July’s cake experiment is Angel Food. It took me a little while to get going on this because I needed to order the special pan, then I needed to get enough eggs (because it takes more eggs than I would have thought), then I needed to pick a day when I wasn’t too tired. And today was finally that day!
Angel Food is a different type of cake than what I have previously baked because it depends on whipped egg whites for it’s structure and volume. And that is a little tricky. But I got one baked, and it did not collapse!
Yay! It stayed up! That said, I think I should have whipped the egg whites for just the slightest little bit more, because it is a little denser than I think it should be.
However, if you whip egg whites too much, and they can just kind of coagulate completely and squish out all the moisture and then you’ve just wasted a dozen egg whites.
Anyway. This left me with a lot of egg yolks, which I didn’t want to waste, so while the cake was baking, I made a batch of lemon curd. This is another first time attempt for me. Lemon curd is one of those things you simmer for quite a while before it starts to thicken, but then suddenly it does. So I got to enjoy the experience of something not working until just when I’m ready to give up, and then it works. And I’m glad it did, because I messed around zesting and juicing a bunch of lemons, but it was worth it.
So it turns out lemon curd and angel food cake go together pretty well!
I think my next cake experiment is going to build on this one – maybe a chiffon cake? Maybe Genoise? I don’t know, but it will be interesting to see how it goes!
Have you baked an angel food cake, and if so how did it go? Do you have any tips for success to share?
Quite A Yarn 
Sounds delicious. I’ve only eaten and seen angel food cake in America, I don’t think it’s a thing here. I love lemon curd, delicious. Glad it all worked out well in the end.
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Thank you! Me too 🙂
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Yummy! I’ve never made either of these things.
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It is pretty yummy! I don’t know that I will make a habit of making them either, but it’s good to know I can if I have to. I don’t know when that would be, but you never know!
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I love angel food cake. My mom used to make them regularly. I use to get help from Duncan Hines because it is work and takes a dozen eggs. I like it alone or with just about any fruit.
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It is one of those more old fashioned cakes, I think. My grandmother used to make them, because her doctor told her they were a good option because they didn’t have fat in them. But then she spread the slices with peanut butter! You are right about the fruit!
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looks very yummy. I do my angel food from a box mix. I know, not the same but much quicker. My mom made hers from scratch until she found the box mix too.
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Thank you! And going forward I may as well, but wanted to try from scratch at least once!
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I haven’t made an angel food cake before, mostly because I have it in my head that I don’t like them. And for the longest time that was true. Now, however, I have learned that I like angel food cake when dipped in chocolate fondue. So maybe I would like it in other situations as well? I suppose someday I will have to find out. (It’s bizarre to me how drastically our tastes changes as we age.)
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Yes for sure! Tastes definitely change. I loved things when I was a kid that I wouldn’t eat now and vice versa. It definitely is a mild-tasting cake.
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They sure do! I remember when I was a kid, I mentally compared angel food cake with marshmallows (which I didn’t and still don’t like) but based on descriptions of the cake I’m not sure that’s a fair comparison.
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It’s not far off – it is sweet and doesn’t have a ton of flavor other than vanilla. The texture is pretty different, but otherwise it is kind of marshamallowy.
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Huh. Then maybe what you serve the angel food cake with makes all the difference. (It was really good in the chocolate fondue. But there it was effectively just a chocolate delivery system.)
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My mom used to make angel food cake; it was the only kind of cake she made. I’ll bet she still has the tube pan. I should get it from her and try it, since she doesn’t bake any more!
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Yes for sure! If she has a pan and is willing to let you use it, why not?
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I don’t think I’ve ever had angel food cake, but maybe it’s called something else over here. It looks yummy.
How difficult would you say lemon curd is? I absolutely love it so it could be fun to make my own
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That could easily be – it’s a cake with only whipped egg whites for structure. Lemon curd is really easy! There are a lot of recipes out there, and the method is pretty straightforward. Give it a try!
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I’ll have a look for some
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Very brave to try that it always sounded to challenging to make to me. I bet the lemon curd was wonderful with it!
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I was kind of intimidated by it for sure. But it worked out fine! The lemon curd was really good – I would definitely make that again, and likely will!
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