Heavenly Rose Petal Angel Food Cake Recipe

How to make it

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• Preheat oven to 375°. Line bottom and sides of a 13- x 9-inch pan with aluminum foil, allowing 2 to 3 inches to extend over sides of pan. (Do not grease pan or foil.) Sift together first 3 ingredients.
• Beat egg whites and cream of tartar at high speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually fold in sugar mixture, 1/3 cup at a time, folding just until blended after each addition. Fold in vanilla and lemon juice. Spoon batter into prepared pan. (Pan will be very full. The batter will reach almost to the top of the pan.)
• Bake at 375° on an oven rack one-third up from bottom of oven 30 to 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Invert cake onto a lightly greased wire rack; let cool, with pan over cake, 1 hour or until completely cool. Remove pan; peel foil off cake. Transfer cake to a serving platter. Spread Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting evenly over top of cake. Garnish, if desired.
• Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting:
• Prep: 10 min. This is a very soft frosting, perfect for spreading over a sheet cake. If you use it for a layer cake, reduce the lemon juice to 1 Tbsp.
• Ingredients
• 1 1/2 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 (16-oz.) package powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• Preparation
• Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; add lemon juice, beating just until blended. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended; stir in lemon zest.
• Yield
• Makes about 3 1/2 cups
• Gumdrop Rose Petals:
• You don't need a green thumb to make the candy rose petals that garnish Heavenly Angel Food Cake—just a handful of gumdrops and a dish of granulated sugar. Pretty enough to turn any dessert into a special occasion, gumdrop flowers can be made weeks ahead and stored in an airtight container.
• Gumdrops are super-inexpensive, so play around and have some fun—the less formal the shaping, the more natural the petals look. Like learning to crimp the edges of a piecrust, there's a rhythm that comes easily after making a few. Use these ideas as inspiration. Many of the tips and techniques for making rose petals can also be used to create other flowers.