Inside-out Cakes

Inside-out Strawberry Cake

Nancy S., a sweet co-worker of Larry’s, experimented with the Inside-out German Chocolate Cake recipe I shared a couple of weeks ago, substituting lemon cake mix and lemon icing. She used lemon extract in her glaze. She brought the cake to work yesterday and shared it with everyone. They called me to tell me how good it was! Nancy wanted me to give it a try using strawberry icing.

I had a white cake mix on-hand so I used it and a tub of strawberry icing. We had some strawberries in the fridge that Larry had sliced and put sugar over. I used some of the fresh strawberry juice to make my glaze. We all liked it! It was super moist! If you don’t have fresh strawberry juice on-hand, save a bit of the strawberry icing, and use as a glaze.

Right now, specially-marked packages of Betty Crocker icings have an instant 25 cents off coupon on the container. Plus, there’s a Box Tops for Education coupon on the label, too!

To learn more about Box Tops for Education, visit:

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I sent the rest of the strawberry cake with Larry to work so everyone there could give it a try. They said it was good and moist, but some thought it needed more of a strawberry flavor. Others liked it as it is. I am thinking if you want a more intense strawberry flavor you'll get this by using strawberry cake mix, rather than the white cake mix I used.

Inside-out Milk Chocolate Chip Cake

I decided to try it with milk chocolate cake mix and icing. I left a couple of tablespoons of the dry cake mix in its plastic bag. I added a cup of milk chocolate chips to the bag and coated the chips well with the dry cake mix to prevent them from going to the bottom of the batter. I hand-stirred the chocolate chips into the cake batter before pouring it into my Bundt pan. I drizzled it with a simple chocolate glaze.

This is a simple recipe, and the ingredients are easy to keep on-hand, making this a good cake for a quick dessert. This would work well for donating to bake sales. Cake mixes and frostings are often on sale, and there are almost always coupons for them, too.

Here’s the recipe:

Inside-out Cakes

1 box cake mix
3 eggs
½ cup canola or vegetable oil
1 cup water
1 tub ready-to-spread frosting (Reserve ½ cup of icing if using for glaze.)
1 cup chocolate chips (if making chocolate cake)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Pour cake mix into mixer bowl. Turn mixer on low for a few seconds to break up any lumps in the dry mix. Slowly add water, oil and eggs. Beat on medium speed for two to three minutes. Lower mixer speed and add icing a tablespoon at a time until well blended. Add chocolate chips by hand, if making chocolate cake. Pour batter into a Bundt cake pan that has been sprayed well with cooking spray. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until done. This cake is delicious plain, with a glaze, or dusted with powdered sugar.

To make glaze from tub icing:

Reserve 1/2 cup ready-to-spread frosting when making batter. Spoon frosting into microwavable bowl. Microwave uncovered on high about 15 seconds or until frosting can be stirred smooth and is thin enough to drizzle. (Or spoon frosting into 1-quart saucepan and heat over low heat, stirring constantly, until thin enough to drizzle.)

Simple Chocolate Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 -3 three tablespoons of milk, maybe a bit more or less depending on how thick you want your glaze.

Combine powdered sugar and cocoa with whisk. Add butter. Add milk a bit at a time while whisking all ingredients. Whisk until smooth. Drizzle over cake.

Simple Lemon Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice or lemon extract
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 -3 three tablespoons of milk, maybe a bit more or less depending on how thick you want your glaze.

Combine powdered sugar and lemon juice with whisk. Add butter. Add milk a bit at a time while whisking all ingredients. Whisk until smooth. Drizzle over cake.