Strawberry Shortcake Birthday Cake

My little girl just turned 4.  For her 4th birthday she insisted on having a Strawberry Shortcake cake.  Over all it was a fun cake that went pretty smoothly to make.  It was really humid here the week I made it and the fondant was alot harder to work with than usual, but I was able to get past that and work through it.  At least there were no cake disasters.

We went with a WSCA cake with a strawberry cream cheese filling and frosted in vanilla buttercream, then covered in marshmellow fondant.

For your taste bud enjoyment I a sharing the Filling recipe.  I found the recipe over on cake central.  I love that site for new recipes for cakes and cupcakes.

Creamy & Firm Strawberry Cream Cheese Filling

Ingredients:

1 cup water

2 small pkgs strawberry gelatin

4 8oz pks cream cheese at room temperature

1 16oz frozen sweetened strawberries (thawed)

Instructions:

Put one cup of water into a clear glass bowl--don't substitute.  Microwave on high until it boils.  Add the two boxes of gelatin and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until you can smear the mixture against the side of the bowl without seeing any granules.  It should be clear and red.  this step will take a few minutes.  Add the strawberries and mix well.  Let this come to room temperature.  DO NOT refrigerate.  Cream the cream cheese in a stand mixer until fluffy.  Add the strawberry mixture a half cup at a time until it is well blended (it will be a little thin).  Refrigerate for an hour or more or until ready to use.  This filling is very yummy with WSCA as it is not too sweet. 

Left overs are yummy when put into a graham cracker pie crust and topped with whipped cream.