My Mom’s Strawberry Dream Cake

 

It’s Mother’s Day this weekend and I couldn’t help but think of this cake. My mom has been making this Strawberry Dream Cake for over 40 years. As a little girl, I would help her make it. It was my favorite request for my birthday. My extended family has come to love it as well. Whenever she makes it, it quickly disappears.

Even though the cake does take a little time to make, I guarantee if you give it a try you’ll be making it again!

A lot of the time is a cool time so it is great to start the day before or in the morning (at least 7 hours before the party).

First, make the white cake mix as directed on the box. Spray a large cake pan with cooking spray and then use about 2-3 Tablespoons of any kind of flour. Tap the flour around on the pan until the bottom and sides are thoroughly yet lightly coated.

Cook cake. Watch the cake very closely and try not to over cook it. This ensures it will be nice and moist. I set the timer about 8 minutes before the cake box says it should be done and check on it often then I remove it as soon as a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

As the cake is cooking I prepare the ‘Dream Mixture’. The most important part is to make sure the cream cheese is room temperature and very soft—I’ve used room temperature pre-whipped cream cheese with great success. If using block cream cheese and it is not already room temperature, you can cut it into a few pieces and microwave it for a 20 seconds. Put cream cheese in a mixer or use a hand mixer and cream it until its smooth (this prevents it from clumping) in the mixture.

Next, add the whipping cream, vanilla, and powder sugar to the cream cheese. Mix at LOW speed for 5 minutes, then mix at medium-high speed for 3 minutes. The mixture/frosting should now form soft peaks.

Cool cake completely (I usually put it in the fridge or freezer).

Next, run a knife along the edges to make room for the Dream mixture. Then frost the cake with the Dream mixture and run the knife along the edges a few times so the dream mixture can get down into the edges of the cake. If desired you can also take the cake out of the pan and put it on a cookie sheet before frosting it—note that the toppings will get everywhere if you put it on a cookie sheet.

Cool the cake in the fridge for 2 hours and let the dream mixture set. About 30 minutes before the cake is done cooling I move on to the last step.

Cook the Danish Dessert (found here) in a medium sauce pan by doing the following. Start with 1 3/4 Cup cold water in a sauce pan and pour in Danish Dessert. Begin stirring, turn the heat to high and stir until it comes to a full boil. Boil and stir continuously for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir until its warm (or not hot). Next stir in the thawed strawberries. Update- I have made this cake now and stirred in a pint of strawberries thinly sliced with my food processor and it was incredible! I’d highly recommend this alternative the fresh thin strawberries are very delicious mixed in the danish dessert and frozen strawberry mixture.

Put the cake pan on a cookie sheet (because the mixture will most likely go over the sides of the cake pan). Pour the strawberry mixture on top of the cake. Use a knife or fork to pull the cake from the edge of the pan and allow strawberry topping to sink down the sides of the cake. Refrigerate for four hours. There is a chance (especially if you had fresh strawberries) that you will have too much danish topping for the cake to handle without spilling onto the cookie sheet significantly. In this case I save the extras (refrigerate them in a separate bowl) and add the to the individual cake slices as I serve them—which everyone loves.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

White cake mix and required ingredients (eggs, oil, water, etc.)

1- 8 oz Neufchatel cheese or cream cheese
1 Large box of Strawberry Danish Dessert 4.75 ounces
1 Pint (2 Cups) Heavy Whipping Cream
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract (Mexican is the best)
2 Containers or boxes of frozen strawberries cut and stored with sugar
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 Pint fresh ripe strawberries thinly sliced (optional)

 

Famous Strawberry Dream Cake

Yield: 16

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 6 hours 30 minutes

Total Time: 7 hours

There are great cakes. And then there are requested-for-birthdays-and-scarfed-down-in-minutes-cakes and this is one of those amazing types of cakes.

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Ingredients

• White cake mix and required ingredients (eggs, oil, water, etc.)
• 1- 8 oz Neufchatel cheese or cream cheese
• 1 Large box of Strawberry Danish Dessert 4.75 ounces
• 1 Pint (2 Cups) Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract (Mexican is the best)
• 2 Containers or boxes of frozen strawberries cut and stored with sugar
• 2 Cups Powdered Sugar
• 1 Pint fresh ripe strawberries thinly sliced (optional)

Instructions

1. First, make the white cake mix as directed on the box. Spray a large cake pan with cooking spray and then use about 2-3 Tablespoons of any kind of flour. Tap the flour around on the pan until the bottom and sides are thoroughly yet lightly coated.
2. Cook cake. Watch the cake very closely and try not to over cook it. This ensures it will be nice and moist. I set the timer about 8 minutes before the cake box says it should be done and check on it often then I remove it as soon as a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
3. As the cake is cooking I prepare the 'Dream Mixture'. The most important part is to make sure the cream cheese is room temperature and very soft. I cut it into a few pieces and microwave it for 20 seconds. Then put it in the mixer or use a hand mixer and cream it until its smooth (this prevents it from clumping) in the mixture.
4. Next, add the whipping cream, vanilla, and powder sugar to the cream cheese. Mix at LOW speed for 5 minutes, then mix at medium-high speed for 3 minutes. The mixture/frosting should now form soft peaks.
5. Cool cake completely (I usually put it in the fridge or freezer).
6. Next, run a knife along the edges to make room for the Dream mixture. Then frost the cake with the Dream mixture and run the knife along the edges a few times so the dream mixture can get down into the edges of the cake. If desired you can also take the cake out of the pan and put it on a cookie sheet before frosting it - note that the toppings will get everywhere if you put it on a cookie sheet.
7. Cool the cake in the fridge for 2 hours and let the dream mixture set. About 30 minutes before the cake is done cooling I move on to the last step.
8. Cook the Danish Dessert (found here) in a medium sauce pan by doing the following. Start with 1 3/4 cup cold water in a sauce pan and pour in Danish Dessert. Begin stirring, turn the heat on to high and stir until it comes to a full boil. Boil and stir continuously for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir until its warm (or not hot). Next stir in the thawed strawberries. Update - I have made this scale now and stirred in a pint of strawberries thinly sliced with my food processor and it was incredible! I’d highly recommend this alternative the fresh thin strawberries are very delicious mixed in the danish dessert and frozen strawberry mixture.
9. Put the cake pan on a cookie sheet (because the mixture will most likely go over the sides of the cake pan). Pour the strawberry mixture on top of the cake. Use a knife or fork to pull the cake from the edge of the pan and allow strawberry topping to sink down the sides of the cake. Refrigerate for four hours. There is a chance (especially if you had fresh strawberries) that you will have too much danish topping for the cake to handle without spilling onto the cookie sheet significantly. In this case, I save the extras (refrigerate them in a separate bowl) and add them to the individual cake slices as I serve them—which everyone loves.

Did you make this recipe?

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