Raspberries & Cream Angel Food Cake

I debated whether or not to wait until February to post this Raspberries & Cream Angel Food Cake, you know for Valentine's Day and all, but then I figured why wait?   For those of you looking to make a dessert to celebrate the holiday this will give you a leg up and time to prepare.  The inspiration for this beautiful cake came from two baking masters: Zoë Francois and Stella Parks. 

 

For the angel food cake I made Stella's recipe which uses a slow and steady approach to whipping  the fluffy meringue base.   I also love that her recipes uses egg whites straight from the fridge - no need to get them warmed to room temperature.   As for the pale pink raspberry cream frosting, I literally stopped in my tracks when I first caught sight of it on Zoë's Instagram feed.  I couldn't get over how visually stunning it looked.  Whenever I use whipped cream as a frosting I like to add in some cream cheese which gives it a delicious tang and much needed stability.  Cue the raspberry jam and you end up with the most beautiful and delicious frosting! 

As I write this blog post I am literally enjoying a big slice of the cake.  It's heaven, I tell you.  Whereas most angel food cakes tend to be cloyingly sweet this one is anything but!  I highly encourage you to give it a try.  Trust me, you won't regret it.

p.s. I used this fabulous angel food cake cutter and it works like a dream!

Foolproof New York Cheesecake with Raspberries

A few of my co-workers ran the San Francisco marathon last month and to celebrate that tremendous accomplishment I offered to bring in a treat for the office.  One of the runners requested New York Cheesecake and I was more than happy to oblige, especially when I had a few blocks of cream cheese already in my fridge.   

I turned to my friends at Cook's Illustrated for their foolproof recipe and, as usual, it worked like a dream.  Unlike most cheesecake recipes, this one guarantees that you won't have any unsightly cracks on the surface of the baked cake.  I decided to top my cheesecake with fresh fruit, but trust me when I say that underneath those spirals of juicy raspberries there is not a fissure to be found.