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Key Lime Layered Angel Food Cake

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Key Lime Layered Angel Food Cake

I am happy to say this was one of the best cakes I have ever made. We loved, loved, loved it.

I made it for my amazing and wonderful husband’s birthday a few weeks ago. I had seen the concept some where, probably Pinterest, and then tweaked it a little bit to create this confection of deliciousness.

My husband has always had a little love affair on the side with key lime, I don’t mind too much since I have kind of a little thing for cheese and heavy cream, anyway so I thought a key lime cake for his birthday would be perfect. His other food love affair is angel food cake so he actually was the one who suggested swapping out the white cake and using angel food cake.

He’s a good man.

I, however, am not so great as I went ahead and helped myself to the last piece while he was at work.

He didn’t like that so much…

Key Lime Layered Angel Food Cake
 
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Prep time
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Total time
 
Recipe By:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 12
Ingredients

  • FOR THE KEY LIME CURD
  • 1½ cups granulated sugar
  • zest of 4 limes
  • 1 cup Key Lime juice
  • 4 large eggs
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
    FOR THE CAKE
  • 1½ cups room temperature egg whites (about 10-12 large)
  • 1½ teaspoon cream of tarter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon key lime juice
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1½ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 cup cake flour
    FOR THE LIME SWISS MERENGUE BUTTERCREAM
  • 2½ cups sugar
  • 10 large egg whites
  • 4 cups (8 sticks or 2 pounds) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon key lime juice
    FOR THE GRAHAM CRACKER CRUMBLES
  • 6 graham crackers
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
  • 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Preparation Instructions

  1. FOR THE KEY LIME CURD
  2. Combine all the ingredients, except the butter, in a medium saucepan. Whisk to combine.
  3. Over medium heat add the butter whisking until combined.
  4. Continue whisking until thick and temperature reaches 160˚.
  5. Remove from heat and pass through a sieve to remove any lumps. For faster chilling place ice and some cold water in a large bowl and then place the smaller bowl of curd in that and place in the fridge, it should be ready to use after a couple hours. If not using until later, just place in the fridge with some plastic wrap over it. Chill completely before using.
    FOR THE CAKE
  6. Preheat your oven to 350˚.
  7. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
  8. Add the cream of tarter, vanilla and lime juice.
  9. Slowly sprinkle in the sugar.
  10. Sift the flour and powdered sugar together 3 times and then fold gently into the egg whites a third at a time.
  11. Gently pour the batter into a tube pan and then run a knife through it to remove any air bubbles.
  12. Bake about 45 minutes or until golden brown and springs back when pushed gently with finger. Remove from oven and invert over a wine bottle (any kind of bottle works, that just happens to be what I use) until completely cool.
  13. To remove run a knife around edge to loosen and then just flip over, unless you have a removable bottom, then remove ring from cake and then the cake from the base. Store on a plate until ready to use.
    FOR THE SWISS MERENGUE BUTTERCREAM
  14. Place the egg whites and sugar in a heat proof bowl (I use my kitchenaid bowl) and place over a pot of boiling water. Whisk briskly until sugar has melted, you can test it by rubbing a little of the mixture between your fingers, it should feel smooth. Remove from heat.
  15. Place the bowl on your mixer and fit with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until the whites have cooled to room temperature, about 10 minutes.
  16. Once the mixture has cooled start adding the butter a piece at a time. It may start to look curdled at some point at this stage but have no fear, it will smooth out again, just keep beating.
  17. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the vanilla extract and the lime juice.
    FOR THE GRAHAM CRACKER CRUMBLES
  18. Preheat oven to 350˚.
  19. Place all the ingredients except the butter in a food processor and pulse until the crackers are small crumbs.
  20. Add the butter and pulse a couple more times.
  21. Lay the crumbs out on a baking sheet in an even layer and place in oven for 6 minutes. Toss with a fork and bake 2 more minutes.
  22. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
    [b]ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS[b/]
  23. To assemble the cake, first cut the cake into 3 even layers.
  24. Place the bottom layer on a cake board or whatever you want the cake to be on.
  25. Cover the top with a thin layer on buttercream, like paper thin since this is just to keep the curd from seeping into the cake and then pipe a little rim around the outside edge so the curd doesn’t ooze out the sides.
  26. Spoon an even layer of lime curd over the buttercream.
  27. Place the middle layer on and repeat steps 3 and 4.
  28. Once you have it stacked, fill in the hole from the tube pan with buttercream and put a thin layer of buttercream over the entire cake and then place in the freezer for 10 minutes.
  29. Remove the cake from the freezer and finish icing it.
  30. Once you have finished icing the cake, very carefully pat the graham cracker crumbs on the sides of the cake.
  31. If you want to pipe the edges to give it a finished look do that now.
  32. Stand back and take a look, it’s ready to eat!

 

Megan
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