My mom used to make this when I was a kid. Everyone would always ask for the recipe. I remember being SO proud that my mom made something so fancy. Only later, when I was a little older, did she tell me how easy it was. Check out this Strawberry Filled Angel Food Cake recipe.
DIY Strawberry Filled Angel Food Cake Recipe
I love Angel Food Cake. My son loves it too but, he likes it plain. No frosting, no whipped cream, no sauces, no fruit. Just plain ole’ angel food cake. While I can eat a plain piece of this cake, I most certainly love mine with frosting or whipped cream. If it is a cream cheese frosting, that’s even better. Another reason why I love this cake.
This Strawberry Filled Angel Food Cake was always a favorite when I was a kid. My mom would often make it for a Sunday dinner. Еspecially when she needed to bring a dessert that would impress the guests.
Starting with a light and fluffy angel food cake, you then scoop out the middle and fill it with strawberries and whipped cream. It may look and sound fancy, but it is oh-so-easy! Just keep reading and I’ll show you how. Once you start slicing this cake and serve it up, people will wonder how you made it. Oh, and did I mention the Cream Cheese Frosting? You either like cream cheese or you’re wrong. That’s all there is to it.
So from my mother’s recipe box to you, may I present my favorite Strawberry Filled Angel Food Cake. Let’s get baking!
Strawberry Filled Angel Food Cake Ingredients
Cake
- Granulated sugar/Powdered sugar
- Cake flour
- Salt
- Egg whites
- Cream of Tartar
- Vanilla extract
- Three cups quartered strawberries plus extra if you want to line the outside of your cake
- Two pints of whipped cream
- Angel food cubes after removing from the cake.
Frosting
- One 8 oz brick Philadelphia cream cheese
- One lb powdered sugar
- Two tablespoon vanilla
- Half cup butter (room temperature)
- Garnishment if desired. Sprinkle nonpareils, or chocolate curls. I found my red and white chocolate curls at a gourmet food store nearby.
Preparing The Angel Food Cake
Step 1: Preheat The Oven
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. The right oven temperature ensures a high rising cake.
Once the cake is in the oven, the sugar interacts with the flour. If the oven temperature is too cool, the sugar will absorb liquid from the whites, turn syrupy, and weep out of the batter, pulling down the air cells and decreasing the cake’s volume.
On the other hand, if the oven is too hot, the cake’s outer structure will set before the cake can fully expand and bake through, making it dense and short.
Step 2: Sift The Flour
Sift the flour to break up any lumps in it. Add fine sugar to the flour and sift together. This makes it lighter and easier to mix with other ingredients.
Sifting the flour helps promote consistency in recipe results by removing the larger particles that could potentially result in the densely textured baked cake.
Set the sifted flour aside.
Step 3: Whip The Cream Of Tartar And Egg In a Bowl
Place the egg and cream of tartar in a bowl. Whip continuously until small bubbles or foams are formed. This forms what is known as meringue.
Step 4: To The Bowl, Add Sugar, Vanilla, And Mix Together In A Food Processor
Add your granulated or fine sugar to the cream of tartar/egg mixture. Turn ON the electric mixer and leave for 5-10 minutes. Time varies depending on the quantity. Do this continuously until the mixture is stiff and dry.
Step 5: Sift Flour/Sugar Mixture Over The Bowl
Remove the bowl from the mixer and sift one-third of the flour/sugar mixture over the bowl. Add the vanilla and salt. Then, add the remaining flour/sugar mixture. Sift while adding to prevent lump formation. This mixture is the batter.
Step 6: Put The Batter In A Pan And Bake
Pour the batter into the pan and bake. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Baking time varies. Bake it until the top becomes golden brown.
Step 7: Let The Cake Cool
When it turns golden brown, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool down completely. This cooling process usually takes up to 2 hours.
If the cake does not cool down, the structure does not set, and as a result, it could collapse.
Allowing it to cool upside down ensures it does not collapse. Many angel food cake pans come with feet around the edges for this very purpose. However, inverting the center ring onto the neck of a bottle will also work.
Preparing The Strawberry Filled Angel Food Cake
Step 1: Cut The Top Off Of The Cake
Step 2: Cut A Hole Through The Cake
Step 3: Mark Out The Outer Edge Of The Cake
Step 5: Whip The Whipped Cream
Step 6: Cut Your Strawberries
Step 7: Mix The Cream To The Strawberries
Step 8: Add Removed Angel Cake To Above Mixture
Step 9: Put The Mixture In The Cake
Step 10: Replace The Cake
Best Angel Food Cake Fillings/Toppings
In addition to strawberry, you can also use other fillings for your angel food cake. Here are some of my top favorite angel food cake fillings.
- Blueberry
- Lemon Pudding
- Chocolate
- Vanilla Berry
- Raspberry
- Pumpkin
- Strawberry Basil
- Lemon Berry
- Almond Berry
- Strawberry Jello
- Pineapple Filled
- Banana
There are other filling inspirations here that you can try out for yourself.
Tips To Makе The Perfect Angel Food Cake
When I made my first angel food cake, I made a few mistakes which resulted in my recipe failure. Here are some of the helpful tips I have collected over time. These would ensure you do not make these mistakes in your recipe.
1. Use An Ungreased Tube Pan
Ensure the pan used in baking the cake is ungreased. YES! that’s how t should be. The cake needs to stick to the sides of the pan as it rises, so greasing it would hurt the rise of your cake.
If you have greased your pan, wash the grease off and clean it before use.
