Watermelon Flavored Cake

My oldest daughter gave me the inspiration for this cake.

That girl seriously loves watermelon!
 

When I told her that I was decorating a cake to look like a watermelon,

she excitedly asked, "Will it taste like watermelon too?"

Umm...

could I make a cake that tastes like watermelon?
After some brainstorming and research, the answer is "Yes!".

Watermelon puree and Jell-O give this cake it's flavor, and it is fantastic!
And the frosting is SO good...I just want to eat it with a spoon!

Watermelon Cake 

adapted from Chaos in the Kitchen

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Ingredients

Watermelon Cake

• 1 box white cake mix
• 1 (3 oz.) box of watermelon Jell-O powder (reserve 2 teaspoons for frosting)
• 1/2 cup watermelon puree
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup oil
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
• red food coloring

Watermelon Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
• 5 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoons watermelon puree
• 2 teaspoons watermelon Jell-O powder
• red and green food coloring

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of 2 eight inch round pans with wax paper, and spray the sides with cooking oil.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix and Jell-O. Add water and oil; mix on medium speed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Add watermelon puree and beat until blended. Add red food coloring a little at a time, until you reach desired color. Place chocolate chips and a teaspoon of flour in a ziploc bag; shake to coat. Fold the chocolate chips into the batter. Pour into pans and bake for 30-35 minutes.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter together. Beat in watermelon puree. Gradually add sugar and Jell-O, beating until smooth. Color 1/3 of the frosting green, color the remaining 2/3 the same color as the cake.

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Things to Note:

• To make puree: Cut chunks from the center of a watermelon and remove any seeds. Put them in a blender and hit the puree button!
• The chocolate chips in my batter sunk to the bottom while baking, and didn't quite achieve the "seeds" look I was going for. After I posted this recipe, several astute readers gave me the solution to that problem: Coating the chocolate chips with a small amount of flour keeps them from sinking!
• Trim the brown edges off the cake before frosting.
• Use pink frosting between the layers and on the top of the cake. Spread green frosting on the sides and outer edge of the top. Press mini chocolate chips on top for seeds.

 

Enjoy!

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Patriotic Mini Star Cakes

"Oh, say can you see..."

These red, white and blue Mini Star Cakes make me feel all patriotic.
I made them with vanilla cake, whipped cream,
fresh berries and strawberry sauce.

They would be a fun treat for your Memorial Day BBQ
or Fourth of July celebration!

Making Mini Star Cakes

Prepare your favorite vanilla cake batter. Divide the batter equally into 3 bowls. Use food coloring to make one bowl of batter red and one blue. Bake as directed and cool. (I baked mine in 8 inch square pans.) While the cake is baking, make your whipped cream and strawberry sauce.

Whipped Cream

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon clear vanilla
• 4 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

In a large bowl, whip cream until soft peaks form. Beat in vanilla and sugar until stiff peaks form. (Do not over-beat, cream will become lumpy and butter-like.)  Store in the refrigerator.

Strawberry Sauce

• 2 cups pureed strawberries (fresh or frozen)
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice

Level your cake tops if needed.

Use a star cookie cutter to make star shapes from each cake layer.

 

Remove the cake scraps around the outside of the stars.

(I'll show you what to make with these later!)

Use a spatula to transfer a red star to a plate.

 Put your whipped cream in a decorating bag, and snip off the tip.

Cover the star with whipped cream: Make an outline, then fill it in.

 Arrange sliced strawberries on top. 

 Layer with a white cake star. Cover with whipped cream and blueberries.

 

Layer with a blue cake star. Cover with whipped cream and strawberry sauce
(let it drip down the sides). Garnish with strawberries and blueberries.

Now let's make something with those cake scraps...

Mini Trifles!

Cut the cake scraps into cubes.

Layer all ingredients in a glass or mason jar, in the same order as above.

 

If you aren't a fan of whipped cream and fruit on your cake, you could put frosting between the cake layers instead and sprinkles on the top.

 

 Enjoy!

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