Two Red Bowls

RECIPES

BABY

COOKBOOK

double-strawberry angel food cake with whipped vanilla creme fraiche

Jump to Recipe

angel food cakes-6

Happy Day Before Valentine’s Day!  Or, as I have now learned, Galentine’s Day. Before I get to anything else, I have to first say a big thank you to Courtney of Neighborfood, queen of the killer pie crust, for inviting me to participate in a virtual “Galentine’s Day” celebration with these very talented bloggers.  Definitely take a peek at the fantastic recipes these lovely ladies have put together!

Galentine’s Day Drinks

Blood Orange Bourbon Fizz with Fried Sage from Lauren of Climbing Grier Mountain
Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Martini from Shanna of Pineapple and Coconut
Ladies’ Night Rum Punch from Lindsay of The Live In Kitchen

Galentine’s Day Brunch

Sweet Potato Cornmeal Waffles with Bourbon Cream and Pecan Butter from Susan of Girl in the Little Red Kitchen
Chocolate Dipped Donuts from Angie of Big Bear’s Wife
Lemon and Ginger Scones from Lauren of Healthy. Delicious.
Beet, Blood Orange, and Chèvre Salad from Lori of Foxes Love Lemons

Galentine’s Day Desserts

Piña Colada Cupcakes from Courtney of Neighborfood
Strawberry Chocolate Dessert Bars from Marly of Namely Marly
Banana Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Chocolate Frosting from Nancy of Gotta Get Baked
One Layer Fudge Cake from Liz of That Skinny Chick Can Bake
Dark Chocolate Pistachio Ice Cream with Candied Bacon Bits from Steph of Girl Versus Dough
Fruity Dessert Pizza from Morgan of Peaches Please
Secret-Ingredient Chocolate Pecan Bites (Gluten Free!) from Karen of The Food Charlatan
DIY Cheesecake Parfait Bar from Heather of Heather’s Dish

mise ingredients
zoom

And now, these angel food cakes. As far as Valentine’s Day posts go, I feel like there are a lot of love lessons I could extrapolate from this angel food cake adventure.  This very “rustic” (your daily dose of euphemism) mini angel food layer cake.  Like … something about not judging books by their covers.  And decrepit layer cakes by the sharp angle of their list.  Or loving the imperfections.  Even when a cake looks so ridiculously sad and lopsided that it makes you want to simultaneously laugh and kill things.  Or love is perseverance.  And not throwing cake against the wall and watching it smash with vicious satisfaction.

But mainly all I want to say is — angel food cake was probably not meant to be made into a mini layer cake, unless you want to experience an unnatural level of rage and despair disproportional to the fact that you’re making dainty airy girly cakes that actually do taste quite delicious.  And there is so much to love about how these taste!  The angel food cake is based on this recipe by the ever-talented Jacquelyn at Lark & Linen (whose layer cake is quite a bit more impressive than mine!).  It’s airy and divine, and wonderfully easy despite all angel food cake lore.  (Plus, you don’t have to worry about it falling, because these cakes are so teensy to begin with.)   Next, there’s a compote made from strawberries roasted in balsamic vinegar, layered with slightly sweetened fresh strawberries for balance.

And finally, there’s my favorite part — whipped vanilla creme fraiche made by the indomitable Vermont Creamery.  I’ve been thinking and thinking about how to describe it and I keep coming up short.  It’s beautifully creamy and smooth, but with a fresh and lively tang, and that gorgeous vanilla flavor you can literally see in its vanilla bean specks.  I want to say it reminds me of a grown-up vanilla yogurt, but that just sounds so inadequate.  Seriously, though?  This is probably one of my favorite products by Vermont Creamery, which is saying something, given that I’ve loved everything I tried by them so far.

angel food cakes

Just for fun, though, a few words about my mishaps (it’s refreshing to acknowledge that things aren’t always how they appear, isn’t it?)  I originally made this using the ramekin method I describe in this post.  I have kind of a thing for mini layer cakes made in ramekins.  Chocolate ones.  Gingerbread ones.  Zucchini ones.  Baked in these 4-ounce ramekins, they’re easy to level, easy to stack, perfect for two.  And I’m totally over the moon for them.  For this, I had visions of an ethereal miniature angel food layer cake, resting on dreamy, lofty drifts of whipped cream with both fresh and roasted strawberries peeking coyly out between them.  (My expectations seem less reasonable in retrospect.)

