Fresh Strawberry Upside Down Cake

     I am always on the hunt for a good upside down cake recipe to make in my dutch oven, when I saw this Strawberry Upside Down Cake on allrecipes.com I just knew I had to give it a try.  This cake is downright delicious, it's sweet like a dump cake but the fresh fruit and incredibly moist cake bring this strawberry shortcake-like dessert to a new level.  You'll never get the cake out of your oven in one piece without parchment paper.  The marshmallows magically disappear into the cake while baking making the cake more delicate to remove.  Let it cool in your dutch oven for a good 20-30 minutes before inverting onto a platter.  You need to crush the strawberries well so they will release enough juice to absorb the gelatin powder.  I ended up pulverizing them with a potato masher.  The cake baked in 35 minutes with 12 coals in a ring around the bottom and about 22-24 on top.  During the dog days of summer treat yourself to a cool piece of this refreshing, colorful dessert.

Fresh Strawberry Upside Down Cake
2 cups crushed fresh strawberries
1 (3 ounce) package strawberry flavored gelatin mix
3 cups miniature marshmallows
1 (18 ounce) package yellow cake mix, batter prepared as directed on package

     Lightly oil or spray a 12 inch dutch oven and line with parchment paper.
     Spread crushed strawberries evenly over parchment paper in oven.  Sprinkle strawberries with dry gelatin powder and top with mini marshmallows.
     Prepare the cake mix as directed on the package and pour on top of the marshmallows.
     Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees or until center of cake is firm to the touch.
     Cool cake in dutch oven for 20 minutes before removing.  Carefully invert onto platter.  Store cake in refrigerator.

Sprinkle gelatin over crushed strawberries

Add mini marshmallows

Pour cake batter over topping

Let cool for 30 minutes before inverting onto plate

Sweet and moist, like an upscale strawberry shortcake