10 DIVINE ANGEL FOOD CAKE FLIGHTS

Today, we’ve got some ethereal sweets to share -- so light, so delicate, and so heavenly, they might have well been delivered via angel wings. Enjoy these creative new takes on angel food cakes.

1. PIXIE DUSTED FAIRY CUPCAKES

These Pixie Dusted Fairy Cupcakes, shared by Meriem, of Culinary Couture, are made of angel food cake, elevated with sweet wings atop swirls of buttercream icing and edible luster dust.

Meriem created these fanciful wings by piping candy melts to follow a hand-drawn wing pattern. She advises that you make extra since they tend to be a bit fragile, unless you like the imperfections, poignance, and poetry of broken wings.

2. COCONUT ANGEL FOOD CAKE WITH GREEK YOGURT FROSTING

This Coconut Angel Food Cake from Izy is topped with a creamy Greek Yogurt frosting to add some tang and richness, without heaviness to weigh down the angels eating it.

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

• 6 egg whites
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 cup (60 g) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup desiccated / shredded coconut (we prefer shaved fresh coconut here)

For the Greek Yogurt Frosting:

• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• toppings: fresh fruit, pecans, flaked coconut (we prefer shaved fresh coconut here)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F
2. Whisk the egg whites together with the cream of tartar and salt. Continue to whisk whilst gradually adding in 1/2 cup of the sugar. Beat until the egg whites hold stiff peaks, then whisk in the vanilla and almond extracts.
3. Sift the flour and remaining sugar into a bowl. Also add the coconut to the bowl. Fold it all together with a rubber spatula until just mixed.
4. Pour the batter into an angel food cake/bundt cake / tube pan and bake for 20-30 minutes. Leave to cool upside-down, on a wire rack. Once cool, loosen the edges with a palette knife and turn out onto a serving plate.
5. For the frosting, stir together 1/2 cup of the yogurt with all the powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Frost the cake with this, then use the additional yogurt to spoon and swirl on top. Decorate with your choice of toppings.

Serves 7-8.

3. RASPBERRY MOCHA ANGEL FOOD CAKE

This Raspberry Mocha Angel Food Cake from A Beautiful Mess is stellar! The all time favorite combo of raspberries and chocolate add some devilish embellishments to this angelic confection. Wings just need to flap a little more to keep this cake from doing heavy damage to your weight plan. Check out the full recipe here.

4. ANGEL FOOD CAKE CHURRO BITES

Once you’ve made your angel food cake, you might want to transform any leftovers you might have into a new celestial celebration with Angel Food Cake Churro Bites. Check out this crazy good, super simple recipe from Rachel Schultz.

Ingredients:

• 1 angel food cake
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cinnamon
• Vegetable oil

Instructions:

1. Slice cake into 1-2 inch cubes.
2. Heat vegetable oil on medium-low heat.
3. Fry cake on both sides until browned, about 1-2 minutes.
4. Stir together cinnamon and sugar. Toss fried cake into cinnamon sugar.

Serves 7-8.

5. HEAVENLY BLUEBERRY & CREAM ANGEL DESSERT

Another transformation, in which angel food cake becomes food for the gods, is Mel’s Kitchen Cafe’s Heavenly Blueberry & Cream Angel Dessert. Essentially, a trifle, this is as beautiful to behold as it is to devour.

Ingredients:

For Blueberry Filling:

• 12 ounces frozen blueberries
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup cold water
• Squeeze of fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 tablespoon)

For Cake and Cream:

• Baked, cooled and cubed angel food cake (see note)
• 16 ounces light cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 2/3 cup half-and-half or evaporated milk (can use skim evaporated milk)
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar

For Whipped Cream:

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. For the blueberry filling, in a medium saucepan, combine the blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, water and lemon juice. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until thickened, 5-7 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
2. For the cake and cream layer, in a blender or with an electric mixer (handheld or stand mixer), whip together the cream cheese, half-and-half or evaporated milk and sugar until smooth and creamy. Transfer the mixture to a bowl if you used a blender. Fold in the angel food cake cubes. Keep in mind (from the note above) that you may not use all the cake cubes, especially if using an angel food cake mix. Add cake cubes until they are all thickly coated with a layer of cream. If making this in advance, it can dry out if there is too much angel food cake added.
3. For the whipped cream, beat together the heavy cream and powdered sugar until peaks form.
4. To assemble, in a trifle dish or a large glass bowl, spread half of the angel food cake mixture. Top with half of the blueberries, spreading evenly across, and then spread half of the sweetened whipped cream. Repeat the layers.
5. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours. Serve chilled.

Serves 8.

6. RASPBERRY FOOL WITH TOASTED ANGEL FOOD CAKE

When you toast angel food cake, you bring it down to earth somewhat, but that’s not a bad thing. It adds dimension and texture. This fool, from Alison Roman, is amazing. No fooling!

