Strawberry Whipped Cream Cake

So here's another wacky and fun contraption I bought - the Big Top Giant Cupcake Mold!  Clearly, this was something I had to have, so I coughed up the $9.99 and here we are.

A recipe booklet came with the purchase of the mold (if you can call a cake mix, some fruit, and whipped cream a recipe...).  I figured I would try it the easy way first, since I didn't know how much trouble the pan might give me.  It actually was quite easy, so next time I might make a cake with a clown face that is also advertised in the booklet.  That will be nice and frightening...

Ingredients:

2 packages white cake mix (and ingredients asked for on back of box)
1 8 oz. tub of whipped cream
1 package fresh strawberries

1/2 cup sugar

Instructions:

Bake cake according to instructions, filling each side of the mold up to the line on the inside of the mold.  This will leave you with some leftover cake mix, which you can either discard or use for cupcakes.

As you can see below, the mold has an insert which creates a hole in the middle that you can fill with practically anything.  Ideas, ideas!

Slice strawberries and reserve about 1/2 cup for garnish.  Mix 1/2 cup cup sugar, about 1 tbsp water, and strawberries in a bowl.  Let sit for about 20 minutes, while the cake is cooling, so that the strawberries soak up the sugar.

Once cake has cooled, fill the base with the sliced strawberries.  It actually looks pretty just like that, in fact, I considered serving it without the top!

Place the top over the base, then frost the entire cake using the whipped cream.  Garnish with reserved strawberries.

Of course, you could also make this cake without the giant cupcake pan... but why would you want to?  Here is the link to where I got it from:  Cupcake Pan