A Recipe from VIP Cook Book Vol. II (1977)

About the Recipe

When I opened this book to find a recipe, I did it with one goal in mind – Find the recipe from Rosalynn Carter! I had two thoughts when this was the one that I found:

1. Well, it’s almost Valentine’s Day, so I guess it’s the perfect time of year for what’s sure to be a very pink cake
2. Oh wow is that a lot of processed, pre-packaged sugar!

The good news is, that the result is magnificent. I’m sure the former First Lady wowed her parlor guests with this festive cake, chock full of nuts and personality.

I used fresh strawberries (had to get a little freshness in there somewhere), which worked marvelously, and I think gave the cake a little bit more of a pop. As much as it feels like you want to cut the sugar down in this dish, don’t cut it from the fresh strawberries! Sugar draws the juices out of the berries and stimulates the natural pectin that holds the cake together.

About the Book

As fundraising cookbooks go, this one must be one of the cooler ones. It came again from the big box from my cousins, and I was so excited to see it. The book itself is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. The recipes come from all of the muckety-mucks in Washington and Virginia, from the media to the Senators’ wives to Mrs. Jimmy Carter! I’ll definitely dive into this one again, so for this first post I’ll leave you with some photos of the book as a teaser:

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

1 pkg. yellow or white cake mix
3 oz. pkg. strawberry gelatin
3/4 c. cooking oil
1 c. chopped nuts
4 eggs
2 T flour
10 oz. pkg. frozen strawberries, or 1 pt. fresh strawberries with 1/2 c. sugar

Directions:

Mix all ingredients and beat well; pour into a greased angel food cake pan and bake.

Serve plain or with whipped cream.