Angel Food Cake - Let Me Count The Ways

Y'all may find this hard to believe, but I'm a late bloomer when it comes to desserts. Throughout my childhood, I was surrounded by pies, cakes and cobbler--you name it and Mother or someone in the family made it. Even with all the hoopla, I was simply not interested in these sweet treats. I was in my early 20's by the time I actually TASTED Pound Cake--I was happy with candy, or so I thought. Well, one fateful day, Big Brother Curt had baked a pound cake and I was asked to cut a slice for a guest. The very moment that I removed the cover and got a good whiff of that cake, the gig was up. I have no idea why that day and that whiff did the trick, but I ate almost half a cake that weekend. I've never looked back. From that very moment, I've been a fan of "plain-ish" cakes, which brings me to today's post.

A couple of months ago, I was in Aldi and picked up a loaf of Angel Food Cake. I was drawn to it because it was in loaf form and I envisioned a couple of slices toasted or grilled, covered with strawberries and powdered sugar and/or real whipped cream. I actually skipped dinner so I could get down to business with my dessert. Well let me tell y'all, I've been eating this cake all summer. Topped with strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and/or peaches, this cake has become a major part of my life. As I looked back over photos, I thought I'd share a few versions with you.

Grilled & Stuffed with Mascarpone

Griddled & Sauced

Griddled & Lightly Drizzled

Toasted, Powdered & Zested

Angel Food Cake is so versatile. Tonight's version will feature peaches. What's your favorite stuffing/topping combo?

Sheila Denise

Mary Ann Cake - Spring is Here!!!

I will simply ignore the fact that I've broken a couple of promises to you...yeah, I know I said I'd resume blogging, but never did. Well, I think I'm back and I've missed you terribly.

Yesterday, I discovered a cake pan that I hadn't used. As a cake pan collector, I have no idea when I purchased it, but I immediately knew I needed to use it. The recipe included was a chocolate concoction, so I had to do a quick search to find something non-chocolate. Thanks to Williams-Sonoma, I stumbled upon this recipe with the most beautimous photo of a Mary Ann cake.

If you're wondering what the heck a Mary Ann cake is, well I have no idea who she is, but the pan is designed to create a cake with a convex top. After the cake is baked and turned out, you have a cake with a hollowed out top which may then be filled with fruit, cream, ice cream, or whatever your little heart desires. So off to work I went at about 11 o'clock last night. Baking it at night gave me time to think about my choice of filling and fruit. So it simply sat naked until this evening. Here are a couple of photos of the cake as it's cooling and waiting to be dressed.

I really couldn't decide what to do with this cake, so I simply went about my day. I joined my my girl-bestie, Carol, for brunch and a Braves game and it was during our outing that she mentioned blackberries. Okay, that determined the fruit selection, but what will I do for the filling? I knew what I didn't want, that's always the easy part, but had no idea what i did want. As I walked into Costco for the blackberries, I had an idea--I'd make a creamy, lemony concoction for the filling. So I pulled everything out of the fridge. I used, mascarpone, lemon curd, sour cream, heavy cream and a wee bit of vanilla sugar. I didn't measure anything, but next time I'll use more of everything to fill it closer to the edge. The mixture kinda sorta tastes like a very lemony cheesecake and it compliments the blackberries extremely well. Isn't it lovely??

Honestly, I have no desire to eat this cake--the act of making it/using my pan was the focus. Tomorrow, I'll take it for a drive to, JD, my most favoritest brother-in-law in the whole ENTIRE world.

Sheila Denise