Yes, that Jell-O Jingle was a long time ago and yet Jell-O is still out there making fruit salads and funny wiggly cut-outs for the kids and providing hospital food for diets requiring “soft” foods. I have always liked jell-O. My Mom used to make a lime green jell-O filled with spiced grapes for every Thanksgiving Holiday.
I have told you of my obsession for cookbooks and recipes. When I come across my handwritten recipes with food spatters, I know that the particular recipe has been made many times and someone liked it. So, I am going to tell you yet another use for Jell-O! A cake! Yep, that is right…I said a cake.
I know there are those of you my dear readers, who remember this fun and easy recipe from the 70’s. Many of us were embarked on careers (some out of necessity) and yet we wanted to provide meals and desserts for our families! We looked for ease in prep as our time was limited…which is where our dear friend Betty Crocker came into our lives in the form of cake mixes! Oh my gosh! How we loved the ease of making those various flavors of cake out of a box! The world was our oyster and we could do it all…of course this was before we, as women…. realized that we didn’t have to do it all!
Remember this song..“I Am Woman? No, not the one of I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar, by Helen Reddy. This song came way before that one. Peggy Lee sang it. I laugh now as I read the lyrics….altho most of it was very true at the time.
Lyrics:
I can wash out forty four pairs of socks and have ’em hangin’ out on the line
I can starch and iron two dozens shirts ‘fore you can count from one to nine
I can scoop up a great big dipper full of lard from the drippin’s can
Throw it in the skillet, go out and do my shopping, be back before it melts in the pan
‘Cause I’m a woman! W-O-M-A-N, I’ll say it again
I can rub and scrub til this old house is shinin’ like a dime
Feed the baby, grease the car, and powder my face at the same time
Get all dressed up, go out and swing ’til four A.M. and then
Lay down at five, jump up at six, and start all over again
‘Cause I’m a woman! W-O-M-A-N, I’ll say it again
If you come to me sickly you know I’m gonna make you well
If you come to me all hexed up you know I’m gonna break the spell
If you come to me hungry you know I’m gonna fill you full of grits
If it’s lovin’ you’re likin, I’ll kiss you and give you the shiverin’ fits
‘Cause I’m a woman! W-O-M-A-N, I’ll say it again
I got a twenty dollar gold piece says there ain’t nothing I can’t do
I can make a dress out of a feed bag and I can make a man out of you
Sorry, I digress…..back to Jell-O and Cake Mixes. Over the years this cake has been made many ways.
For example, instead of using instant pudding and cool whip for icing…cool whip alone has been used.
Also, many recipes do not call for the strawberry soda, but I feel it enhances the flavor. You just mix the strawberry soda with the jell-O and pour it over the baked cake. This is so simple. Bake a cake, poke holds in it and pour jell-O over it and frost with instant pudding and cool whip! What could be easier?
You can use a white or yellow cake mix…the white shows off the red strawberry jell-O but the yellow works just fine too. Use your imagination…whatever you choose…this cake is cool tasting and refreshing and moist. It is a great cake to take to a potluck, altho it must be refrigerated.
You can also vary the flavor of the jell-O cake by substituting Lime jello and lemon-lime soda…or orange jell-O and orange soda…you get the picture. Aren’t old recipes the best?
Go forth and bake a cake mix cake….or bake one from scratch…this recipe works both ways.
Have a great Monday!
Hugs Always
- 1 box white (or yellow) cake mix, mixed and baked according to directions
- 1 box Strawberry Jello (3 ounces)
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1/4 cup of strawberry soda (optional, but I think it gives more strawberry flavor)
- 1 box Jell-O instant vanilla pudding
- 1 small tub of cool whip, thawed (8 ounces)
- sliced strawberries, for garnish
- Bake the cake according to package directions in a 9X13 baking dish or pan
- Remove cake from oven and allow to cool about 30 minutes.
- Using the handle of a wooden spoon (or you can use a fork), poke holes all over the cake.
- Meanwhile, dissolve the jell-o in the boiling water according to directions on the box. Keep stirring until all the jell-o granules are dissolved. (I do this in a large measuring cup) Add the strawberry soda if using.
- Carefully pour the liquid over the top of the cake, allowing the strawberry liquid to saturate the cake (no, you do not have too much liquid).
- Cover and place in fridge to chill while you make the Icing
- While cake is chilling, make the instant pudding according to directions and fold in the cool whip
- Remove cake from fridge and spread the icing evenly over the cake
- Top with sliced strawberries for garnish
- I have used almost every flavor of jell-o for this cake. Blueberry, orange, cherry...let your imagination run wild. If using soda (I think it intensifies the flavor) use grape, orange and cherry for the above suggestions. Some people use only cool whip for the icing, but I like the addition of the instant pudding mixed with the cool whip! Delish and moist!
Karole Jacobsen says
More – More – Memories! Thanks for waking them up! Have a pot luck coming up…guess what I am taking!
Kari says
Perfect Karole….enjoy the memories and this delish old cake reipe. thanks for stopping by.
Sandy says
Hi Kari,
I have my grandmother’s Betty Crocker cake book, and I love to use some of those recipes.
Hugs,
Sandy
Kari says
It is a great cookbook Sandy….some of the best recipes are the old ones. thanks for stopping by.