Pour in the half-cup of vegetable oil and mix it in with the eggs on LOW speed.
Add the half-cup of strawberry liqueur. Mix it in at LOW speed.
Scoop out the container of sour cream and put it into a small bowl. Add the Tablespoon of strawberry jam and stir it in.
Add the sour cream and strawberry jam mixture to your mixer bowl. Mix that in on LOW speed.
When everything is well combined, open the box of dry cake mix and sprinkle it on top of the liquid ingredients in the bowl of the mixer. Mix that in on LOW speed.
Open the package of instant vanilla pudding and pie filling and sprinkle in the contents. Mix it in on LOW speed.
Shut off the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl, remove it from the mixer, and set it on the counter.
If you have a food processor, put in the steel blade and pour in the white chocolate or vanilla baking chips. Process in an on-and-off motion to chop them in smaller pieces. (You can also do this with a knife on a cutting board if you don’t have a food processor.)
Sprinkle the white chocolate or vanilla baking chips in your bowl and stir them in by hand with a rubber spatula.
Hannah’s 1st Note: If you don’t want to use strawberry liqueur in this recipe, use whole milk or water with a little strawberry jam mixed in for flavoring.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: The reason the white chips in this recipe are chopped in smaller pieces is that regular-size chips are larger and heavier, and they tend to sink down to the bottom of your Bundt pan.
Use the rubber spatula to transfer the cake batter to the prepared Bundt pan.
Smooth the top of your cake with the spatula and put it into the center of your preheated oven.
Bake your Ultimate Strawberry Bundt Cake at 350 degrees F. for 55 minutes.
Before you take your cake out of the oven, test it for doneness by inserting a cake tester, thin wooden skewer, or long toothpick. Insert it midway between outside edges of the pan and the metal protrusion that makes the crater in the center of the pan.
If the tester comes out clean, your cake is done. If there is still unbaked batter clinging to the tester, shut the oven door and bake your cake for 5 minutes longer.
Take your cake out of the oven and set it on a cold stove burner or a wire rack. Let it cool in the pan for 20 minutes and then pull the sides of the cake away from the pan with the tips of your impeccably clean fingers. Don’t forget to do the same for the sides of the crater in the middle.
Tip the Bundt pan upside down on a platter and drop it gently on a folded towel on the kitchen counter. Do this until the cake falls out of the pan and rests on the platter.
Cover your Ultimate Strawberry Bundt Cake loosely with foil and refrigerate it for at least 1 hour. Overnight is even better.
Frost your cake with Cool Whip Strawberry Frosting. (Recipe and instructions follow.)
Yield: At least 10 pieces of sweet and tasty strawberry cake. Serve with tall glasses of ice-cold milk or cups of strong coffee.
COOL WHIP STRAWBERRY FROSTING
This recipe is made in the microwave.
1 heaping cup (6 to 7 ounces by weight) of white chocolate or vanilla baking chips (I used Nestlé chips)
8-ounce (by weight) tub of FROZEN Cool Whip (Do not thaw! Leave in the freezer.)
? teaspoon strawberry extract
2 drops red food coloring, the liquid type
Hannah’s 1st Note: Make sure you use the Original Cool Whip, not the sugar free or the real whipped cream.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: If you use the gel food coloring, the color will be brighter and you may need less than 2 drops.
Start by chopping your white chocolate or vanilla baking chips into smaller pieces or placing the chips in a food processor with the steel blade and processing in an on-and-off motion to chop the chips into smaller pieces.
Get the Cool Whip out of your freezer and scoop it out. Place it in a microwave-safe bowl. (I used a quart Pyrex measuring cup.)
Add the white chocolate or vanilla baking chips to the bowl.
Microwave the bowl on HIGH for 1 minute and then let it sit in the microwave for an additional minute.
Take the bowl out of the microwave and stir to see if the chips are melted. If they’re not, heat them in 30-second intervals with 30-second standing times on HIGH in the microwave until you succeed in melting the chips and stirring the mixture smooth.
Put the microwave-safe bowl on a towel on your kitchen counter and add the ? teaspoon strawberry extract.
Add the 2 drops of red food coloring to your microwave-safe bowl.
Stir the mixture to combine everything.
Look at the color of your frosting. If it’s a nice pink, you’re done. If the color is too light, add more food coloring and stir it in until your frosting is the desired color.
Let the bowl sit on the countertop for 15 minutes to thicken the frosting.
When the time is up, give the bowl a stir and remove your cake from the refrigerator. Frost your Ultimate Strawberry Bundt Cake with the frosting and don’t forget the sides of the crater in the middle. You don’t need to frost all the way down to the bottom of the crater. That’s almost impossible. Just frost an inch or so down the sides of the crater.
Hannah’s 3rd Note: You can decorate the top of your cake with fresh strawberries cut in half, cut side down, if you wish. If you are baking this cake for Valentine’s Day, you can decorate the top of your cake with the little pastel-colored hearts that have sayings on them.
Return your cake to the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before cutting it and serving it to your guests.
Hannah’s 4th Note: You can also use this frosting on cookies. Simply frost and let your cookies sit on wax paper on the kitchen counter until the frosting has set and is dry to the touch.
Yield: This frosting will frost a Bundt Cake, a batch of cookies, a 9-inch by 13-inch cake, or a round two-tier layer cake.
Chapter Three
It didn’t take very long for Hannah’s cake to fill the condo with a mouthwatering aroma. Hannah smiled as she realized that her mood had improved dramatically. The storm, which was now officially categorized as a blizzard, continued to rage outside, but Hannah knew that she was in no danger. She had plenty of food in the pantry, her electricity would not fail for more than a few seconds, thanks to the generator in the garage that served all four units in her building, and her cable television would continue to operate. When her condo complex was built, all the utilities had been run underground. It had been one of the selling points that Al Percy, their local real-estate agent, had mentioned when he’d shown Hannah and Delores the condo.
Rayne Phillips, Dee Dee Hughes, and Chuck Wilson were still warning viewers about the “blizzard of the century.” Hannah picked up the remote control and switched to one of the movie channels included in her cable package. The channel was running a romance movie, and that was the last thing she needed to see. Her romance, along with her marriage to Ross, had turned to ashes.
A sigh escaped, unbidden, from Hannah’s throat. If things had turned out differently, she would be sitting here on the comfortable leather couch with her loving husband. Then a blizzard would be just another adventure, a welcome excuse to stay home and be with each other.