LAVENDER LEMON ANGEL FOOD CAKE
Lavender Lemon Angel Food cake is fluffy, light and delicious. The cake is covered with a meringue frosting that's easy to prepare and sprinkled lavender and lemon zest. This is a stunning and easy-to-make dessert.
Lemon angel food cake is what happens after I’ve been spending WAY too much time making ice cream. For the past several weeks I’ve been on an ice cream making kick at the supper club, which means I’ve had tons of leftover egg whites.
And what’s a gal to do with a pile of leftover egg whites? Make lemon angel food cake, obvs!
The lemon/ lavender flavor combo came from my friend, Sally. She showed up at dinner with a handful of fresh herbs she’d picked from her garden. The same rooftop garden I covet every time I see a sunny pic of it on Facebook. (Not going to lie.)
The lavender was so beautiful it basically demanded I take pictures of it. Damn demanding lavender!
The cake is light and fluffy, the way angel food cake should be. It’s covered in an easy to make meringue frosting that is light as clouds. Mmm, sugary clouds!
Remember back in the 80s and 90s when no fat diets were all the rage? I remember my mom shaming all fat, like one pat of butter would instantly translate to 5lb. on the hips.
Do you also remember how any food made without fat was considered healthy? Like how angel food cake was considered a ‘healthy’ dessert, because there’s no fat in it. I love how everyone looked over the fact that there is a TON of sugar in angel food cake. But there’s no fat … it’s all ok! Ha ha!
I so badly wanted to put this recipe in the healthy desserts category, a throwback to the 80s way of thinking. 🙂
You might be surprised by the amount of egg whites required if you've never made angel food before. The egg whites are responsible for the fluffy, light-as-air texture of this cake.
Whatever you do, don’t throw away the delicious yolks! They’ll keep for 4 days in your fridge so you’ll have plenty of time to use them in another recipe. Here are a few ideas:
WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THE LEFTOVER EGG YOLKS?
- Make some Tangy Lemon Curd (you could serve this with the lemon angel food cake for big time bonus points!)
- Add them to your morning omelet to make it extra tasty.
- Make some Caesar salad … like this Roasted Brussels Sprouts Caesar Salad.
- Start your Sunday with some delicious eggs benedict with hollandaise sauce. This Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict is deelish!
- Make some Homemade Mayonnaise.
- Make ice cream!
- 12 egg whites, at room temperature (Reserve egg yolks for another use. See blog post for ideas.)
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoons dried lavender
- 1 teaspoon lemon oil
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 1⅓ cup cake flour
- 4 egg whites
- ⅔ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- A pinch of sea salt
- ½ teaspoon lemon oil
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Place the egg whites in a large bowl and add the cream of tartar and sea salt. The egg whites should be beaten until they are stiff and have formed stiff peaks. This will take about five minutes.
Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until they become foamy. This should take about two minutes. Add the sugar gradually, 2 tablespoons each time, as you continue to beat the whites. Add the lavender, lemon oil and lemon zest and beat just until they are combined. - Hold a fine mesh sieve over the bowl of beaten egg whites and add ⅓ cup of the cake flour. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the flour into the egg whites. Repeat with the remaining cake flour, ⅓ cup at a time.
- Pour the cake batter into an ungreased 10-inch angel food cake pan and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Invert the wine bottle onto the pan after removing the cake. Some angel food pans come with feet that hold the cake inverted while cooling. Use them instead of a wine glass if yours has feet. After the cake has cooled completely, use a knife to loosen the outer edge. Remove the cake pan and carefully coax it out onto the serving plate.
The frosting:
Add the sugar and cream of Tartar to a double boiler or a heatproof bowl placed over water. Make sure the water doesn't touch the bottom or the pot of the second vessel. Beat the frosting with an electric mixer until it is hot and all the sugar has been dissolved. Continue beating until frosting is cool and thick (about 5 minutes). Remove the frosting from heat. Beat in the oil quickly.
How to assemble Lavender lemon angel food cake:
Spread the frosting on the sides and top of the cake with a rubber spatula once the cake is completely cooled (for at least two hours). If you like, sprinkle some lemon zest or lavender flowers on top.
Notes
You can find ideas on how to make use of the egg yolks in the post.
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