June is birthday month! It was my friend Jeanette’s birthday and she requested angel food cake. I have never made an angel food cake before, so I was pretty excited to use the pan hanging out in my Mom’s cabinet. Finally a use for a pan with legs! I had no idea that you needed to let the cake rest upside down, so I had a great time documenting this:
The cake is marvelous – it has a perfect sponge-y texture and I love Martha’s addition of raspberry layers. They add a nice fruity contrast to the cake. The layers are very easy to make – all those egg whites make the batter extremely stiff, so you can easily spread the raspberry mixture onto the batter without a problem, making you appear to be some sort of cake layering genius.
I rarely pay attention to recipes that tell you to sift, but I highly recommend it here. The batter is very light and fluffy and if there are any lumps in the sugar or flour, it will be readily apparent in the cake. So sift away! I used my Mom’s sifter, which is wonderfully old school and works far better than my newer one.
Finally, don’t toss those egg yolks! I am saving mine to make a super batch of ice cream that will be so creamy, I will probably die of happiness. I had a fantastic salted caramel ice cream a few weeks ago that I would love to replicate, so if you know of any good recipes, leave a comment. Otherwise I might make ice cream with my second favorite ingredient, creme fraiche!
Unfortunately for the purpose of blog photos, we ate the cake on a bar patio, lit by candlelight. Great for ambiance, terrible for photos. So this was the sole focused, best lit photo of the cake. It is a bit hard to tell, but check out how awesome the raspberry layers look! Very delicious, angel food cake is now officially in recipe circulation.
Angel Food Cake with Raspberry Layers
Adapted from Martha
Serves 12-16
Ingredients
Angel Food Cake
1 1/4 cups sifted cake flour, not self-rising
1 1/2 cups sugar, preferably powdered, sifted, plus 2 teaspoons
Pinch of salt
1 pint (12 ounces) fresh raspberries
1 3/4 cups egg whites, about 12 large eggs
2 teaspoons cream of tartar or lemon juice, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Super Whipped Creams
1 8 oz. container mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup chilled whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in lower third. Cut parchment to fit bottom of round 10-inch angel food cake pan with legs. Fit paper into pan. Do not grease pan.
Sift flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt together. Sift again into a bowl. In a medium bowl, using a fork, mash 1 rounded cup (or 1 8 oz. container) whole raspberries. Add 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice and 2 teaspoons of sugar and mix well. Add more juice and/or sugar to taste. Set aside
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on medium-low speed until foamy. Beat in cream of tartar or 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and vanilla. Increase speed to medium-high; beat until whites are nearly stiff. Reduce speed to medium-low; beat in the remaining 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time. Beat until peaks are almost stiff but not at all dry. Transfer egg whites to large bowl.
Sift flour mixture over egg whites; fold in gently with large rubber spatula. Gently transfer 1/3 of batter to tube pan. Spoon 2 tablespoons mashed berries over egg whites. Spoon another 1/3 of batter into the pan; repeat with remaining mashed berries. Top with remaining batter. Run a knife through mixture, touching bottom of pan, to eliminate any air pockets. Leave the top very textured with peaks in the meringue; do not smooth.
Bake until the top of the cake is lightly golden and the cake springs back when pressed lightly, 35 to 45 minutes. (If top darkens too quickly, tent with foil.)
While the cake is baking, make the whipped cream. In a large bowl, combine mascarpone, sugar, cream and vanilla. Beat until well combined and thick enough to spread. Do not over beat, as mixture will curdle. This can be done ahead and stored in the refrigerator.
Once the cake is done, remove from oven and invert pan onto its legs; let cake stand, in the pan, until completely cool, about 1 hour. Run a knife around edges of the cake to loosen the sides. Unmold cake and allow to dry. Serve with a healthy spoonful of whipped cream and remaining whole raspberries.
YAY! You’ve returned! And this looks scrumptious!!!
IT WAS THE BEST BIRTHDAY CAKE EVER!!!! THANK YOU!!!
This beautiful cake was delicious!!!!!!! I waited for some with great anticipation.