Azalea Cake

I'm going to start this post with saying that every mid century loving host/ess needs to pick up the Cooks County anthologies! Evey issue they have a featured cake in the back, always seasonal, always bright, and nearly always an old mid-century favorite. An that is where this years husbands birthday cake came from!

Back in the 50's/60's "flower" cakes became increasingly popular. They had fun names like daffodil cake and were decorated and colored to match. This week I put together an azalea cake. On the surface, maybe an overly pink choice for a fella's birthday, but it had all the components (fruit, non sickening frosting) we love in our house, and I wasn't quite creative enough to think of another azalea color that would also taste good and not look off putting.

The recipe was a fair amount of work, and took close to 2 hours due to only having the 2 cake tins (needs 3) but so worth the effort! It's basically a white layer cake made with red food coloring in the center layer, frosted and filled with 7 minute icing and layered with fresh strawberries, raspberries and nuts. I obviously used the Cooks Country recipe, (minus the kirsch) but you can use your favorites if you don't have that one. Next time I make it the one change I'll make is as well as the chopped up the fruit mixed with the filling frosting, I'll layer extra thin cut strawberries along each layer of cake as well to give the cake a more fruity, fresh, tart flavor. That said, next party you throw, the pink azalea cake would make a swell retro center piece!

(My other favorite mid century dessert is of course the stained glass cake, I make a ton of these every Summer!)