cake. Then top with whipped topping.
If using fresh whipping cream – it is best to chill the beater(s) and the bowl before whipping. Add 2 to 4 Tbs of sugar after the cream has begun to thicken – and whip to light peaks. The cream will thicken as it chills after frosting the cake.
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