2. Use Cake Flour
If you wish to achieve a fine-crumbed, tender angel food cake, use cake flour. This is because it’s low in protein, there’s less gluten, which can toughen a cake. You need a cake that can toughen easily. And cake flour’s fine particles are especially easy to fold into the batter.
3. Sift The Flour/Sugar Mixture Several Times
The flour/sugar mixture should be sifted several times. This should not be done once or twice but several times from three to five times. This takes just a few minutes.
This ensures the flour is light and incorporates easily into whipped egg white.
4. Start Whipping With Low Speed
When you add your egg white to a mixer bowl, whip them on a low speed until they start to get frothy. Increase the speed upon adding the vanilla extract and cream of tartar.
5. Turn Cake Upside Down
Once the cake is out of the oven, ensure it is placed in an upside-down position. This will allow the cake’s structure to be completely set until the cake has cooled. Left upright, it would quickly deflate and you won’t be able to cut a hole through.
Strawberry Filled Angel Food Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 box Betty Crocker Angel Food Cake Mix
- 3 cups quartered strawberries plus extra if you want to line the outside of your cake
- 2 pints whipped cream
- 1 - 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- Angel Food cubes after removing from cake
Frosting
- 1 8 oz brick Philadelphia cream cheese
- 1 lb powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup butter room temp
- Garnishment if desired. Sprinkles non-pareils, or chocolate curls. I found my red and white chocolate curls at a gourmet food store nearby.
Instructions
Cake
- Prepare and bake Angel Food Cake per the instructions on the box.
- When cool, cut the top off of the cake. Use a long, serrated knife and keep it as level as possible while cutting. Cut about 3/4 to 1 inch down from the top of the cake. Remove top of cake.
- After the top has been removed, cut along the inside of the cake near the center hole. Use a shorter serrated knife and cut around the entire circle.
- Then cut around the outside edge of the cake. I usually cut about 1/2 - 3/4 inches away from the edge.
- Slightly remove the inside of the angel food making sure you leave some cake at the bottom. Reserve what you remove to add to the filling.
- With a beater, whip your whipped cream and add the desired amount of powdered sugar to taste.
- Cut your strawberries into quarters (3 cups)
- Combine 1 to 2 cups of whipped cream to the strawberries and mix.
- Cut the angel food cake that you removed from the cake into cubes and add to the strawberries and whipped cream.
- Spoon the strawberry mixture into the inside of the angel food cake. Fill to the top and even mound the filling.
- Replace the top of the cake.
Frosting
- Blend all ingredients until well incorporated and there are no lumps.
- With an offset spatula, frost the angel food cake.
- If the frosting is too stiff, you can add a little bit of whipped cream if you have any left over from the strawberry mixture.
- Garnish with cut strawberries at the base if desired.
- Garnish with a topping if desired. Sprinkles, non-pareils or chocolate curls. I found my red and white chocolate curls at a gourmet food store nearby.
- Keep refrigerated.
- When serving, use a long serrated knife to slice the cake.
Well, there ya have it. This is a favorite of mine and I hope that it becomes a favorite of yours too!
Tyshah says
Oh my, this looks amazing! Thanks for the great recipe. Good call with the cream cheese frosting too 🙂
Debbie says
Still one of my all time favorites!
Martha says
Going to make this today. I would like to use cool whip instead of whipping cream to save calories. Will this be ok? It will all be consumed today.
Debbie says
Yes, I think Cool Whip will work just fine! I’d love to hear how it turns out for you!
Patti Graves says
I LOVE this recipe BUT my husband was just diagnosed a diabetic2 last week. Is there a way I can make this so that HE can enjoy this also? So look forward to making this. Looks DELICIOUS
Thanks
Debbie says
Is there a sugar free Cool Whip? I would think you could substitute the whipped cream for that and we have also frosted this entire cake with Cool Whip. Or maybe use a Stevia or Truvia instead of sugar when whipping your cream? Hope that helps! I’m sure you’re on a new road with his diagnosis and will need to learn how to cook different things!
Lois Einolf says
This was the most fun I’ve had making a cake. Also a great tasting summer dessert especially when strawberries are in season. I did make one mistake with the whipped cream. I bought a quart of whipping cream (2 pints) as the recipe called for and whipped it. When I mixed the strawberries and 2 cups of whipped cream I had so much whipped cream left over. I guess I learned the difference between whipping cream and whipped cream. It certainly was not wasted – we had whipped cream in our morning coffee for a week!!
Debbie says
Oh my! I had some whipped cream left over but I don’t remember it being that much! Hope it was good in your coffee!
LIl says
Debbie
On the frosting are you saying mix all the frosting ingredients then fold in the whipped cream or are mixing them all together
Lil
Debbie says
Hi there! For the frosting, mix these ingredients together:
1 8oz brick Philadelphia cream cheese
1 lb powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup butter, room temp
I don’t use any whipped cream in the frosting, just in the filling!
Lil says
Debbie
Is that cream whipped and then measured Into 2 pints
Lil
Debbie says
Hi Lil, I whipped two pints of whipped cream. You will have some whipped cream left over so you can either reduce the amount of fluid or use the whipped cream for other things, like dipping strawberries or another reader used it in their coffee!
Nicole says
My grandmother would make a cake very similar to this. Hers was filled with whipped cream and fruit cocktail. Frosted with whipped cream as well. Everyone loved it and it was always something she served for holidays. She passed away while I was still a young child and she never wrote down her recipe. I was trying to find something similar based on old memories of what was in the cake. This is the closest recipe I’ve found. Thank you for sharing this. I cannot wait to make this!