Strawberry Yogurt Cake with Strawberries and Mint

Strawberry Yogurt Cake with Strawberries and Mint

"Can I come home for the summer?
I could slow down for a little while
Get back to lovin' each other
Leave all those long and lonesome miles behind"
Ray Lamontagne and the Pariah Dogs "For the Summer"
From, God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise

My two younger sisters both have summer birthdays. They also both have long, naturally blonde hair to match their naturally long legs and tan skin. I, on the other hand, am pale, and was born in November. A great month, yes, but let's face it, everyone loves a summer birthday.

So when we were all still small and living under the same roof, my mom would make the most wonderfully-delicious, summery-fantastical strawberry cake for my sisters' birthdays.  Strawberries would be in season and the whole thing was just a lovely childhood memory, unable to be recreated by my feeble and infant kitchen experimentation.  But what I was able to produce was actually pretty delicious of its own accord.

The was pretty simple because its from a box (I cheated). Instead of following the instructions for the white cake to the tee however, I decreased the amount of water and vegetable oil and added a good amount (~1 c.) of strawberry greek yogurt. The outcome is a moist, refrigerator-ready cake with a somewhat dense-yet-light consistency. Since I only have 1 8x8 cake pan and at least 10 pie pans in my hodge-podge kitchen cupboards, I had to bake the three layers one at a time. A royal pain in the ass but well worth it in the end.

The frosting was a whole different animal. When I do eventually attempt a round II with this particular cake, I will try a different method of frosting. So I tried to do everything by the book - cool the cakes, etc. etc. - and it was still a mess. I whipped the frosting from the can and then added about 1/2 c. of the strawberry greek yogurt (i bought a really big container). Now, don't get me wrong, it was absolutely delicious. But because of the yogurt, it had to be kept very cold and needless to say trying to frost a room-temperature cake in the middle of May was no fairy tale. But we kept it in the fridge and it was delicious all the nights we ate it (which were a lot of nights because there is only two of us).

So it wasn't exactly my moms. The mint+strawberry combo on top was my attempt at making it look like the ones I remember. The mint is nice because it adds an interesting flavor compliment to the strawberries. Unfortunately I didn't have to much of it because my small potted mint plant is often reserved for making mojitos. Also a summer necessity.