Ingredients:

• 2½ cups of raspberries (about 12 oz.)
• 2 Tbsp. plus ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tsp. finely grated lime zest plus more for serving
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup crème fraîche or sour cream
• 4 cups 1-inch pieces angel food cake (from about 1/3 of a cake)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Spread cake pieces on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Toast until edges are golden brown but centers are still soft, 8–10 minutes. Let cool; set aside.
2. Using a fork, coarsely mash raspberries, 2 Tbsp. sugar, and 1 tsp. lime zest in a small bowl. Let sit 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, beat cream, crème fraîche, and remaining ¼ cup sugar in a medium bowl until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes.
4. Layer cake, raspberry mixture, and cream mixture in glasses or small bowls; top with lime zest.

Serves 6.

7. ORANGE CREAM ANGEL FOOD CAKE

If an angel were to crave a Creamsicle, this cake might be in order. It is a heavenly combination: orange and cream. The Orange Cream Angel Food Cake, from Cynthia Woodman, of What a Girl Eats, is divine!

Orange Cream Angel Food Cake recipe available on What a Girl Eats.

8. ANGEL FOOD CAKE FRENCH TOAST WITH CREAM CHEESE MAPLE SYRUP

Karly Campbell, of Buns in My Oven, loves angel food cake so much, she figured out how to eat it for breakfast! She turned it into an amazing French Toast. She even figured out how to up her game with Cream Cheese Maple Syrup. Yum! Check out her recipe here.

9. NUTELLA S’MORE ANGEL FOOD CAKE SAMMIES WITH MARSHMALLOW FROSTING

Angels are called upon to do all sorts of good deeds… like kicking an old standard camping trip recipe up a few notches. Check out Lauren Grier’s Nutella S’More Angel Food Cake Sammies with Marshmallow Frosting. The title is a mouthful, but the bite is an even better one! Check out her recipe here.

10. FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE’S  ANGEL FOOD CAKE

NIETZSCHE’S ANGEL FOOD CAKE: AND OTHER “RECIPES” FOR THE INTELLECTUALLY FAMISHED

“Nietzsche's Angel Food Cake: And Other ''Recipes'' for the Intellectually Famished,” by Rebecca Coffey is a feast for the mind, soul, and… you just might like the “recipes.”

The title recipe is an angel food cake, which begs the question: did the angel survive the encounter?

Beck and Branch (2013)

The book is a literary humor masterpiece, with 22 cultural monoliths sharing ''their'' succulent recipes.

Nietzsche's Angel Food Cake

1. Allow the angels to reach room temperature. Kill them.
2. Kill God. Set Him aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
4. Ecstatically whip, as if possessed by a storm-wind of freedom, 1-1/2 cups of excellent egg whites with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1-1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar. Continue until peaks are as if raised to their own heights and given wings in a fine air, a robust air.
5. Gradually add 3/4 cup sugar, about 3 tablespoon at a time.
6. You are brilliant.
7. Now, add 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, and then sift together 1-1/4 cups of flour and 3/4 cup sugar.
8. Blend in God and the angel. Emboldened, add the egg mixture.
9. Gaze into the überbatter. The überbatter will gaze into you.
10. While prancing about in a frenzy of self-satisfaction and anticipation, use a rubber scraper to push the überbatter into an ungreased 10” tube pan, for it is destined to be there.
11. Bake on a lower rack until done, usually 35-40 minutes, while reciting to the upper rack a long, convoluted anecdote about your childhood.
12. Invert the tube pan over a bottle for a few hours. Then impetuously rap the pan. Shout, “Aha!” and slide a knife along the pan’s insides.
13. Call what tumbles out a cake if you dare. Call it miraculous even.
14. Eat it. It is delicate, morbid, lovable, and you will die depressed, delirious, and overweight.

Easier said than done!

Read more about Beautiful Wings, as it relates to Arts/Design,  Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including See the Invisible Beauty of Little Wings and These Wings Can Make Life More Beautiful.

Enter your own images and ideas about Beautiful Wings in this week’s creative Photo Competition. Open for entries now until 11:59 p.m. PT on 06.15.14. If you are reading this after that date, check out the current BN Creative Competition, and enter!

PHOTO CREDITS:

1. Photo: Courtesy of Culinary Couture. Pixie Dusted Fairy Cupcakes.
2. Photo: Courtesy of Top with Cinnamon. Coconut Angel Food Cake with Greek Yogurt Frosting.
3. Photo: by Emma Chapman. Raspberry Mocha Angel Food Cake.
4. Photo: by Rachel Schultz. Angel Food Cake Churro Bites.
5. Photo: Courtesy of Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. Heavenly Blueberry and Cream Angel Dessert.
6. Photo: Courtesy of Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. Heavenly Blueberry and Cream Angel Dessert.
7. Photo: Courtesy of Hirsheimer & Hamilton. Raspberry Fool with Toasted Angel Food Cake.
8. Photo: by Cynthia Woodman. Orange Cream Angel Food Cake.
9. Photo: by Cynthia Woodman. Orange Cream Angel Food Cake.
10. Photo: by Karly Campbell. Angel Food Cake French Toast with Cream Cheese Maple Syrup.
11. Photo: by Lauren Grier. Nutella S’more Angel Food Cake Sammies with Marshmallow.
12. Photo: by Tracy Benjamin. Black and White Angel Food Cake.
13. Image: Courtesy of Beck and Branch. Nietzsche's Angel Food Cake.