Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Frosting

I was going to post a bit about where I baked these past two semesters, but I'll save that for a later day: I figure I should probably put some more recipes up first.

This one I baked in January. It's an easy, cake-mix-cake recipe with additions to make it more special...additions that ended up taking me longer than I expected, but that's okay. I made this for my best friend at college, Lucy: she's not a frosting lover so the frosting was a little too thick for her, but everyone else loved it.

I had to look everywhere to find frozen strawberries, and ended up buying fresh out-of-season strawberries instead because that's all I could find from the local supermarket. Luckily the cost of this cake still didn't amount to the $25 ice cream cake Lucy requested last year:

Just a heads up on the frosting, I had to make 1.5 batches of it to cover the whole cake, inside and out.

Strawberry Cake
Recipes from Niki

1 package white cake mix
1 package (3 ounces) strawberry-flavored gelatin powder
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup mashed strawberries or sweetened frozen strawberries

Combine cake mix and gelatin powder in a large bowl. Beat in oil, eggs, water, and strawberries. Pour into 2 9-inch round greased and floured cake pans. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool completely before icing.

Strawberry Frosting (I had to make 1.5 batches)

1/4 cup butter
dash of salt
1/4 cup shortening
1 pound confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup mashed strawberries or remaining sweetened frozen strawberries (drain juice)

Beat the butter/shortening and confectioners' sugar together until smooth and fluffy. Add strawberries. Spread between cake layers, then frost top and sides.

Top off with decorations!

This cake was kind of crumbly. I guess I'd recommend sticking it in the fridge for a bit before serving.