With a bit of creativity, a box cake can be easily transformed into a Valentine’s Day dessert that looks and tastes like it was made from scratch!

Use your favorite French Vanilla cake mix that includes pudding mix. I used 1 ½ cups of Trüfrü, those divine frozen strawberries covered in white and dark chocolate, which I bought at Costco. Put the strawberries in a food processor, but do not crush them too much. Put them back in the freezer until ready to use. When ready to use, mix them with 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour.

I picked up two heart-shaped aluminum cake molds and heart-shaped cupcake toppers. I decorated one cake with cream cheese frosting, which is perfect for Valentine’s dinner dessert, and the other with powdered sugar, making it a lovely choice for Valentine’s breakfast or a sweet treat at the office.

Substitute the oil in the cake mix with unsalted butter and the water with milk. 

Mix the cake ingredients well, then gently fold in the frozen strawberries. Bake according to the box instructions, and let the cakes cool completely before decorating them.

I like the cream cheese frosting to be less sweet so it doesn’t overshadow the cake. To make it, I recommend mixing 8 oz of room-temperature cream cheese with 5 tablespoons of unsalted butter, one teaspoon of vanilla extract, and 2 cups of powdered sugar. Feel free to add more sugar if you like it sweeter! Mix until it’s nice and smooth. 

💜 Happy baking, and enjoy every sweet moment!