Show Your Red, White & Blue

The 4th of July is a special day for me because it's my parent's wedding anniversary and my chance to try a new "red, white and blue" dessert.  This is one of my favorite holidays of the year to spend with my parents outside of traditional family holidays.  I love grilling with my dad, watching my mom sit on the hammock and seeing my daughter stand underneath the sprinklers.  I think my parents went over the top with celebrating the big "red, white and blue" this year.  They've been married for 27 years so they're allowed to.  Instead of your typical BBQ eats, we had a seafood festival right in our backyard.  My parents had lobsters, crabs, shrimps, mussels, clams, potatoes and corn for 6 adults and a toddler.  An extra bonus to our seafood festival was eating on top of banana leaves.  That's right- we ate like barbarians!

A couple of hours later we did a good job in eating most of what was on the table.  We were all in a food coma that dessert had to wait until much later.  But how can you resist such a beautiful cake such like this?  This berries shortcake was quick and easy to make.  Since this is a 2 layer cake, I made sure that it wasn't too sweet.

INGREDIENTS
2 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans
1 box yellow cake mixture
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
water
1/4 cup sugar
2 pints strawberries, stems removed and sliced
1 pint blueberries
1 8 oz. Kraft Cool Whip Lite

STEP 1: Heat oven to 350 deg F.  Grease and flour cake pans.

STEP 2: In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, oil and the amount of water called for by the package directions.  Beat until well combined.  Divide the batter between the cake pans.  Place in oven and bake until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes.  If unsure, just follow baking times mentioned on the box.  Let the cakes cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from pans.  Cool completely on wire rack before assembling.

STEP 3: Meanwhile, sprinkle 1/4 cup of sugar over strawberries.  Set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes or until the berries release their juices.  Place one of the cake layers on a serving platter.  Pile on half the strawberries and blueberries and half the cool whip.  Top with the remaining layer, the rest of the cool whip, and the remaining berries.

Serve immediately and enjoy!