So why all of this back story? The recipe I'm sharing today pulls techniques from a few of my most successful St. Louis kitchen experiments. Of all of these kitchen experiments, my favorite was probably homemade angel food cake. I found a recipe for angel food cake from John Barricelli (see this recipe for an orange version). This recipe seemed to have a lot of angel food cake no-nos. First of all, it requested a nonstick tube pan. It called for granulated sugar instead of superfine baker's sugar or powdered sugar. The cake was to be baked at 350º instead of the typical 300º. The oven rack was to be placed in the middle position, not lower in the oven like most recipes. But what really set it apart from all other recipes I'd seen was that it called for dissolving half of the sugar in the egg whites over a double boiler, then whipping it into meringue. Needless to say, I was skeptical of the recipe, but knew I had to try it. And how did it turn out? Perfect. It had exactly the right airy texture without the metallic taste you get from boxed angel food cake mixes. Since I made the first vanilla angel food cake, I've made a chocolate version, and now the version with rhubarb frosting that I'm sharing today.
I wanted to use pink frosting in honor of my great grandma, Nan, who made me angel food cakes frosted with pink Cool Whip for my birthday when I was a little girl. I was lucky enough to be able to spend 12 of my now 25 birthdays with my great grandma. I knew I wanted a frosting more sophisticated than Cool Whip, but what? What summer food is pink? Rhubarb! With 12 egg yolks left over from the angel food cake, I thought I'd throw half of them in rhubarb curd. I stirred the rhubarb curd into whipped cream for pink frosting (I got the idea from Behind the Skillet). The angel food cake was adapted from John Barricelli's recipe and the rhubarb curd from Everyday Flavours.
Objective
Make an angel food cake with rhubarb curd whipped cream frosting.
Materials
Angel Food Cake:
12 egg whites (about 1 1/2 cups)
12 egg whites (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 cup sugar, divided
1 tsp. lime juice
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
1/2 tbsp. vanilla paste
1 cup cake flour, sifted
10-inch tube pan (do not grease)
Rhubarb Curd:
1 pound rhubarb, chopped into 1/2" pieces
1/4 cup sugar
6 egg yolks
1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar
pinch salt
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup seedless raspberry puree*
3-4 tbsp. unsalted butter
*blend raspberries (frozen is fine) until smooth, then strain
Rhubarb Curd Whipped Cream Frosting:
1 recipe of Rhubarb Curd, fully chilled (you may use less)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Rhubarb Curd:
1 pound rhubarb, chopped into 1/2" pieces
1/4 cup sugar
6 egg yolks
1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar
pinch salt
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup seedless raspberry puree*
3-4 tbsp. unsalted butter
*blend raspberries (frozen is fine) until smooth, then strain
Rhubarb Curd Whipped Cream Frosting:
1 recipe of Rhubarb Curd, fully chilled (you may use less)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Methods
To make the Angel Food Cake:
1. Preheat the oven to 350° with the rack in the middle. Place the tube pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and set aside. Set up your stand mixer with the whisk attachment for later use.
1. Preheat the oven to 350° with the rack in the middle. Place the tube pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and set aside. Set up your stand mixer with the whisk attachment for later use.
2. In the bottom of a double boiler, bring 1 inch of water to a boil. In the top, whisk together the egg whites, 3/4 cup sugar, lime juice, cream of tartar, salt, and vanilla paste until the sugar dissolves. Move the mixture to the bowl of your stand mixer. Whisk, starting on low speed and gradually increasing to high speed, until the meringue is glossy and forms stiff peaks (do not beat them so long they dry out). Using a large rubber spatula, fold in the flour and the remaining 3/4 cup sugar.
3. Gently scrape the batter into the tube pan. Tap the pan a few times to to remove air bubbles. Smooth the top of the batter by running a rubber spatula over it.
4. Bake the cake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the cake springs back when touched and is lightly browned. Invert the cake onto a wire rack or wine bottle to cool for 1 hour. Release the cake from the pan by gently pulling the cake away from the sides of the pan. You may need to run a plastic knife around the edge, but be careful not to cut into the cake. Let the cake cool completely on a wire rack.
To make the Rhubarb Curd:
1. In a small bowl, mix the chopped rhubarb with 1/4 cup sugar and juice from half of a lime. Stir and set aside for 30 minutes to an hour. Place into a medium saucepan and cook on medium heat until the the rhubarb is completely broken down (about 10-15 minutes). Cool briefly. Transfer to a blender or food processor and puree. Set aside.
2. In the top of a double boiler over boiling water, whisk the egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, salt, and juice of 1/2 lime. Whisk to begin to dissolve the sugar. Add the rhubarb puree and seedless raspberry puree. Whisk until the mixture comes to 160ºF. Remove from heat and strain through a fine meshed sieve. Gradually stir in the butter, tablespoon by tablespoon. Move the curd to a container with a lid, place plastic wrap directly on the curd, and chill.
To make the Rhubarb Curd Whipped Cream Frosting:
1. Whip 1 cup heavy cream to medium peaks.
2. Fold in 1/2-1 cup rhubarb curd.
Results
The cake turned out great (though I was a little too vigorous trying to get it out of the pan and ripped part of it). The texture was light and a bit sticky and had a nicely browned crust. The rhubarb curd tasted like (surprise) rhubarb. While it wasn't as thick as I tend to make lemon curd, it was easy to stir into whipped cream. I would call the color a light mauve. I added a drop of magenta food coloring to the whipped cream to intensify the color of the frosting a smidgen.
