Strawberry Applesauce Cake

I baked this cake for my own birthday this year. Yummy! There's a whole story about it. I baked it, went out on a date with my husband, left the boys with a babysitter (who is the nanny from next door). I got home, the cake was NO WHERE. I asked the (English-is-her-second-language-she-barely-speaks-it) nanny "where is my cake??" My oldest son was still awake and I had the idea to eat some birthday cake with him before I put him to bed. She said, "it's at my house. I will get it for you tomorrow." I was STUNNED. The kids she nannies for next door had taken it home, and cut up my fresh cake and taken out at least 3 pieces and left it there.

!!!

So I said, "no, you will please get it NOW." So she went next door and my husband waited outside for her to give the cake to him.

So much for having a beautiful cake on my own birthday. Oh, well. It was really really really good tasting at least!

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I'm baking this today for a church event tomorrow. I anticipate the church folks to ask for the recipe, so it's on this site for them to nab if they really want to know my secrets.

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serves: 16
prep time: 5 minutes
baking time: 30-35 minutes
assembly time: 5 minutes

Cake:
Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan
Flour for dusting the pan
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix
1 package (10 ounces) frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
1/2 cup sweetened applesauce
2 large eggs

Frosting:
4 ounces Neufchatel cheese (reduced fat cream cheese) at room temperature
1/2 cup strawberry preserves or sweetened sliced strawberries
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 drop red food coloring (optional)

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly mist a 12-cup Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pan aside.

2. Place the cake mix, strawberry puree, applesauce, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look well combined and thickened. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven.

3. Bake the cake until it is light brown and springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 30 -35 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Run a long, sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a serving platter to cool completely, 20 minutes more.

4. Meanwhile, prepare the frosting. Place the Neufchatel cheese and the strawberry preserves in a medium-size mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until just combined, 30 seconds. Stop the machine, scrape down the sides of the bowl with the rubber spatula, and add the confectioners' sugar and red food coloring, if desired. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until fluffy, 1 minute more.

5 spread the frosting over top and sides of the cooled cake with clean, smooth strokes. Slice and serve.

Note: store this cake, covered in waxed paper, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

THIS RECIPE IS FROM THE CAKE MIX DOCTOR'S BOOK. PLEASE BUY THE BOOK; YOU WON'T REGRET IT.