Cake:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 cups of sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 1/2 tbsp liquid red food coloring
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour 2 or 3 round 9″ cake pans.

Sift flour and salt together, set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Mix until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Mix well after each addition. Add the flour mixture to the bowl alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Blend in vanilla.

In a small bowl, mix the 1 1/2 tbsp red food coloring and 1 tbsp cocoa powder until a paste forms. Add to the sugar and butter mixture. Mix well. In a small bowl or condiment cup, stir together the baking soda and cider vinegar. This will foam and should be put into the batter immediately after well mixed. After adding the foam mixture, blend on medium-high speed until batter is consistent.

Spoon batter evenly into pans – batter will be very thick! Level top of batter with an offset spatula. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until cake springs back when pressed in the center. Turn out on wire racks and cool completely.

Cream cheese frosting:

2 – 8oz packages of cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla extract
4-5 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. With the mixer on low, gradually pour in the confectioners’ sugar. Increase the speed to high and beat until light and fluffy. If mixture is too thick, add a little milk to loosen it. If it is too thin, add additional powdered sugar or put in the refrigerator to firm up.

*If carving cake and coating with crumbs, be sure to put the crumbs on when the icing is fresh and still sticky.

* For the heart template, trace the bottom of a cake pan on wax paper, cut out the 9″ circle. Fold it in half and cut into a heart shape. Lay the paper heart on the cake and trim it down if it doesn’t comfortably fit inside the cake’s circumference.

Recipe from simplebakes.com
___________________________________________________________________________

Strawberry Shortcake Sushi

Strawberry Shortcake Sushi
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light + technique from Sprinkle Bakes

Ingredients:

cake -

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs + 2 more egg whites
1 t vanilla
2 T powdered sugar, for the towel when wrapping the cake
filling* -

2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 t vanilla or 1/2 a vanilla bean
1 cup diced strawberries + more for topping
* I had a little less than half left over, so feel free to cut the filling recipe in half and you should be fine.

Directions:

1.Preheat the oven to 400º. Coat a 15 x 10-inch jelly roll cookie sheet with cooking spray; line the bottom with parchment paper, and coat with cooking spray. Set aside.
2.In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl using an electric mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer beat together the eggs and sugar at high speed until pale and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Stir in vanilla.
3.Add the flour mixture half at a time mixing on low until each portion is mixed in completely.
4.Pour batter into prepared pan; spread evenly. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cake springs back when touched.
5.While the cake is baking sprinkle a clean dish towel with powdered sugar.
6.Remove the cake from the oven. Cut the cake in half long ways so that you have 2 long rectangles. 7.Invert onto the powdered sugared towel. Peel off the parchment and on each side of the towel roll the cakes from the long side toward the center. Flip the towel wrapped cakes over seem-side down on the counter for 30 minutes to an hour to cool.
8.Make filling. Beat together the whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla until fluffy and thick. Stir in the strawberries.
9.Unroll the cakes from the towel and either pipe or spread the filling into the center. Roll up so the ends touch and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for a couple hours or over night.
10.Slice, using a serrated knife into sushi-sized pieces. I ended up with about 18 pieces. Top with a strawberry slice and serve with strawberry coulis (recipe below).

Strawberry Coulis
Recipe from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:

2 cups quartered and hulled strawberries, mashed
1/4 cup water
3 T granulated sugar
1 T lemon juice

Directions:

Combine strawberries, water, sugar and lemon juice in a blender. Blend until very smooth. Press through a fine mesh strainer to remove seeds. Cover and refrigerate until cool. Place in a small dish for sushi dipping!

Recipe from takeamegabite.com