Angel Cake For My Angel

 
So I finally got around to trying something different for Max’s 5 month cake (in case you have missed previous posts – I am making a cake each month for my son Max in order to try out new recipes and decoration techniques in preparation for his first birthday).  This month I tried and ‘Angel Food Cake’, I found the recipe in ‘Gorgeous Cakes’ by Annie Bell.  To be honest, I thought the icing (which I made to suit my tastes) was the best part, but I was quite proud as the cake is a type of sponge and it turned out pretty well!  I think I’m more of a ‘Devil’s Food Cake’ kind of girl.

Ingredients:
Cake:
8 medium egg whites
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
250 grams icing sugar (sifted)
140 grams plain flour (sifted)

Filling:
200 grams mascarpone
100 grams raspberry jam

Frosting:
120 grams butter
2 – 2 ½cups icing sugar (sifted)
200 grams cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
M&M’s or Smarties for decoration

Preheat your oven to 150°C and grease two 23cm round tins.
Whisk the egg whites, salt and cream of tartar until they have risen.
Sprinkle in the icing sugar two tablespoons at a time while you continue to whisk, ensuring that you whisk well after each addition.
Fold in the flour in three separate additions.
Divide the mixture between the two cake tins and bake for 30-35 minutes or until lightly golden, springy and shrinking from the sides.
Once removed from the oven, run a knife around the edge of the tin and leave the cakes to cool in the tins for 30 minutes before removing them and cooling further on wire racks.

As you will be layering the cakes remove the top of the cake that will become the base, do this by using a serrated knife and starting at the lowest point on your cake, ensure that the cake is level as you will be sandwiching it. 
For the filling blend the jam and mascarpone and smoother the top of the bottom layer of your cake, leaving about half a centimetre at the edge as the filling will spread when you place the top layer on.

For the frosting combine the butter and cream cheese together, when it is well mixed and fluffy, add the vanilla and gradually add the sifted icing sugar until it reaches a consistency that you are happy with.
Use a palette knife to spread the frosting all over your cake and chill in the refrigerator, remove when you are ready to serve and decorate with M&M’s (I chose them because of the M for Max) or similar, for a bit of fun.