Champagne and Strawberry Cream Cake

This is one of my favorite Spring time recipes. I've made it twice already this week! I make my own spongecake from scratch usually, but you can use a good quality cake mix, such as Duncan Hines

Champagne and Strawberry Cream Cake

1 box vanilla cake mix
3 pints strawberries
1-1 1/2 cups sugar
1 pint heavy cream whipped to stiff peaks
1 bottle Mosacata Spumanti Champagne (or other Sweet sparkling wine)
zest of one orange
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Follow the cake mix directions for the 8" round size cake pans. Meanwhile: wash, hull and cut the strawberries in half. Place the berries into a very large bowl and pour the sugar and vanilla over them. pour the bottle of champagne into a sauce pan with the orange zest and boil, reducing to 1/2 cup of liquid. pour into the strawberry mix and stir. Cool the cakes to room temperature. place one cake upside down onto a serving platter. place 1/3 of the berries onto the cake. spoon about 1/3 of the berry syrup onto the the berries-soaking the cake. then top with 1/3 of the whipped cream. Cut the remaining 8" cake round in half horizontally so that you have two thin cake layers. Repeat the layering process with the cake, berries, syrup and cream two more times-garnish with fresh mint if you like and serve right away as the cake tends to disintegrate quickly.