Lemon Raspberry Angel Food Cake

Let me preface this by saying that I am not a huge fan of angel food cake. I don’t dislike it, but I would never choose it. I think I made one from scratch one time quite a long time ago, but I can’t remember for sure. If I’m not super into something, I don’t really tend to take the time to learn to make it. However, I do have some loved ones that like angel food cake quite a bit so here I go.

Luckily, making it from scratch wasn’t an issue here. Last month, my mom sent me a recipe. She didn’t tag me on social media or anything- she directly sent it to my email. I knew this meant she was craving it badly! I went to the store to get the few simple ingredients it required, and a couple days later, she asked if we wanted to come over for a quick bite. We said yes and that I would bring dessert. It was awesome to surprise her with the dessert and it was a hit. It was so incredibly easy and it got me thinking about variations I could make on it.

With the coming of Mother’s Day, I knew that would be a perfect time to experiment. Honestly, I don’t think it could have worked any better. I ended up being really busy the week of Mother’s Day, so a simple recipe like this was exactly what I needed. It was also very light and summery. This is one of those things that you can throw together fairly quickly and inexpensively. The only thing is allowing for cooling time. I made this the night before and I can assure that it holds up beautifully.

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This was also really fun for me. I love baking and there is a certain satisfaction that comes with doing a multi-step recipe from scratch, but there is also satisfaction in making something new and completely simple.

Since mixing a box of angel food cake mix with a can of lemon pie filling worked, I wondered if it would work with other fruit pie fillings. Lemon pie filling is completely smooth while most other filling has pieces of whole fruit in it. I considered using strawberry and using my mixer in the filling to break up the big pieces before adding the cake mix, but I went with raspberry instead. Raspberry pie filling only has seeds instead of chunks, so I didn’t really have to do anything differently.

I have always admired the tie dye effect when you cut into a dessert, so I decided to swirl the batters instead of doing different flavors for different layers. The effect was lovely and it worked great! The colors looked awesome together and I think the heart shaped pan really added a cute dimension to it all.

This was also my first “naked’ cake. It wasn’t intended to be, but you know how I said I like trying new things? I tried a batch of stabilized whipped cream with dairy free heavy whipping cream. It did not hold up quite as well as regular heavy whipping cream, so my frosting job looks a bit rough. I used up all of the frosting and I decided not to make another batch to frost the outside. I just left it as it was. Next time, I am making a double batch of this frosting using the real heavy whipping cream. I am glad I tried both and learned.

If you want to make a cake, but you want something lighter and more summery, this is a great option! It’s also perfect if you have people in your circle that don’t like a super rich dessert. I know a few people in the family that I’m going to have to save this recipe for. I used the leftover batter to make cupcakes, so cupcakes are a tasty option too!

Lemon Raspberry Angel Food Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake:

• 2 boxes of angel food cake mix
• 1 can lemon pie filling
• 1 can raspberry pie filling

Frosting: I got this recipe from https://www.crazyforcrust.com/whipped-cream-frosting/

You can use cool whip to frost this cake, but I HIGHLY recommend this simple recipe using only a block of cream cheese, vanilla extract, powdered sugar, and heavy whipping cream.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Line 2 8in. cake pans with parchment paper on bottom and spray thoroughly with a nonstick cooking spray. Alternatively, you can use a heart shaped pan for added cuteness!

Get two large mixing bowls and put a can of pie filling and a box of angel food cake mix in each one. Beat on medium speed until thoroughly combined. In each pan, put two cups of each batter for a total of four cups of batter per pan. With a knife, gently swirl the batters together for a tie dye effect. Bake for 35-45 minutes until it is set in the middle.

Allow to cool completely before frosting.

I ADORE the stabilized whipped cream frosting from the Crazy for Crust blog. I highly recommend using it. If you want to frost the middle and top like I did, one batch will work, but if you want to frost the sides too, I recommend a double batch.

Store in the fridge and make sure you cover it to seal in moisture.