Well, either because whipped cream isn’t quite sturdy enough to hold up three mini layers without the cake listing, or because angel food cake is somewhat more difficult to level evenly because it’s so spongy and light, the ramekin method I describe in this post didn’t work so well for me here.  For kicks, a few salvaged shots of my Leaning Towers of Cake Pisa:

layer cake-2
layer cake

(There is a dessert spoon propping these babies up.  Ya just can’t see it.)  In the end, I went with a cupcake tin, which yielded much smaller layers, and stacked them in layers of two instead of three to make a lot of mini angel food cakes.  Or “strawberry cake burgers,” as Bowl #2 called them.  No toppling.  Just cake burgers with strawberry patties.  But really, the best way to enjoy these?

mess

Dumped in a bowl.  Like so.

Dropping the mic.

Enjoy! 🙂  Happy Valentine’s / Galentine’s / Singles Awareness / February 14th Day!

zoom-2
vertical

Print

Double-strawberry angel food cake with whipped vanilla creme fraiche

Print Recipe

adapted from this recipe by Jacquelyn of Lark & Linen.

Ingredients

Scale
  • for the strawberry compote:
  • 1 cup whole strawberries (half a 1 lb box)
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • for fresh strawberries:
  • 1/2 cup whole strawberries
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • for the cake:
  • 1/6 cup (2 tbsp plus 2 tsp) cake flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 large egg whites, at room temperature
  • 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
  • small pinch salt
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • few drops almond extract
  • for the whipped creme fraiche:
  • 1 8 oz tub of Vermont Creamery vanilla creme fraiche
  • 1–2 tbsp confectioners sugar (optional)

Instructions

  1. For the strawberry compote: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Hull strawberries, then slice into halves or quarters. Toss lightly in balsamic vinegar and sugar, then spread in a single layer over parchment paper on a baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until strawberries are soft.
  2. Remove and let cool; you can leave the oven on because you’ll need it for the cake. Transfer the strawberries to a food processor and pulse briefly to form the compote. Alternatively, you can just mash with a fork.
  3. For the fresh strawberries: Hull and toss in sugar to coat, then cover and place in refrigerator to let the juices release while you prepare everything else.
  4. For the cake: Sift the cake flour and 2 tbsp of sugar together and set aside.
  5. Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt until peaks begin to form.
  6. Sprinkle in the remaining 2 tbsp of sugar and continue beating on high until the egg mixture reaches stiff peaks. (Note that sugar makes egg whites less sturdy, so you may only reach medium peaks. It’s not terribly important, so don’t fret if they’re not stiff.)
  7. Fold in the cake flour mixture, vanilla extract, and almond extract, taking care to mix very gently so as not to deflate the mixture.
  8. Line a cupcake tin with small parchment paper circles or cupcake liners. Divide batter evenly between 6-8 cupcake tins (depending on how high you want your “cake layers” to be). Alternatively, you can bake the batter in 3 or 4 4-ounce porcelain ramekins.
  9. If using a cupcake tin, bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. If using ramekins, bake for slightly longer, about 15 minutes (or golden brown).
  10. Remove from oven and cool completely. No need to invert, as they are so small they likely won’t fall much anyway.
  11. Finally, for the whipped creme fraiche: Simply beat the creme fraiche until it forms soft peaks. It’s already fairly stiff in texture, so you’re really just making it a bit more fluffy, and it will not go much stiffer than soft peaks, so you don’t need to go overboard with the whipping. Be careful to stop and test to make sure it doesn’t become grainy. I added a tablespoon or two of confectioners’ sugar, but I didn’t think it was really necessary — the creme fraiche is plenty sweet on its own.
  12. To assemble: Slice the fresh strawberries, now sweetened, into thin slices. Run a sharp knife around the edges of the tin to loosen the cakes (or, if you’ve used liners, just remove the liners). My layers were shallow enough that I simply stacked them as they were — if yours are taller, you may try slicing them in half. Alternate cake layers with layers of strawberry compote, fresh strawberries, and creme fraiche, then top with more of each. Or just dump it in a bowl and enjoy. The cake tastes even better when the creme fraiche and all the juices have soaked into it.

