Valentine’s Day calls for sweets! This easy and colorful cake will make your family very happy. You can bake the batter in a Bundt pan, as a layer cake or as cupcakes.

Pink Lady Cake

1 18-oz. box of white cake mix (such as Duncan Hines)
1 3-oz. box of raspberry Jell-O mix
2/3 cup cooking oil
4 large eggs
10 oz. (1.5 cups) of frozen raspberries

Thaw the raspberries in their bag in the microwave on the very lowest setting. Place a colander in a wide bowl and pour the raspberries into the colander. Set aside until most of the juices have drained into the bowl.

Meanwhile, prepare your cake pans. Use a large Bundt pan, two 9-inch round cake pans or 24 muffin tins. For the cake pans, liberally coat them with baking spray (this contains both oil and flour), or grease and flour them by hand. Don’t omit the flouring step—the Jell-O in this cake will cause the cake to stick to the pan.

For cupcakes, place a cupcake liner in each tin. (No need to spray the tins first.)

In a large mixing bowl, combine cake and Jell-O mixes and oil. Pour the drained raspberry juice into a half-cup measure. Add enough water to equal a half of a cup and pour into the mixing bowl.

Mix on medium-low for one minute. Add eggs, beating after each addition, until they are incorporated into the batter. Add the drained raspberries (without the extra juice) to the bowl and mix for an additional two minutes on medium-high.

Immediately pour the batter evenly into your prepared pans. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven: 23 to 28 minutes for cupcakes, 28 to 34 minutes for 9-inch round pans and 45 to 52 minutes for a Bundt pan. This is a moist cake so it may take a bit longer than you’d expect.

After the minimum baking time, stick a wooden toothpick into the center of the cake. When you pull the toothpick out, there should be either no crumbs or just a few crumbs sticking to the toothpick. If there is batter on the toothpick, or if the crumbs seem too wet, bake for a few minutes more.

When the cake is done, remove from the oven and place on cooling racks.

Let the cakes cool for 20 minutes. Place each cupcake on a cooling rack. For the cake pans, loosen the sides of the cake by running a dinner knife around the edges. Place a cooling rack over the cake pan, invert the pan and lift it off of the cake. Let the cake cool completely on the rack, place it on a plate, and then frost with this raspberry-cream cheese frosting:

1 8-oz. package of cream cheese (low fat is fine)
1 stick of butter or light butter (not margarine)
4.5 cups of powdered sugar
1-2 Tbsp. of the remaining raspberry juice or raspberry liqueur

Beat together the softened cream cheese and butter for two minutes on medium. Meanwhile, sift your powdered sugar to get rid of any lumps. Turn the mixer to low and add the sugar to the butter mixture one cup at a time. Add the liquid and beat until fluffy.

Frost the cake and serve. If you’ve made cupcakes, everyone can have the fun of decorating their own.

If you firmly believe Valentine’s Day equals chocolate, then check out these chocolate goodies from last year’s columns:

• Last-Minutes Gifts of the No-Bake Variety
• Valentine's Day Treats