The Ultimate Strawberry Cake

Step 1

In a large bowl add white cake mix, vegetable oil, water, eggs, and 1 tsp Mexican vanilla extract. Beat that together using an electric hand mixer for a few minutes until fully combined. Grease a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray, transfer the cake batter into the greased baking dish, and smooth the batter out so that it is even. Bake that in the oven at 350°F for about 26 - 30 minutes.

Step 2

To a blender, add strawberry pie filling, sweetened condensed milk, and whole milk. Pulse it for just a few seconds until combined and smooth. If yours is a little too thick add more whole milk until it gets to a pourable consistency. Set aside.

Step 3

Now take about 6 strawberries and slice them on the diagonal so that your strawberries look like the shape of a heart and flat. Set the strawberries aside.

Step 4

Right when the cake comes out of the oven, use the handle of a wooden spoon to poke holes all over the cake, going about 3/4's of the way down. Pour the pie filling mixture over the warm cake, and then smooth it out evenly so it fills all the holes. Now, take those set aside sliced strawberries and arrange them evenly in rows on top of the cake. Then, place the cake in the refrigerator to let it cool for at least an hour.

Step 5

To make the strawberry crunch topping, separate the golden oreos and remove the cream filling. Add the separated golden oreo cookies into a ziploc bag and pour in the freeze dried strawberries. Close the ziploc bag and crush the oreos and strawberries up using a rolling pin or your hands. Once they're all crushed up, pour in the melted butter and close the ziploc bag again. Shake that together until the butter has fully coated everything. Set that aside.

Step 6

To make the homemade whipped cream, in a large mixing bowl add heavy cream, powdered sugar, and ½ tbsp of Mexican vanilla extract. Beat that together with an electric hand mixer for about 5-7 minutes until it reaches a stiff peak.

Step 7

Once the cake is done chilling, add the homemade whipped cream on top and smooth it out until even. Then, evenly sprinkle over the strawberry crunch topping. Lastly garnish with more fresh strawberries (optional). Enjoy!