Notes

Note that you may have leftover creme fraiche and strawberry compote. You can either just double the batch of angel food cake, or use them for other things — the creme fraiche makes a wonderful dip for fruit, and the compote is great on pancakes, toast, English muffins, or anything else you can think of.

Reader Interactions

say hello!

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. erika

    Bahaha loooove this. You’re so funny. You did an EXCELLENT job propping that spoon up because I couldn’t tell those were leaning cakes at all! I was really thinking ‘what is she talking about’ before I read the part about the spoon. For what it’s worth, they look flawless in the photos and they sound absolutely DELICIOUS.

    What are you doing to get this gorgeous moody lighting in these photos?? Your photography has been on such a dramatic upward curve–it’s so fun to watch!

    Reply

    • tworedbowls

      Hahaha! Yeah, it’s kind of amazing looking at them now how infuriating they were at the time. It’s really only that one shot at that one angle that looks deceptively normal. 😉 Honestly, I think I preferred the taste in the larger ramekins (the cake has more space to be fluffy and soft!) but if I do it again, I’m definitely not stacking them. Just burying it in creme fraiche and then in my face. 😉

      Haha, mostly just making grumpy faces at the cloudy days we’ve been having (ALL on the weekends!) lately!!! To me, they look woefully underexposed, so I appreciate your kind words <3 You're so sweet, Erika!

      Reply

  4. Courtney @ Neighborfood

    Oh man! I can just imagine how wonderful these taste. Strawberries and angel food cake are like the definition of summer and lord knows I could use a little taste of summer right now! It’s always such a bummer when such delicious food doesn’t want to LOOK pretty. I think you did a great job And that dessert spoon? Totally hidden. I do appreciate you giving us the back story though. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who gets desperate when their food just won’t cooperate with my artistic vision. 😉

    Reply

    • tworedbowls

      Haha, it’s the worst! I get frustrated pretty easily, and it’s hard not to just scrap it and give up. I keep taking deep breaths like “NO, you can make this work… no, you CAN make this work..” Lol. Especially since in this case, it really did taste wonderful! But like you said, it’s always refreshing to talk about when we mess up, too. 🙂 Thanks so much for your kind words, Courtney! And a huge thanks again for organizing all of this!!

      Reply

    • tworedbowls

      Thanks so much, Liz!!! 🙂 Yes, I realized after the third attempt that making a lot of minis might suit our celebration better than a single layer cake that serves 2 😉 hurray for learning from mistakes!

      Reply

    • tworedbowls

      HAHA that may be the best compliment I’ve gotten in awhile, Erika! And oooh yes.. I was pretty surprised by how much I liked the vanilla. The regular was a little bit of an acquired taste for me. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂

      Reply

  8. Lindsay Moe

    These photos are beautiful! Thanks for sharing your failures. I had to photograph my recipe twice as well. When I went to edit the first round they just fell flat. I’m so glad I did, creativity sometimes comes a little easier the second time around!

    Reply

    • tworedbowls

      I think they’re so refreshing to talk about sometimes, don’t you?? Otherwise it’s kind of easy to get lured into the sense that everyone else is a genius in the kitchen but you… And it’s so true that it really does fall into place more easily in a second try! Your punch was just STUNNING, too — so that more than paid off 🙂 Thank you so much for your kind words!

