Strawberry Jello Cake

This recipe is kind of two fold... today, on my way to get my nails filled, I expressed to A the desire to bake something, and asked him what he wanted.  He said Strawberry Jello Cake.  Uh, say what?!  I've never even heard of Strawberry Jello Cake.  He sent me a recipe for one.  Okay - it looked easy enough AND it would help fulfill one of my January goals to try a new recipe.  I grabbed the ingredients and headed home.

He sent me the recipe from Chef Shell's Catering & Roadside Cafe... from Michigan, nonetheless, which if you knew A would shock you that he'd dare send a recipe from somewhere in Michigan.  Here's the direct link... Strawberry Jello Cake.

In typical ME fashion - the first attempt... A DISASTER!  I did exactly as the recipe said to do... put the "crust" in the oven at 375* for 30-35 minutes.  My "crust" looked more like a disc you'd throw in track, and I'm fairly certain just as hard.  So back to the store I went for a second cake mix.

Here's the recipe with my modifications...

Cake Crust

1 16.5 ounce Strawberry Cake Mix (none of the cake mixes I found were 18.5 ounces)

1 Stick of Butter (Melted)

1 Egg

Filing

2 cup Boiling Water

1 6 ounce Package Strawberry Jell-o

20 ounces Frozen Strawberries (Thawed) (For this, I ended up buying a 24 ounce container of frozen strawberries, and using the additional 4 ounces for the topping)

1/4 cup Sugar

Topping

1 8 ounce Cream Cheese (room temp)

1/4 cup Sugar

1 12 oz Whipped Topping

4 ounces Frozen Strawberries

Pre-heat oven to 375*.  

In a large bowl, mix cake mix, melted butter and egg until blended.  Press into a greased 9 x 13 cake pan.  Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.  Let cool.

Dissolve jell-o and sugar in boiling water.  Make sure it is completely dissolved before adding the strawberries.  (Cool slightly.)  (Mine was completely cool before I poured it over the cake, due to having to make the 2nd crust.)  Pour strawberries over cake and refrigerate until set.    

With an electric hand blender or stand mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar, and frozen strawberries until well blended.  Add whipped topping and continue to whip until smooth and creamy.  Top cake and chill for 3 - 4 hours.  

The recipe as a whole was super easy, once I figured out the length of time to bake the crust.  

D

I will update with a final determination on taste one it's completely chilled, as well as additional pictures.  The good news is that A is happy because he'll get his Strawberry Jello Cake, and I'm happy because I met ONE of my January goals.  :-)