Discussion and Future Directions
I really love this angel food cake and am so glad I gave it a try that St. Louis morning. I simply cannot imagine ever eating a boxed angel food cake again. Mind you, this angel food cake in particular is more challenging than a boxed mix because it requires the double boiler and you have to know a thing or two about meringue to know when you're at a stiff (and not dry) peak. There are a number of simpler angel food cakes on the internet that simply require folding dry ingredients into the meringue. I've never made any of those recipes, and now, there's no need because this recipe is perfect. Don't have a double boiler? Neither do I! It was one of the items that didn't make it from St. Louis to Houston because I didn't want to make the space to pack it (now I regret that decision because it was a very nice depth and made of glass, which I prefer to metal because it is nonreactive). Instead, I set a glass Pyrex bowl in a saucepan and it worked very well. If you try this, just make sure that you cover most of the edge of the pot or you'll risk steam burns.
Now onto the rhubarb whipped cream frosting. I don't think I anticipated how much the curd would taste like rhubarb! Also, I'd seen a lot of pictures of yellow rhubarb curd, so I found myself pleasantly surprised by the dusty rose/mauve color of mine (see the photo below). For the light, airy sweetness of the angel food cake, I thought a tart, refreshing topping would be perfect. While I liked it, I was a bit overzealous with the frosting and wished I only lightly frosted it. Too much frosting overpowered the lightness of the cake. After all, we eat angel food cake because it's "healthier" than other cakes. It certainly packs carbohydrates with the sugar, but at least it's cholesterol free (without the frosting..)! If I made the frosting again, I think I would pipe it along the edges instead of use it to completely frost the cake.
This was a great dessert to make for my summer birthday. I took it along to a combined birthday party. Another friend made chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting and someone brought homemade peach greek frozen yogurt. With all of the desserts we had, I was pleased to be able to take home about half of the cake for snacks. I even managed to save one piece for my actual birthday!
Supplementary Materials
To make the Rhubarb Curd:
1. In a small bowl, mix the chopped rhubarb with 1/4 cup sugar and juice from half of a lime. Stir and set aside for 30 minutes to an hour. Place into a medium saucepan and cook on medium heat until the the rhubarb is completely broken down (about 10-15 minutes). Cool briefly. Transfer to a blender or food processor and puree. Set aside.
2. In the top of a double boiler over boiling water, whisk the egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, salt, and juice of 1/2 lime. Whisk to begin to dissolve the sugar. Add the rhubarb puree and seedless raspberry puree. Whisk until the mixture comes to 160ºF. Remove from heat and strain through a fine meshed sieve. Gradually stir in the butter, tablespoon by tablespoon. Move the curd to a container with a lid, place plastic wrap directly on the curd, and chill.
To make the Rhubarb Curd Whipped Cream Frosting:
1. Whip 1 cup heavy cream to medium peaks.
2. Fold in 1/2-1 cup rhubarb curd.
Results
The cake turned out great (though I was a little too vigorous trying to get it out of the pan and ripped part of it). The texture was light and a bit sticky and had a nicely browned crust. The rhubarb curd tasted like (surprise) rhubarb. While it wasn't as thick as I tend to make lemon curd, it was easy to stir into whipped cream. I would call the color a light mauve. I added a drop of magenta food coloring to the whipped cream to intensify the color of the frosting a smidgen.
Discussion and Future Directions
I really love this angel food cake and am so glad I gave it a try that St. Louis morning. I simply cannot imagine ever eating a boxed angel food cake again. Mind you, this angel food cake in particular is more challenging than a boxed mix because it requires the double boiler and you have to know a thing or two about meringue to know when you're at a stiff (and not dry) peak. There are a number of simpler angel food cakes on the internet that simply require folding dry ingredients into the meringue. I've never made any of those recipes, and now, there's no need because this recipe is perfect. Don't have a double boiler? Neither do I! It was one of the items that didn't make it from St. Louis to Houston because I didn't want to make the space to pack it (now I regret that decision because it was a very nice depth and made of glass, which I prefer to metal because it is nonreactive). Instead, I set a glass Pyrex bowl in a saucepan and it worked very well. If you try this, just make sure that you cover most of the edge of the pot or you'll risk steam burns.
Now onto the rhubarb whipped cream frosting. I don't think I anticipated how much the curd would taste like rhubarb! Also, I'd seen a lot of pictures of yellow rhubarb curd, so I found myself pleasantly surprised by the dusty rose/mauve color of mine (see the photo below). For the light, airy sweetness of the angel food cake, I thought a tart, refreshing topping would be perfect. While I liked it, I was a bit overzealous with the frosting and wished I only lightly frosted it. Too much frosting overpowered the lightness of the cake. After all, we eat angel food cake because it's "healthier" than other cakes. It certainly packs carbohydrates with the sugar, but at least it's cholesterol free (without the frosting..)! If I made the frosting again, I think I would pipe it along the edges instead of use it to completely frost the cake.
This was a great dessert to make for my summer birthday. I took it along to a combined birthday party. Another friend made chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting and someone brought homemade peach greek frozen yogurt. With all of the desserts we had, I was pleased to be able to take home about half of the cake for snacks. I even managed to save one piece for my actual birthday!
Supplementary Materials
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