Have you ever enjoyed a dish at a restaurant so much that you couldn’t wait to get home to recreate it? Last month I had the pleasure of visiting Longview, Texas as a guest of Texas Tourism. As one of those people who puts a lot of thought into where I’m going to eat while traveling, I was incredibly pleased to have my first Texan meal at The Butcher Shop. It is where I got the inspiration to make this swoon-worthy Fresh Strawberry Cake.
The Butcher Shop is a restaurant, bakery and meat market. It’s a welcoming place filled with smiling faces and the aroma of good food. A great place to take the family. It is just the kind of place I would bring my own family to on a Friday night.
They are known for their hamburger fixings bar which includes just about anything you could ever want to put on a burger. In fact, they serve the burgers plain with a bun, so you can dress it just the way you like it.
You can get more than a burger and fries at The Butcher Shop. They also have a great salad bar, hot dogs, and chicken fried steak complete with white gravy from the fixings bar.
Tacos and BBQ are what you might typically think of as Texan fare, and I most certainly had my fill of both while I was in East Texas. A couple of stand-out restaurants on this trip were Stanley’s Famous Pit Bar BBQ and Juls, both in Tyler. I’ll be writing more about my culinary journey through East Texas later. I had some incredible food on that trip.
The strawberry cake I ate (devoured) at The Butcher Shop Bakery had me eager to get home and take advantage of strawberry season.
As soon as you walk through the doors of The Butcher Shop you’ll see the bakery cases. They are filled with cakes, pies and other drool-worthy bakery treats. Yum……
Here’s a pic of my strawberry cake from The Butcher Shop. I was so full that I ordered it to go, but ended up eating every last bite of it before returning to the Sleep Inn & Suites for the night. I couldn’t help myself. Seriously y’all. It was that good.
Layers of moist strawberry cake and sweet strawberry frosting come together to make the perfect spring dessert. You know I like to keep things simple, so my own version of this cake is a one layer sheet cake.
Strawberry gelatin makes my cake incredibly moist and it is loaded up with a topping of fresh strawberry frosting. I’m so happy with how my cake turned out. I don’t think there is anything I would tweak.
Okay, so here’s the recipe…
Fresh Strawberry Cake
Ingredients:
For the cake:
1 (16-ounce) container fresh strawberries
1 (16.5-ounce) package white cake mix
3 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 (3-ounce) package strawberry instant gelatin, divided
For the Frosting:
1 cup strawberries puree with 2 tablespoons sugar (about 1 pint strawberries)
1 cup butter, softened
4 cups confectioner’s sugar, plus more as needed
1 teaspoon reserved strawberry instant gelatin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
For the cake:
Wash and hull the strawberries. Puree in a food processor or blender. Be careful to not puree until liquid. You just want them to be good and chopped up. You will need 1 cup of strawberry puree for the cake. You may have a little extra.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9X13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a stand mixer, or a large bowl with a hand mixer, mix together the cake mix, eggs, and vegetable oil until well combined. Add the gelatin and 1 cup strawberry puree to the batter and mix well.
Pour into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before icing.
For the frosting:
In a blender, prepare the puree. Place about 1 pint fresh strawberries and 2 tablespoons sugar in a blender. Pulse until almost smooth.
In a mixing bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy.
Beat in 1 cup confectioners’ sugar until just blended. Add 2 tablespoons strawberry puree and the vanilla extract and mix until combined. Continue to add about 2 tablespoons strawberry puree alternating with about 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar, until all ingredients have been added and are well combined and creamy. You may need slightly more than 4 cups of confectioner sugar to achieve the right consistency.
Spread strawberry frosting evenly over the top of the cake. Cut into pieces, serve and enjoy.
If you enjoyed reading this, you might also like learning about the Azalea Trail in Tyler, Texas. Also, check out this recipe for Grits Fritters inspired by a trip to Charleston, South Carolina.
Fresh Strawberry Cake
Ingredients
- For the cake: 1 16-ounce container fresh strawberries 1 (16.5-ounce) package white cake mix 3 eggs 3/4 cup vegetable oil 1 (3-ounce) package strawberry instant gelatin, divided
- For the Frosting: 1 cup strawberries puree with 2 tablespoons sugar about 1 pint strawberries 1 cup butter, softened 4 cups confectioner’s sugar, plus more as needed 1 teaspoon reserved strawberry instant gelatin 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- For the cake: Wash and hull the strawberries. Puree in a food processor or blender. Be careful to not puree until liquid. You just want them to be good and chopped up. You will need 1 cup of strawberry puree for the cake. You may have a little extra.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9X13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a stand mixer, or a large bowl with a hand mixer, mix together the cake mix, eggs, and vegetable oil until well combined. Add the gelatin and 1 cup strawberry puree to the batter and mix well.
- Pour into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before icing.
- For the frosting: In a blender, prepare the puree. Place about 1 pint fresh strawberries and 2 tablespoons sugar in a blender. Pulse until almost smooth.
- In a mixing bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy.
- Beat in 1 cup confectioners’ sugar until just blended. Add 2 tablespoons strawberry puree and the vanilla extract and mix until combined. Continue to add about 2 tablespoons strawberry puree alternating with about 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar, until all ingredients have been added and are well combined and creamy. You may need slightly more than 4 cups of confectioner sugar to achieve the right consistency.
- Spread strawberry frosting evenly over the top of the cake. Cut into pieces, serve and enjoy.
Looks and sounds great. I tried Strawberry cookies before at a strawberry festival. Made with real strawberries, awesome stuff. Will pin this recipe.
I would love to visit this place when I head to Texas over the summer. I love trying desserts in cake shops/bakeries. The Strawberry cake looks absolutely so delicious!
This recipe looks amazing. I am going to try it for my husbands birthday.
This cake looks so delicious! It is pretty and a good cake to make for a Summer birthday or party with the family! Thanks for sharing.
This cake is perfect for summer! Such a yummy looking dessert 🙂
Sure looks tempting.
This looks so good. My grandma make a cake similar to this on sundays. It was to die for.
I love strawberries so much and this cake looks amazing!
I love strawberries , so I would want to try this recipe. I just need to figure how to lower the sugar.
This cake looks super yummy! A perfect Summer dessert and so easy to make.