October 10th is National Angel Food Cake Day. We have a bunch of angel food cake recipes below, and a new one from Cambria Style that debuts today. It’s a special treatment, using a sweet-and-salty profile achieved with preserved lemons in the lemon curd.

If you don’t have access to, or don’t want, the preserved lemon flavor, simply substitute fresh lemon juice. You can also purchase lemon curd.

An angel food cake typically calls for 12 egg whites. What to do with the yolks?

Check out these uses for egg yolks.
 
 
> The History Of Angel Food Cake

> The History Of Cake

> The History Of Cake Pans

> The Different Types Of Cake
 
 
RECIPE: LEMON ANGEL FOOD CAKE WITH PRESERVED LEMON CURD

This recipe was adapted from the New York Times by Cambria Style.

The curd is combined with some whipped cream and used to frost and fill the lemon-flavored angel food cake. It’s bright, rich and light all at once.
 
Ingredients For 12 Servings

For The Cake

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Curd

 
Preparation

1. MAKE the cake. Preheat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the center.

2. SIFT the flour and 1/3 cup of sugar into a large bowl. Use an electric mixer to combine the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar. Beat with the whisk attachment on medium-high speed until medium peaks form (about 3 minutes).

3. GRADUALLY ADD the remaining cup of granulated sugar and beat until firm, glossy peaks form. Beat in the confectioner’s sugar, lemon zest, vanilla and lemon extract.

4. SIFT a quarter of the flour mixture over the egg whites and use a rubber spatula to fold until barely combined. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture. Scrape into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan, smooth the top, and bake until the cake is springy and pulls away from the pan, 35 to 40 minutes.

5. TRANSFER to a wire rack to cool. Now, make the curd.

6. COMBINE in a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the lemon juice with the gelatin; set aside.

7. LIGHTLY BEAT the eggs in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, combine the granulated sugar, butter, preserved lemon juice, zest, salt, and the remaining 1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water until warm. Remove from the heat, then pour over the eggs in a thin stream, constantly whisking.

8. PLACE the bowl over the simmering water pot and cook, stirring constantly, to 175°F (about 5 minutes). Remove from the heat, stir in the gelatin mixture, and immediately pour through a fine strainer into a wide bowl over an ice bath, stirring until the mixture is cool. Chill for 1 hour.

9. WHIP the cream until soft peaks form. Fold into the lemon curd and chill for another hour, until cold. To serve, unmold the cake. Using a serrated knife, halve the cake crosswise to create 2 layers. Dollop some of the lemon cream to cover the bottom layer. Top it with the other half, dollop on more lemon cream, and serve.
 
 
MORE ANGEL FOOD RECIPES

[1] A lemon angel food cake: lemon curd is made with preserved lemons, which add a sweet-and-salty flavor (photo © Cambria Style).

[2] You can purchase lemon curd, like the Bonne Maman brand in the photo. It’s also delicious on toast, pancakes, and as shown in the photo, to fill tartlets (photo © Bonne Maman).

[3] Angel food cakes are made in ungreased tube pans. The center tube allows the cake batter to rise higher by clinging to all sides of the pan (photo © Bhofack2 | Dreamstime).

[4] This version is topped with a strawberry glaze (here’s the recipe). You can leave off the glaze and garnish the slices of cake with whipped cream and strawberries (photo © American Egg Board).

[5] We love to serve these angel food cupcakes topped with berries at afternoon tea. Here’s the recipe (photo © Go Bold With Butter).