Lemon Angel Food Cake

Angel food cake is a summer staple. It’s light & airy and just sweet enough. Original recipe courtesy of: http://anitalianinmykitchen.com. I added my own twist of course and you’re going to love it.

Note: this recipe replaces the use of cream of tartar with lemon juice. I also baked this cake in a 6″ baking round, and had a bit of batter left over. I would recommend a classic bunt baking pan, a square baking dish or two 8″ baking rounds. You could even make cupcakes out of this batter, it’s very stable.

Lemon Angel Food Cake Recipe:

1 cup cake flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 & 1/4 cup sugar
8 egg whites, at room temp.
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
zest of 2 lemons

Directions:

Set oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl add the flour, salt, 1/4 cup of sugar and lemon zest. Using a whisk, sift the ingredients together for about 2 minutes.
In a kitchen aid with the whip attachment, add the egg whites, lemon juice, vanilla extract and almond extract. Whip on high for about 2 minutes. Slowly add in the remaining 1 cup of sugar. Continue to whip on high for about 5 minutes. The egg white mixture will resemble meringue and have soft peaks.
Add in the sifted flour in 2 additions, folding in the sifted flour well on each addition. Do not over fold, over folding will deflate egg whites. Note: for the folding motion using an offset spatula, you’ll want to start on the side of the bowl just above the batter, bringing the spatula down to the bottom of the bowl, then turning the mixture over on itself. Continue this motion while rotating the bowl to ensure you incorporate the entire mixture together.
Pour batter into well sprayed baking pan, and bake for about anywhere between 20-45 minutes, depending on your baking pan. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Lemon Whipped Cream

40% heavy whipping cream- 1&1/2 cups
pure amber maple syrup-2 tbsp.
lemon zest- 2 each
lemon juice- 1 each

Directions:

In a kitchen aid with the whip attachment, add the heavy cream. Whip on high for 2 minutes.
Add in the maple syrup, and whip until cream forms stiff peaks, about 5-7 minutes.
Fold in the lemon zest & juice, reserve in fridge until ready to use.

Decorating the cake:

I simply just spooned the whipped cream on top of the cake and smoothed a think layer on the sides. You could do any sort of piping if you desired, but for this cake I wanted to keep it very simple.

I really enjoy stepping back and just baking something really simple with simple decoration. There’s something incredibly beautiful about that to me. I always try to bake with transparency, and I feel like this cake really represents that. Transparently simple, delicate & delish.

I envision this cake resting in the shade in the backyard on a hot summer day after a day filled with quality family time, laughing, enjoying the sun. Accompanied maybe with melted dark chocolate, toasted coconut or fresh berries. Or maybe even just with a lemon wedge to squeeze on top.