Angel Food Trifle With Lemon Curd Whipped Cream

When I first saw this month's Abby Dodge #baketogether recipe for angel food cake, my eyes glazes over and my brain went into a sort of hibernation mode.

What I love most about participating every month in this fun baking group is Abby's encouragement to change up her recipes and put our own spin to them. If you've been here before you know that you don't have to tell me twice for something like that.

This time however, I was stumped. For a long, long time.

When Abby suggested I go over and see what some of the other participants had done, it was just what I needed for that little spark of inspiration. Immediately two words popped into my head. Lemon. Curd.

The thing I originally pictured in my head was a perfect angel food cake roll with a lemon curd filling sitting prettily on a long white platter surrounded by lemon slices and a few artfully placed sprigs of mint. Sounds pretty, right?

I didn't make that. Looking back, I should have. For whatever reason, the morning I woke to make my angle food cake roll was the same morning the word "trifle" popped into my head. I guess the idea of making an angel food jelly roll was just enough to scare the curd out of me :)

What I did wind up making tasted just a delicious as an angel food cake roll with lemon curd filling, it just didn't look as pretty as what I had intended.

Ultimately, it's all about the taste so close your eyes and imagine a bright, light and zesty dessert that tickles your taste buds and makes your mouth pucker. Get ready for a kiss by an angel!

Before I get on with the recipe for the angel food cake itself, let me explain that I also made the lemon curd, (recipe here). However, after I decided to make the trifle, I realized that I needed to make that curd stretch a lot further than the amount I had on hand. Without having many additional lemons to make more curd, I decided to whip up some cream and fold in the lemon curd. Viola...LEMON CURD WHIPPED CREAM! Grab your spoon. That in itself is something to gush about!

Here is Abby's original recipe for the angel food cake. I stuck to her cake recipe like glue (except for the lemon substitution). Let me tell you...it is THE BEST angel food cake recipe EVER! I encourage you to make if for yourself and then "play with your food" to make it your own.

ANGEL FOOD CAKE {PRINT THIS RECIPE}

1 cup of cake flour
1-1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
11 large egg whites, at room temperature
1-1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup superfine sugar (I used my food processor)
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

-Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
-Prepare an angel food cake pan by spraying with non stick cooking spray.
-In a large bowl, add the cake flour, confectioners sugar and salt.
-Add those dry ingredients into a sifter of sieve and sift over a piece of parchment paper (3 times, no less) and set aside.
-In a large bowl of a stand mixer and using the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites until foamy.
-Add the cream of tartar and increase the speed to medium.
-Beat the egg whites until they're almost half way up the bowl and they start to shine.
-Increase the speed again on the mixer and add slowly the superfine sugar.
-Continue beating until the whites are thick and firm and hold some soft peaks. Be careful not to over beat.
-Add the lemon zest and the vanilla and whisk just until combined.
-Remove the bowl from the stand mixer.
-In 1/4 increments, add the sifted flour mixture into the egg mixture, folding gently to combine.
-Spoon your batter into the prepared angel food cake pan and smooth the top to make an even surface. -Place your cake pan on a parchment lined baking sheet.
-Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until the cake is a light golden brown and springy when touched.
-Remove from the oven and, if your pan has "feet" invert the pan to cool for 1 hour.
-If your pan does not have "feet" (like mine) slip the cake pan over a (filled) bottle and allow to cool for one hour.
-Using a knife, run it around the sides of the pan and in the middle to release the cake.
-Let it cool further on a wire cooling rack until ready to slice.
If you choose to make your cake into a trifle, here's how I did mine:

-Cut the cake into bite size pieces and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet.
-Broil the cake slices until they are just starting to brown (being careful not to broil too long and burn them). ***This step is optional. I did this to add a bit more structure to the cake so it would hold up to the curd/cream filling as I was going to assemble it one day and not serve it until the next. It is certainly not necessary.***
-Using a clear serving bowl (or even desserts goblets), layer your cake and lemon curd whipped cream evenly throughout your serving piece ending with the lemon curd whipped cream on top.
-Refrigerate until ready to serve and garnish with a sprig of mint of some pretty lemon slices.