      Reply

    • tworedbowls

      Hahaha. Thanks, Sam!! 🙂 Also, I had a good laugh at your husband’s guest post just now. You seem like two peas in a pod. 😉

      Reply

    • tworedbowls

      Thank you so much, Lauren!! So happy to find you through our virtual party 🙂 I’m looking forward to following you in the future!

      Reply

  14. Nancy @ gottagetbaked

    Hey girl, so glad to be celebrating Galentine’s Day with you! Everything about this post, I love. The AMAZING atmospheric photos, the beautiful little cakes (all of them look good. Even the ones propped up with spoons 😉 and the styling. Love the shot of the cake dumped into the bowl. I’d be all over that in a heartbeat. So sorry you had to go through all the frustration but I think you overcame all adversity in the end. And at least you were rewarded with delicious cake and whipped vanilla creme fraiche!

    Reply

    • tworedbowls

      YOU TOO lady!!! :):) And you are so kind. Just like you said — when you have delicious bowl-cake at the end of the day, everything else is okay really 😉 Thanks for such sweet words, friend <3

      Reply

  16. Susan P. (@littleredkitchn)

    See now if you haven’t said anything I would have never known you had issues. Your cakes just look perfect and divine and I love your photos. I think we need a date soon, so I can get styling lessons from you. Okay? Perhaps it’s jealousy over the big window you’ve got. Can we say brooklyn apartment envy?

    Reply

    • tworedbowls

      Hahaha aw, thank you so much, Susan!! I do love those windows — but if it makes you feel better, they’re at the opposite end of the apartment from my kitchen! At least I get exercise hauling food back and forth…

      Reply

  18. Cate @ Chez CateyLou

    Galentine’s Day is sooo cute! I love that idea!! And I love these mini angel food cakes! They look delicious. Your mishaps sound just like things that happen in my kitchen – so nice to hear that I am not alone!!

    Reply

    • tworedbowls

      Thank you so very much, Cate!! I’m so glad to find out from others too that they run into mishaps, not just me. Sometimes I feel like a sham with this blog, knowing the kinds of shenanigans that happen in my kitchen 😉 But it’s easy to forget that behind a lot of other successes there are some not-so-successes too. Happy Valentine’s Day, lady!

      Reply

  19. Haruka

    Propped up by a dessert spoon?! Why, you clever clever woman! These poignantly lopsided Valentine’s Day cakes are so beautifully captured and ever so endearing – puts a big smile on my face. Tell the lucky man “the friend Haruka” says hello! 😉

    Reply

    • tworedbowls

      Clever or at my wit’s end! You’re so sweet, friend Haruka 🙂 and that made me laugh when I read it last night! Hope all’s grand on your end today <3

      Reply

  21. saucygander

    Haha, angel cake burger, love it!! Your writing voice is so entertaining, and when coupled with these beautiful photos, it’s a great read. Thanks for putting so much effort into your blog!

    Reply

    • tworedbowls

      That is so very kind of you to say! 🙂 I keep wanting to put more thought into my writing (and be serious) but it just comes out goofy in the end 😉 Hey, if it ain’t broke… Thank you for such sweet words — it makes my day, especially since I love reading your blog as well! Happy Valentine’s Day 🙂

      Reply

  22. foxeslovelemons

    This post made me smile. Because I’ve never even tried to make an angel food cake, but I can feel your pain. I generally BUY it, but then try to morph it into all kinds of other desserts. And it always crumbles and cuts and breaks the wrong way. But you know what? It’s still delicious. Especially when covered in all sorts of strawberry deliciousness!

    Reply

    • tworedbowls

      Ha, YES!!! And squishes when you’re trying to slice it and you’re just like s;kajdkljaskf aarrrgghh. Also, I tried to freeze my layers in one batch (to make them easier to level, sigh) and turns out you really can’t wrap them very tightly or else they freeze into odd Saran-wrapped shapes -____- The tragedy never ends.

      Reply

Trackbacks