Semi-Homemade "Strawberry Love Cake"

*wince*  Don’t hate me.  Come on now.  As I’ve mentioned countless times, I do not bake.  I’ll make cupcakes and cakes and brownies… all from mixes.  I attempted to make my own ricotta strawberry frosting, which turned out terribly – not that it tasted bad, but it wasn’t particularly good either, so…  I had to go the “Semi-Homemade” route.  I mean, in my defense, I don’t hate Sandra Lee, as many people seem to do, and she does have some fantastic tips.  Now that I’m more familiar with cooking, I probably wouldn’t go her entire 70/30 route, but for people who aren’t that comfortable in the kitchen, she’s got some excellent recipes, and for her desserts, wow, that is right up my alley. 

Also, I didn’t take this recipe from her, I made it up myself, but it seems like something she’d do or maybe has done in the past.

I was aiming for a strawberry shortcake like result, but I kind of dopily forgot – hey, I don’t bake, and I also don’t eat that many baked goods!  I’ve only had strawberry shortcake once in my life! – that shortcake is really light and airy, and pound cake is not.  Oops… the end result was delicious though.  Ask my coworkers!

• sour cream pound cake from Fresh Direct
• heavy cream
• sugar, to taste
• fresh strawberries

First, I hulled and sliced the strawberries, and macerated them in a bit of sugar.  I let that sit for a few hours, letting all this wonderful juice leech out and everything sweetened up wonderfully. 

I whipped the cream with a bit of sugar using the fantastic immersion blender that BB got me for my birthday last year.  After I sliced the cake lengthwise, I used a brush to douse the cut sides of the cake with the strawberry juice.  Then I spread whipped cream between the layers, added strawberries, and then covered the whole thing with whipped cream and strawberries.  So easy.

The biggest problem with using a denser cake was cutting it… the strawberries in the center really wanted to slide out.  No biggie, be gentle is all.

The dense, super moist cake lightly flavored with the strawberries… so good.  It was just the right combination of flavors and I was amazed by how delicious it was.  So easy, you have to try this.

Also, I folded the leftover strawberry juices into the remaining whipped cream gently, and had… strawberry whipped cream!  An excellent topping for some slices where people just love whipped cream that much (and I can see why, homemade whipped cream really just about beats all!). 

Happy Eating!!!