How far ahead can you prepare Angel Food Cake toppings.

July 2, 2021 11:39 AM

How long before serving can you put cream and cream based frostings on an Angel Food cake?

I'm doing up a store bought Angel Food Cake for a 4th of July lunch. Based on Erins part of this video from Food 52.

Basically it's hollowed out filled with blueberry cream, reassembled, then coated in Mascarpone cream and topped with berries to decorate. I however don't have a lot of experience with Angel Food Cake or Mascarpone cream and want to know is this something I can do the day before or will it just turn into a soggy mess? Can I do it in the morning a few hours before lunch or do I still risk it becoming a soggy mess. Can I make the creams the day before? The nature of the video means there isn't a recipe to follow so I'm kind of winging it so any and all suggestions appreciated assume my cake making and decorating skills are such that something as simple as this has me stressing.

posted by wwax to Food & Drink (9 answers total)

Best answer: IWAPC, IANYPC (I was a pastry cook. I am not your pastry cook).

I don't think there's any way you can do this with angel food cake the day before. It is already a delicate cake; it will be beyond a soggy mess the next day.

You *may* be able to get away with doing it a few hours before. What I would do is probably jettison the idea of hollowing it out and reassembling and all that jazz, and simply serve the cake with toppings at the point of serving.

Trifles are basically this but layered in a dish; if you have a drier, sturdier cake they will maintain integrity better. Angel food is by its nature very airy and light; mascarpone is kind of heavy.

This sounds delicious!
posted by fiercecupcake at 12:35 PM on July 2, 2021 [4 favorites]

Best answer: I would top the angel food cake as soon as possible to when you are serving. I would absolutely not do this the day before - it will fall apart.

If you want to prep it the day before, I would use store bought pound cake, not angel food cake.
posted by Ms Vegetable at 1:49 PM on July 2, 2021

Best answer: I only ever put plain whipped cream on mine—if anything—and only ever shortly before eating. Moist fillings will start deteriorating the cake instantly, so I'd prepare everything into their own little containers, cut the cake up, and then slap it all together on site. BYO frosting spatula, I guess.

The non-cake stuff as condiments is a good idea, too.

Mascarpone sounds rich, I'll be curious how it goes!
posted by rhizome at 2:01 PM on July 2, 2021

Best answer: Make the creams beforehand, assemble right before you serve. You are correct in that it will turn to soggy mush if it sits on the cake for any decent amount of time.
posted by gnutron at 2:26 PM on July 2, 2021

Best answer: A la minute. What you can do is prepare both creams the morning of, and put them in pastry bags or in ziploc bags, and have them all set up for easy assemblage just before you’re ready to serve. I wouldn’t put everything together until an hour before- at most. If you want to have it done ahead of time, pick almost any other dessert!
posted by Champagne Supernova at 3:01 PM on July 2, 2021 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Make anything that's mainly whipped cream right before you leave the house, and carry it separately. Store the cream in a refrigerator at the destination. Put it on the cake _right_ before serving - if you can't bring your own spatula, a big spoon will work.

It's worth it. Also, if it's not too sweet, it will be eaten totally up very quickly, so you might want to make sure you have enough supplies to make one for yourself later :)
posted by amtho at 5:25 PM on July 2, 2021

Best answer: Oh, wait -- if there is blueberry (or anything even remotely syrupy or acidic) mixed into the whipped cream, THAT should happen at the last minute also.

This is an unusual kind of combination -- it might be worth trying to contact the person who is in the video (or whoever originated the recipe) to ask if it will keep even a few hours.
posted by amtho at 5:28 PM on July 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I would assemble this literally in between the entree/savory meal and the dessert. Like while people are lounging around making room in their stomachs for sweets.

I think you hollow out the night before, and then make the blueberry cream and any other ingredients that morning (might need to mix/shake/reincorporate after arrival/before assembling). Store all dairy in the fridge at the host’s place.
posted by amaire at 9:20 PM on July 2, 2021

Response by poster: Thanks everyone. This is pretty much what I suspected I just hoped there was some way to get around it. I may well end up doing mini pavlovas with the same cream instead.
posted by wwax at 8:56 AM on July 3, 2021 [1 favorite]