Recipe for spiced and grilled angel food cake

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Angel Food cake, or Angel cake, is a type of sponge cake originally from North America that first became popular in the U.S. in the late 19th century. It is named because of its airy lightness that was said to be the “food of the angels”.

A variety of chocolate cake known as Devil’s food cake, considered Angel food’s “counterpart”, is another popular American cake that was developed later. Angel food cake is a type of sponge cake whereas devil’s food cake is a type of butter cake.

Angel food cake requires egg whites whipped until they are stiff, Cream of tartar is added to the mixture to stabilize the egg whites. Remaining ingredients are gently folded into the egg white mixture. For this method of leavening to work well, it is useful to have flour that has been made of softer wheat; cake flour is generally used because of its light texture. The softer wheat and the lack of fat causes angel food cake to have a very light texture and taste.

Angel food cake should be cut with a serrated knife, as a straight-edged blade tends to compress the cake rather than slice it. Forks, electric serrated knives, special tined cutters or a strong thread should be used instead.

Angel food cake is usually baked in a tube pan, a tall, round pan with a tube up the center that leaves a hole in the middle of the cake. A bundt pan may also be used, but the fluted sides can make releasing the cake more difficult. The center tube allows the cake batter to rise higher by ‘clinging’ to all sides of the pan. The angel food cake pan should not be greased, unlike pans used to prepare other cakes, this allows the cake to have a surface upon which to crawl up helping it to rise. After baking, the cake pan is inverted while cooling to prevent the cake from falling in on itself. Angel food cake is sometimes frosted but more often has some sort of sauce, such as a sweet fruit sauce, drizzled over it. A simple glaze is also popular. Recently, many chefs (Alton Brown in particular) have popularized the idea of adding aromatic spices such as mace and cloves to the cake.

The trick is using purchased angel food cake. I tart it up by brushing it with melted butter spiked with cinnamon, cardamom, sugar and lemon juice. A few seconds on the grill and my slices of cake get wonderfully caramelized — the perfect host for cool sliced strawberries and whipped cream.

If strawberries aren’t your thing, any fresh fruit would be delicious, including mango, kiwis, blueberries and raspberries. Or go crazy and just top the cake with fruit salad. While you’re at it, to up the delicious contrasts, top the warm slices of cake with vanilla ice cream.

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SPICED AND GRILLED ANGEL FOOD CAKE

Start to finish: 20 minutes

Servings: 8

1 quart strawberries, hulled and sliced

6 tablespoons sugar, divided

1 cup heavy cream

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

13-ounce angel food cake, cut into 8 slices

In a medium bowl, combine the strawberries and 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Gently mix, then set aside.

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Sprinkle in 2 tablespoons of the sugar and the lemon zest (reserve the lemon juice), then continue beating until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Heat the grill to medium-high.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, lemon juice, cinnamon, cardamom and the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Heat, stirring, until the butter is melted and the sugar has dissolved. Use a pastry brush to coat all sides of the cake slices with the butter mixture.

Place the cake slices on the grill and cook for 30 seconds per side, or until grill marks appear and the cakes are nicely toasted. Serve each slice topped with whipped cream and berries.

Nutrition information per serving (values are rounded to the nearest whole number): 320 calories; 160 calories from fat (50 percent of total calories); 17 g fat (11 g saturated; 0.5 g trans fats); 55 mg cholesterol; 41 g carbohydrate; 4 g protein; 2 g fiber; 360 mg sodium.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Food Editor J.M. Hirsch is author of the cookbook “High Flavor, Low Labor: Reinventing Weeknight Cooking.” Follow him to great eats on Twitter at http://twitter.com/JM_Hirsch or email him at jhirsch(at)ap.org.

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