Summertime is berry time. When the hot days of summer hit, these small bites of juicy sweetness are a perfect pick-me-up. Work fresh berries into your 4th of July celebration with one of the cake recipes below and have a happy 4th of July!
Berry tip: Do not wash berries until you’re ready to use them. Wash strawberries with the hull on, then hull and slice them.
Angel Food Cake Stuffed with Whipped Cream and Berries
Note – for those of you who do not like to cook, you can purchase the whip cream and angel food cake pre-made (or use box mix)
See below for tastiest version from Recipes.com
This summery sweet takes three basics–cake, whipped cream, and berries–and elevates them to showstopper status with a few neat tricks. Ginger and orange juice brighten the light, spongy angel food cake, while vanilla bean seeds perfume the whipped cream. The berries are stashed inside the cake itself, their bright color offering a visual surprise with every slice.
Ingredients
Berries:
- 2 cups fresh raspberries
- 1-1/2 cups fresh blackberries
- 1-1/2 cups fresh blueberries
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
Cake:
- 1 cup cake flour (about 4 ounces)
- 1 cup powdered sugar, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 12 large egg whites
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
Whipped cream:
- 3/4 cup whipping cream, chilled
- 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- Remaining ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- Grated orange rind (optional)
Preparation
- To prepare berries, combine first 5 ingredients; toss to combine. Cover and chill 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- To prepare cake, place a rack in the lower third of oven. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Sift together flour, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and ginger in a medium bowl. Sift together remaining 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 3/4 cup granulated sugar in another bowl. Place egg whites in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar and salt; beat until soft peaks form. Add powdered and granulated sugar mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Sift flour mixture over egg white mixture, 1/4 cup at a time; fold in. Fold in 2 tablespoons juice.
- Spoon batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan, spreading evenly. Break air pockets by cutting through batter with a knife. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Invert pan; cool completely. Loosen cake from sides of pan using a narrow metal spatula. Invert the cake onto a plate.
- Cut 1 inch off top of cake using a serrated knife; set top of cake aside. Hollow out bottom of cake using a small knife, leaving a 1-inch-thick shell; reserve torn cake for another use.
- To prepare whipped cream, place cream in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until soft peaks form. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into bowl; discard pod. Gradually add 3/4 cup powdered sugar, beating at high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Spoon all but 1 cup of berry mixture into cake shell; top with whipped cream. Replace top of cake; sprinkle with 2 tablespoons powdered sugar. Serve immediately with additional berry mixture; garnish with orange rind, if desired.
Sugar-Free Angel Food Cake Version:
- Egg whites-12
- Cream of Tarter – 1 1/2 tsp
- Water – 1 Tbs
- Vanilla extract 1 tsp
- Sugar alternative (use any granular alternative equivalent to 1-3/4 cups of sugar.
- Salt 1/2 tsp
- Cake flour
On a mixing bowl use a whisk attachment to whip together the egg whites until some peaks begin to form. Then add the cream of tarter, water and vanilla extract. While your ingredients are mixing,you can sift together your flour, sugar alternative, and salt. You will need to sift this very well so I would suggest sifting several times or even using a food processor. Set your oven to 325 at this point and then mix together your ingredients by adding the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl with the wet ingredients. We do not want the oven to be too-preheated which is why we are doing a ‘lazy’ preheat. Now pour the batter into your prepped pan and bake for 60-65 minutes or until golden. (More recipes at thesugarfreediva.com Invert cake while still in pan to cool. Frost or serve with sugar-free whipped topping, sour cream and or fresh fruit.
Angel Food Cake – Whip Cream & Berries
If you are really in a hurry, you can bake or buy a plain Angel Food cake, slap on whip cream and top with berries for simple refreshing desert.
Angel Food -Berry Skewers
Even more simple, and fun to eat are skewers with alternating berries and slices of Angel Food cake.
You can also, take out much of the preparation time if you just serve a plain angel food cake, with sides o
berries and whip cream so your guests can help themselves.
Easy Fourth of July Cake – (white cake- blueberries and strawberries)
2 pints of strawberries
1 box white or yellow cake
1 1/3 C of blueberries
1 tub of whipped topping
- Mix up and bake your cake according to the box’s directions.
- Slice 1 cup of strawberries, set aside. Halve remaining strawberries, set aside.
- Top cake (in pan) with 1 cup sliced strawberries, 1 cup blueberries and all of the whipped topping. Arrange remaining strawberry halves and blueberries on whipped topping to create a flag design.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Fourth of July Flag Cake – Chocolate with Cream Cheese Frosting – Blueberries and Raspberries
– from Epicurious
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 cup boiling water
- 3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional flour for dusting pan
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened, plus additional butter for greasing pan
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 large eggs
For the frosting:
- 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
For the decorations:
- 1 1/2 pints raspberries (about 3 cups total)
- 1/2 pint blueberries (about 1 cup total)
- Equipment: 13- by 9-inch metal baking pan, stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, pastry bag, star-shaped pastry tip (such as Wilton #2110)
Preparation
Make the cake:
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F.
Butter the bottom and sides of a 13- by 9-inch metal baking pan and line the bottom with wax or parchment paper. Butter the paper and dust the pan with flour, knocking out any excess.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the boiling water, cocoa powder, and instant coffee granules until smooth. Whisk in the milk and vanilla.
In a second medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars and beat on medium until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat on medium until fully incorporated. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour and cocoa powder mixtures in batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. (The batter may look curdled.) Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top, and bake the cake until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, 35 to 40 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then invert the cake onto the rack, remove the wax or parchment paper, and let it cool completely. DO AHEAD: The unfrosted cake, can be cooled, wrapped securely in plastic wrap, and stored at room temperature up to 24 hours, before assembling and serving.
Make the frosting:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese and butter and beat until creamy and smooth, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low, add the sifted confectioners’ sugar in three batches, mixing until fully incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is smooth. Chill the frosting in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before assembling the cake.
Assemble and serve the cake:
Frost the top and sides of the cake with 2 1/2 cups of the frosting. Transfer the remaining frosting to a pastry bag fitted with the star tip.
Using a toothpick or small knife, outline a 4 1/2-inch-long by 3 1/2-inch-wide rectangle in the top left corner of the cake. This area will be reserved for blueberries.
Starting with the longer side of the cake that is closest to you, pipe a line of frosting along the top edge of the cake then arrange two horizontal rows of raspberries directly above the line of frosting. Pipe a second line of frosting above the raspberries and arrange two more horizontal rows of raspberries directly above the frosting. Repeat this process two more times, making sure to exclude the top left corner that is reserved for the blueberries. Arrange the blueberries in horizontal rows in the top left corner of the cake.
Slice and serve the cake immediately or store it, covered securely in plastic wrap, in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
4th of July tip for migraineurs…
