A classic, homemade angel food cake is cut and layered with a deliciously light, sweet, and subtly zesty lemon cream filling and stuffed with strawberries to make this brilliantly summer-y, exquisitely delicious angel food cake.
My obsession with this cake goes beyond words.
This cake is more than just cake; it is the fleeting joys of life embodied in baked goods.
It is catching fireflies at twilight and letting them go, it is flashing a newly-minted driver’s license to the bartender for your first legal drink, it is a first crush and the first shy brush of your lips against theirs. It is delightful and innocent and as ephemeral as summertime itself feels in the dead of winter.
If I were told I could only eat one thing again for the rest of my life… well I’d probably choose something practical like chicken, but my heart would break often for loss of this cake.
For the loss of it’s sweet, (appropriately) heavenly, fluffy interior, snow-white and slightly sticky. For the melt-in-your-mouth texture reminiscent of cotton candy, and the way in which you can feel the sugars beginning to melt on your tongue the moment you take your first bite. For the delicately browned exterior, and for the slightly tangy strawberry-filled cream that takes the cake to an entirely new level of flavor, creating a symphony of flavor and texture with soft notes of almond extract against a clamor of strawberries, and a melody of classic angel food orchestrated by a gentle zest of lemon .
The recipe for this cake (not the filling) is my mom’s.
That’s not exactly true; it originated from a Good Housekeeping cookbook that is now so well-used the spine is now duct-taped and each time you open it pages fall out in a flurry of well-loved recipes, too tired to hold on to their binding any longer.
But my mom has made this recipe countless times (mostly to use up a surplus of eggs from the chickens she and my dad raise), making it her own, and just like my great-grandmother makes the best fettuccine sauce and my grandmother makes the best chicken pot-pie in the world, my mom makes the best angel food cake. It’s requested with fervor, devoured within moments at parties, and each year on my birthday I ask her to make it for me.
Now, I’m sharing the recipe with you, dressed up with my own strawberry and lemon cream filling, and I sincerely hope you try it out for yourself.
Homemade Angel Food Cake is not to be compared to supermarket store-bought nor to those contrived from a box. There is simply no comparison. Homemade, from scratch, is superior in every way and only this food could ever compel me to write about it so passionately.
So long as you understand the meaning of “stiff peaks” (and if you don’t, I’m sure you know how to google) it’s really very easy to pull together, so long as you don’t mind taking the time to crack and separate almost a dozen eggs.
Make it. Taste it. Share it. Try to hold onto it, but remember this cake is as deliciously sweet and fleeting as strawberry season and disappears in the blink of an eye.
Lemon Layered Angel Food Cake
Ingredients
Angel Food Cake
- 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups egg whites at room temperature 10-12 egg whites
- 1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup sugar granulated
Filling
- 1 pint strawberries
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 1/4 cup lemon curd homemade or store-bought
- 1 cup +1/4powdered sugar divided
- 1 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
Angel Food Cake
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
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In a medium sized bowl, combine powdered sugar and flour and set aside.
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In KitchenAid mixer, combine egg whites, cream of tartar, vanilla and almond extracts and salt. Mix well.
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With mixer on high, beat in sugar, about 1 Tablespoon at a time, adding more only once the previous tablespoon has been dissolved (As you add the sugar, you should be able to hear the faint sound of the granules scraping against the metal bowl. Once you no longer hear this, the sugar has been dissolved). Do NOT scrape the sides of the bowl as you are doing this, just keep beating.
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Beat until stiff peaks form (stiff peaks exist when you can dip a knife or spatula into the mixture and the peaks that form when you remove the utensil hold their shape firmly without the point of the peak folding or receding back into the mixture)
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Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in sugar/flour mix, about ½ cup at a time. Do not over-mix; fold only until the flour mixture is combined with the egg whites mixture.
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Pour mixture into an ungreased 10 inch tube pan and use a knife or spatula to cut through the batter to break through any air bubbles that may exist.
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Bake the cake for 35 minutes or until the top of the cake springs back when lightly touched. Any cracks on the surface should look dry.
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Immediately upon removing from oven, invert the cake onto a bottle or funnel and allow it to cool completely
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Once cake has cooled, place right-side-up and run a knife inside the rim of the cake pan. Invert cake onto serving platter. Carefully, using a sharp serrated knife, cut the cake crosswise into thirds.
Strawberry Lemon Filling
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Reserve 9-10 whole strawberries for top of cake. With the rest, remove tops and slice. Set aside.
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In KitchenAid, cream together cream cheese and lemon curd on medium speed until combined.
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Gradually stir in 1 cup powdered sugar on low speed, pausing to scrape down sides of bowl
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In separate bowl, combine heavy cream, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and vanilla. Beat by hand or with handheld electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form.
