The Healthy My Ass Cookbook

Strawberry Shortcut Cake

Shortcut because the strawberries are already in it.

Ingredients:

Directions:

In a medium size bowl, combine the completely thawed Strawberries (and syrup) with the Strawberry Gelatin Powder and set aside.

Generously grease the bottom only of a 13" X 9" baking pan with butter.  Sprinkle the Miniature Marshmallows evenly over the bottom of the pan.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Combine the Flour, Sugar, Baking Powder and Salt.  Set aside.  Cream the Shortening in a large bowl.  Blend in the Eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.  Blend in the Milk and Vanilla.  Add the set aside dry ingredients and beat on medium speed for 3 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.

Gently pour the batter over the marshmallows in the prepared pan to cover them without disturbing them.  Spread evenly with the spatula.  Spoon the strawberry mixture evenly over the batter.  Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean of batter.

Cut into square servings and remove each from plan using a flat edged pancake turner to get all the strawberries from the bottom of the pan.  Optionally serve upside down with the strawberries on top.  Serve warm or cool with ice cream or whipped cream.

Notes:

The original recipe called for 1 3-oz. package of strawberry flavored gelatin and 2 10-oz. packages of frozen strawberries, but of course they no longer sell frozen strawberries in a 10-oz. package.  While I liked the taste of the additional strawberries and gelatin I used and put in the recipe, some of the strawberry mixture did overflow the pan onto the oven bottom.  So you may either want to cut back to the original amounts or use something to catch the overflow.

High Altitude: Use only 2&1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, 2 tablespoons less sugar, 2 to 3 tablespoons more milk and bake at 375°F.