Strawberry Cake and Frosting with Jello

Use strawberry jello mix and strawberry emulsion to create a flavorful, moist cake with delicious strawberry buttercream.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Birthday, Cake, Frosting, strawberry

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1 25

Servings 16 servings

Calories 531kcal

Author Colleen

Combine the jello mix and hot water. Stir until completely dissolved, then set aside to cool slightly while you beat the butter.
Add the butter to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on a medium- high speed for 8- 10 minutes, scraping the bowl down as needed.
Add the powdered sugar in 3- 4 additions. After each addition, mix on low to combine, then medium- low for 1- 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl down as needed.
Add the jello mix, strawberry emulsion, and gel color. Beat for 2- 3 minutes, scraping the bowl down as needed. Cover and store for later.

Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare three 6 inch cake pans with parchment paper and baking spray. If using baking strips, soak those in cold water.
In a bowl, combine the flours, jello mix, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk well to combine, then set the bowl aside.
In a larger bowl, combine the sugar, gel color, milk, water, oil, eggs, and strawberry emulsion. Use an immersion blender or a whisk to combine the wet ingredients thoroughly.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk gently until combined. Some small lumps are fine, but you do not want any dry streaks in the batter. It will be very liquidy.
Fill the pans about halfway, 14- 15 oz in each pan. You will likely have leftover batter. I use that to make a few cupcakes. If using baking strips, wring them out and wrap around the pans.
Bake for 33- 38 minutes or until the cakes are beginning to pull away from the pans, the tops spring back when poked, and a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool in the pans for 10- 15 minutes, the invert onto a rack to finish cooling, about an hour. Double wrap in cling wrap and chill in the fridge for at least one hour, or over night.

Place the first cake layer on a cake board and top with strawberry buttercream, repeat with remaining layers. Cover the stacked cake in a thin crumb coat and chill for 15- 30 minutes.
Add a final layer of frosting to the entire cake. For the textured look, gently and slowly run a small offset spatula up the cake as you spin your turntable. As the frosting builds on the spatula, pause to wipe off the excess, then continue with the swirl. If desired, add sprinkles to the bottom edge of the cake.