These angel food cake toppings are the perfect finishing touch to your blank canvas.
Chocolate Ganache
Turn your angel food cake into a faux Boston cream pie (like this Boston cream angel cake) by slicing it horizontally, spreading vanilla custard or pudding between the layers, and topping the whole thing with this almost-ridiculously-simple chocolate ganache. The chocolate ganache is enough by itself, though, if you want to skip the Boston cream angle. Feel free to add toppings before the ganache sets; I love toasted hazelnuts for a Nutella flavor.
Lemon Curd
This one’s inspired by our love for lemons! Tangy, bright and rich, lemon curd is a powerful ingredient that’s exceptional in spring and summer desserts. Just slice an angel food cake in horizontal layers, spread our best homemade lemon curd between the pieces and replace the top. Voila!
Meringue
Forgo the frosting! Meringue is a light-as-air topping that acts like frosting without all the heavy sweetness. Spread it on the outside of your angel food cake, decorate it with pretty piping or swoops from a spatula, then toast the meringue just before serving. Do this in front of guests for the wow factor. Pair it with lemon curd for a lemon meringue pie-style angel food cake.
Pie Filling
Finding fresh fruit as a topping to be a little ho-hum? Store-bought or homemade pie filling is an excellent alternative. Saucy, sweet and fruity, it’s great served on top of angel food cake slices or torn-up pieces of cake, as in our blueberry angel dessert with sweetened cream cheese. Use cherry, strawberry, blueberry, peach—the choice is up to you!
Bananas Foster
This slow-cooker bananas Foster recipe takes only 10 minutes to prep, and when it’s done, it practically demands to be your angel food cake’s next topping! Just place a slice of angel food cake at the base of each serving dish and top it with gooey banana goodness.
Rainbow Sherbet
This rainbow sherbet angel food cake looks way fancier than its five ingredients would suggest. Simply slice your angel food cake horizontally, separate the layers with your favorite rainbow colors of sherbet, and frost the top and sides with spiky whipped cream.
Cream Pie Filling
Luscious and custardy, a coconut cream pie‘s filling adds richness to the very light angel food cake dessert. Slice your cake in half lengthwise, spread the filling inside and on top, then finish the cake with homemade whipped cream and toasted coconut.
Balsamic Vinegar
I can’t tell what I love most about this grilled angel food cake: Is it the fact that it grills angel food cake slices or that it uses balsamic butter to help it caramelize? Served with fresh strawberries, blueberry syrup and scoops of ice cream, these techniques create an unexpectedly delicious dessert. Serve this recipe as a perfect end to your backyard barbecue.
Sundae Fixings
This is such a fun build-your-own idea! Either cube an angel food cake, place it in a 13×9-inch baking dish, then build your sundae from there or serve plain slices of angel food cake and set out a sundae bar so everyone can add their own toppings as they please. Make sure there are plenty of ice cream sundae toppings to choose from: more than one ice cream flavor, hot fudge, fruit toppings, salted caramel sauce, maraschino cherries, whipped cream and lots of sprinkles!
Instant Pudding
I love turning my angel food cake into a pretty trifle, layered with basically any flavor of instant pudding and other inclusions to match. Choose from vanilla, lemon, Key lime, chocolate, butterscotch, coconut cream or white chocolate instant pudding. Then add Oreos, Nilla wafers, hot fudge, toffee bits, fresh fruit, and other ingredients for complementary flavors and texture.
Nuts
Angel food cake is soft, bouncy and light. For anyone who loves texture, this dessert might be a little underwhelming. Chopped nuts are a wonderful addition to bring in a little more flavor and a lot more texture. Hazelnuts, almonds, macadamia nuts, peanuts, pecans and walnuts would all taste great here. Toast the nuts beforehand to bring out their nutty sweetness and to remove their raw, oily edge.
