Mom's Easy Strawberry Cake

My 🍓 Mom's Easy Strawberry Cake with a homemade strawberry glaze. This is the perfect cake for spring and summer strawberries. I've made a peach variation as well and it's just as good. This cake is perfect for cookout's and get - togethers.

Today I want to share a recipe for one of my favorite cakes growing up. My Mom's Easy Strawberry Cake! I remember eating this wonderful cake at just about every BBQ or get together we had. Every holiday in the summer was celebrated with this yummy dessert. My mom used to buy the large prepackaged cake shells at the store but they got to be too pricey.

One day she decided to bake the cakes herself by using a store bought butter cake mix and her tiara pans. By using a cake mix we ended up with a extra cake which was always a plus. One to keep and one to share, but usually we just ate them both.

This cake is baked in a Tiara Cake Pan or Mary Ann style cake pan. If you're not familiar with that type of baking pan just click on the links to view a photo. These style cake cake pans has a fluted edge and a hollow center to hold fruit, filling or both.   

I purchased my cake pans a long time ago when Duncan Hines had their special tiara cake mix on sale. If you purchased a cake mix then you received a free pan. I was so excited to see those pans because I knew that I could finally make that special strawberry cake I grew up eating.

I don't know what I would do if I lost those pans. You can still purchase them on eBay, Amazon, William Sonoma, King Aurthur, Nordic Ware, and even on Pampered Chef. Maybe you're lucky enough to have one or more of these pans just laying around.

I make this cake exactly the way mom did except she used store bought glaze and I use homemade. The store bought strawberry glaze my mom used came in a big pouch and it wasn't that expensive, but it has gone up in price quite a bit since then.

I use the strawberry glaze recipe that I use to make my favorite Summertime Strawberry Pie. It taste the same but only cheaper and better. I just double the glaze recipe and it works perfectly. Sometimes mom would change things up a bit and use canned peaches and a prepared peach glaze. 

By far strawberry was always my favorite. You can also use this style of pan to make a Black Forest Tiara Cake as well so its a very versatile pan. I'm so excited that I too can make my favorite strawberry cake for my friends and family just like my mom did. I love how certain recipes bring back a flood of childhood memories. 

Those truly are the best recipes. I have included some step by step photos, but in usual fashion the full recipe is a the end of this post.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the cake mix according to package directions adding the eggs, oil, and water. Spray two 10 inch tiara pans with baking spray and then lightly flour the pans. Bake the cakes at 350 degrees fir about 20 minutes. Let the cakes cool for 5 - 10 minutes in the pan before removing to a baking rack to cool completely. While the cakes are cooling prepare the strawberry filling. 

Click here for a step by step tutorial on how to make the strawberry glaze. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, gelatin, lemon juice, strawberry extract and water in a medium size pot. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook until the mixture thickens, whisking often. Remove from heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature.

Arrange the strawberries in the cooled cake shells and then pour the cooled strawberry glaze all over the strawberries making sure to cover all the berries. You may have some of the glaze left. Make sure not to overflow the filling or it will run everywhere. Refrigerate cakes until ready to serve.

I serve mine with a dollop of fresh whipping cream, but you can also use cool whip it's really up to you. I apologize for not getting a photo of a slice of this wonderful cake, but I was taking both of them to a grill out and I didn't want to cut into them.

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