Grandma Hazel’s birthday cake

This is a cake that is a different ( slightly healthier) version of the popular watergate cake. The watergate cake usually is a white cake , with pistachio pudding , nuts ( pecans, walnuts) , club soda and sometimes pineapple or coconut. 

Ingredients - 

Angel food cake ( loaf)- 1 

Pistachio pudding mix (jello brand or others ) -1 

Milk- 2 cups

Cool whip 8 oz - 1 

Crunchy candy bar - 1 large  ( Kit Kat/ butterfinger ( we like this one!)/Heath bar  )

Pyrex dish 9X13

Instructions 

1. Take the angel food cake and rip it up into medium sized pieces and use it to line the bottom of the Pyrex dish.

2. Make the pistachio pudding per package instructions ( in a large bowl mix 1 package of the pistachio pudding mix with 2 cups of cold milk) 

3. Layer the pudding over the cake and spread evenly 

4. Now spread the cool whip over the pistachio pudding.

5. Crush the candy bar into small pieces and spread evenly over the cool whip 

6. Chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours before serving. This cake is not cut into a slice , you can scoop out desired amount and serve it in a bowl.

Simple strawberry cake

My sister Sal had a lot strawberries and wanted to make a cake. She has made other kinds of strawberry cakes before with two or three layers and icing. This time she wanted to make a simple cake and found this recipe on one of her favorite websites smittenkitchen. The cake turned out really good and she shared her pictures with me. Alas she did not share the cake with me but she assured me it was very tasty! 

Ingredients 

Unsalted butter - 6 tbsp ( soft at room temp)- have 1 tbsp extra to grease the baking dish 

Large egg - 1 

All purpose flour - 1.5 cups

Baking powder - 1.5 tsp

Salt - 0.5 tsp

Sugar - 1 cup ( have 2 tbsp extra for topping ) 

Milk - 0.5 cup 

Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

Strawberries - large 16 oz box washed well and cut in halves ( longitudinally)

Instructions 

1. Preheat oven to 350 F

2. Take a 9” round cake pan and coat the insides with butter 

3. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt together 

4. In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar until fluffy ( use an electric hand mixer )

5. Add  egg, vanilla , and milk and mix slightly until all of the wet ingredients are combined ( don’t over mix) 

6. Now add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and hand mix until they form a smooth batter 

7. Pour in the batter into the cake pan 

8. Now place the cut strawberries cut side down on top of the batter in a circular pattern 

9. Sprinkle 2 tbsp of sugar evenly on top 

10. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 F

11. Then reduce the oven temperature to 325 F and bake for about 50- 60 minutes 

12 . At 50 minutes put a toothpick in the cake and if it comes out clean it’s done otherwise bake for another 10 minutes ( be careful when you do this , use oven mitts)

13. Let cake cool and then it is ready to serve . You can serve with whipped cream of ice cream!