Today I was sitting in my office, eBaying of course, but all I wanted to do was bake, and I really really have been wanting cake. I’ve backed off the baking since Easter and have been just keeping up with the cooking because quite frankly, I’m getting fat again! So with the exercise cranked up a notch (I don’t think I’ve lost any weight though) and a break from baking I decided today was the day for cake. With all the tragedies and horrible things happening in our world such as the marathon bombing yesterday, life is just too short to not eat cake! Being from the northeast, a little over an hour from Boston and having walked through that area many times, my heart breaks for all the people affected yesterday. We love our Boston even though we are Southeners now:-) So back to the cake. I went through the pantry and fridge/freezer to get ideas as I had no specific craving, I just wanted cake, one of my favorite foods! I ended up making this Strawberry Chocolate chip cake and it was a good call! I’ve never made this before and I just kind of went with it as I usually do:-) I was going to frost it with Nutella frosting since I’m a Nutella freak, but my daughter came home from school before I frosted it and said “no”! She has suddenly gone on Nutella strike, so I went with the plain frosting which I still love! So here is my recipe:-)

 

Cake Ingredients:

2 1/2 Cups sifted all purpose flour

2 cups of sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

4 eggs

1 1/2 sticks of butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup of milk

1 cup mashed strawberries (fresh or frozen, I only had frozen today so that’s what I used)

1 cup of chocolate chips

 

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. In another large mixing bowl beat the butter and sugar together. Add eggs 1 at a time beating after each one. Add vanilla, mix again. Add the dry ingredients in 3 separate mixes alternating with milk and mixing after each.  Crush the thawed strawberries in a bowl then fold into batter. Fold Chocolate chips into batter and make sure it’s all mixed well. Pour into to 9″ round cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes.

 

Frosting Ingredients:

4 cups of confectioners sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 stick of butter

5 tbsp milk

2 bakers chocolate squares for decoration

1 cup of strawberries, thawed, crushed (for center of cake)

4 strawberries for top

 

Combine all the frosting ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Take the cup of strawberries and crush them then add a couple big spoonfuls of frosting it and mix well. Spread on the top of one of the cakes, then top with the other cake. Frost the rest of the cake the shave the chocolate squares and sprinkle shavings onto the cake until well covered. Place the 4 whole strawberries on top. Pretty:-)