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Stir whipped cream mixture into lemon/cream cheese mixture until just combined (be sure to scrape down sides of bowl)
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Spread lemon mixture between layers and on top of angel food cake. For the bottom two layers, top with strawberry slices and use whole strawberries on top of cake.
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Slice using sharp serrated knife and serve.
Hand me down recipes are just the best! This cake looks stunning and I love the combination of strawberry and lemon flavors paired with this fluffy cake 🙂
Thank you Medha!! 🙂
Truly beautiful. And a wonderful taste of the season! Love the idea of the lemon incorporated with the strawberry flavor.
Thank you so much!
This cake sounds mouth watering! I love that it’s your mom’s recipe. Family recipes are always the best!
Aren’t they though!? Thanks Annie!
LOVE angel food cake! This looks divine, Sam! Love the strawberries!
Thanks Jess!
I love how eloquently you talk about this cake, and it looks delicious!
Thank you Brittaney 🙂
That is beautiful! A work of art. I would love to have the fettuccine sauce and chicken pot pie recipes, hint, hint!
Haha, I’m still working on getting those myself. Thank you Kathy!
The way you describe this cake makes me really want a slice right about now! sounds and looks yummy!
Thanks so much Ana!
I am so impressed at the commitment that went into this cake! looks absolutely beautiful.
Thank you Beverly! 🙂
I’m kind of embarrassed that I’ve never made homemade angel food cake! This looks so good!
You should definitely try it out! Thanks Ashley!
Making angel food cake is on my bucket list, Sam! I always shy away from messing with egg whites, but now I just might do it. Yours looks amazing!
Oh you have to try it! It might take a time or two but once you develop a knack it’s really so easy!
Oh what a gorgeous cake, Sam! I love the strawberry and lemon combo! It just screams summer and deliciousness to me! Yum!
Thanks so much Gayle! Definitely summery!
What a gorgeous cake! It sounds absolutely delicious and I love the strawberry lemon combo! So fluffy and light and perfect for summer!
Thank you Kelly!
Wow you do some absolutely beautiful work! Thanks for commenting on my post because I just had to check you out!
🙂 Thank you so much Jocelyn, that is so nice to hear coming from such a great blogger as yourself 😀
Angel food cake is such a light and satisfying dessert. I would have to come back for a second slice, of this cake.
I definitely had seconds! Thank you Vanessa
Not only does the cake look gorgeous, but the picture you’ve painted with just your words! It sounds and looks incredible, and strawberries are my favourites so I would have no problem devouring this cake 🙂
Thank you for the kind words Nazia! 🙂
I’m so excited you’re sharing this recipe, Sam! I tried an angel food cake once and I ended up with a sunken cake that was slightly unbaked on one side. Needless to say, I was turned off by making a homemade angel food cake again. That and the fact that I was hesitant to try a random Pinterest recipe since there’s so much sifting and eggs involved. But I love your recipes so I’m going to definitely give yours a try – thank you so much for sharing! Your cake looks gorgeous! <3 XO
It’s all in the egg whites, you gotta beat them til they’re stiff and taking up most of the mixer bowl… you’ll get a knack for it. Let me know how it turns out Beeta, and Thanks! 🙂
Um yes, this cake is totally “the fleeting joys of life embodied in baked goods.” I love this post!!
😀 Thanks so much Sues! 🙂
It’s amazing how certain foods conjure up such fond memories…and they are memories that you carry throughout your life. This cake is beautiful and I know tastes just as good!
Indeed it is amazing. Thank you so much Thao!
Oh Sam, it’s not just looks good, but also very tasty! I love cakes with fruit. Look at my exeperimental with strawberries http://tastynice.com/prostoj-pirog/, a simple pie.
Thank you Sam
Thanks Julia! 🙂
I love this recipe. I do believe that people devour it immediately. But……I just noticed something that I had not read before.
The recipe lists “powdered sugar” for the cake as well as the lemon filling. I interpreted “powdered sugar” to mean Confectioners powdered sugar, yet you made reference to hearing “granules’ when the sugar is spooned and mixed into the cake batter. Could you clarify for me please? Is it granulated, sugar for the cake and confectioners powdered sugar for the filling?
Can’t wait to try this recipe!!! Thanks so much for sharing it!!!
Hi Diane!
This recipe actually uses both powdered sugar (yes, confectioners sugar) AND granulated. The powdered sugar gets mixed in with the flour, and then you’ll see that the granulated sugar is added into the egg white mixture. I hope this helps, and I hope that you love this cake as much as I do! 🙂
Hi, Sam! Thank you so much for this recipe. I have to say, I made this cake yesterday, and it is my new favorite dessert. The lemon, the strawberries, the cream cheese, the sweetness…the balance of flavors is perfect! Thanks again!
Debra I am so glad to hear you love the cake so much, it is one of my favorites as well. Thank you so much for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