Angel Food Cake for the Archangels' Feast

Heavenly King,You have given us archangels
to assist us during our pilgrimage on earth.
Saint Michael is our protector;
I ask him to come to my aid,
fight for all my loved ones,
and protect us from danger.
Saint Gabriel is a messenger of the Good News;
I ask him to help me
clearly hear Your voice
and to teach me the truth.
Saint Raphael is the healing angel;
I ask him to take my need for healing
and that of everyone I know,
lift it up to Your throne of grace
and deliver back to us the gift of recovery.
Help us, O Lord,
to realize more fully the reality of the archangels
and their desire to serve us.

Holy angels,
pray for us.

Amen.

Every baker should have a good angel food cake in her (or his) repertoire for the angels' feast days (the feast of the Archangels, the Guardian Angels, Our Lady of Angels, etc.). This is one of those baked goods that seems daunting, but is really very easy to  make, and rather budget friendly. It stands alone with a dollop of whipped cream, or can be dressed up simple with berries, a drizzle of chocolate glaze, or really kicked up a notch with creme anglaise. 

One true key to a successful angel food cake is to make sure there are no traces of oil in the batter, so  make sure your pan is completely clean and that you don't get any yolk in your egg whites.

Angel Food Cake

1 cup cake flour

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

12 large egg whites

1 1/2 t. vanilla

1 1/2 t. cream of tartar

1/2 t. salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Be sure that your 10 inch tube pan is clean and dry. Sift together the flour, and 3/4 cup of the sugar, set aside.

In a large bowl (the egg whites will whip up to completely fill a Kitchen Aid mixer bowl), whip the egg whites along with the vanilla, cream of tartar and salt, to medium stiff peaks. Gradually add the remaining sugar while continuing to whip to stiff peaks. When the egg white mixture has reached its maximum volume, fold in the sifted ingredients gradually, one third at a time. Do not overmix. Put the batter into the tube pan.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake springs back when touched. Balance the tube pan upside down on the top of a bottle, to prevent decompression while cooling. When cool, run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert onto a plate.

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Cupcake Forest for the Feast of St. John Gualbert

ST. JOHN GUALBERT 

Patron of Foresters, Forest Workers, Park Rangers and Parks

Feast Day - July 12

St. John Gualbert was born at Florence, A. D. 999. Following the profession of arms at that troubled period, he became involved in a blood-feud with a near relative. One Good Friday, as he was riding into Florence accompanied by armed men, he encountered his enemy in a place where neither could avoid the other. John would have slain him; but his adversary, who was totally unprepared to fight, fell upon his knees with his arms stretched out in the form of a cross, and implored him, for the sake of Our Lord's holy Passion, to spare his life. St. John said to his enemy, "I cannot refuse what you ask in Christ's name. I grant you your life, and I give you my friendship. Pray that God may forgive me my sin." Grace triumphed. A humble and changed man, he entered the Church of St. Miniato, which was near; and whilst he prayed, the figure of our crucified Lord, before which he was kneeling, bowed its head toward him as if to ratify his pardon. Abandoning the world, he gave himself up to prayer and penance in the Benedictine Order. Later he was led to found the congregation called of Vallombrosa, from the shady valley a few miles from Florence, where he established his first monastery. Once the enemies of the Saint came to his convent of St. Salvi, plundered it, and set fire to it, and having treated the monks with ignominy, beat them and wounded them. St. John rejoiced. "Now," he said, "you are true monks. Would that I myself had had the honor of being with you when the soldiers came, that I might have had a share in the glory of your crowns! " He fought manfully against simony, and in many ways promoted the interest of the Faith in Italy. After a life of great austerity, he died whilst the angels were singing round his bed, July 11, 1073.

(Taken from Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler)

(originally posted over at Shower of Roses, July 2018) 

These forest/tree cupcakes were so easy to decorate with some melted green and cocoa candy melts and a couple plastic bags with the corner cut off to squeeze the melted candy onto the wax paper. After the candy trees had hardened we simply placed them on the cupcakes.

Variations of my Deer in the Woods" Birthday Cake and Snowy Mountain Ski Resort Birthday Cake over at Shower of Roses would also be fun for this patron saint of foresters, forest workers, park rangers and parks!

“The just will flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a Lebanon cedar, planted in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God.”— Psalm 92:13-14

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Mini Tarta de Santiago in Shell

The Tarta de Santiago is a popular Spanish dessert, common along the Camino route. Named in honor of the apostle, St. James, the patron saint of Spain, this cake is made with ingredients typical in many Iberian desserts such as egg, lemon and almonds. The traditional Tarta de Santiago in a larger single cake and was highlighted in a previous post. I came across this fun idea to make mini tartas using scallop shells as the baking pan. Since the scallop shell is a symbol of St. James this was perfect for the feast day, July 25.

Tarta de Santiago

Ingredients:

5 eggs

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 1/2 cups almond flour

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

zest of 1/2 lemon

butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In mixing bowl beat eggs and then sugar and almond extract.  Add almond flour, cinnamon, and lemon zest. Mix until all dry ingredients are moist. Spoon batter into buttered scallop shells. The shells are available at many craft stores and kitchen stores, as well as online outlets like Amazon. Batter makes approximately 8 mini cakes. For stability and ease of getting them in and out of oven, place filled shells on baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes until browned and cooked through. Test with toothpick.

Let cakes cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar using a sifter to distribute. A paper template of the Santiago cross can be placed on the shell before sprinkling then removed. This leaves a cross outline on the tarta. Cross template with instructions are linked here.

St. James, Pray for us!

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Watchmaker Cake with Cameo in Lace Candy

Happy Feast of Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin! Here is a variation on the French Vanilla Cake and Cupcakes in Honor of the Watchmaker and Lace Maker found in the archives that I shared over at Shower of Roses last year. We used the rest of the cupcake batter to make a Cupcake Forest in honor of St. John Gualbert whose feast day is also celebrated today! 

"Mrs. Martin loved her darling Therese as much as she could. Mr. Martin loved his sweet little girl as much as he could. He called her his Little Queen. And Baby Therese loved her mother and father as much as ever she could..." ~ Excerpt from Catholic Children's Treasure Box: Book 1

Sts. Louis, Therese, and Zelie - Handpainted by Catholic Folk Toys

"As little birds learn to sing by listening to their parents, so children learn the science of virtues, the sublime song of Divine Love, from souls responsible for forming them." ~ St. Therese

Watchmaker Cake with Cameo in Lace Candy

Saints Louis & Zélie Martin, ora pro nobis!

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French Vanilla Fleur De Lis Cake

The Nordic Ware Fleur De Lis Bundt Pan is perfect for so many feast days, including today's feast of St. Joan of Arc since the fleur de lis is one of her symbols.

These pictures are from a couple years ago, but the girls are planning to pull it out this afternoon to bake another cake for dessert this evening. This cake is simply a French Vanilla Cake Mix baked in the Fleur de Lis Bundt Pan and then dusted with powdered sugar. If you have a favorite from scratch French Vanilla Cake recipe please share it in the comments below!

The Story of St. Joan of Arc • St. Joan of Arc from  Naturally Catholic • Nordic Ware Fleur De Lis Bundt Pan

St. Joan of Arc, pray for us! 

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St. Joseph and St. Patrick Cakes

The following cake was submitted by Anna, from Regina Coeli Baker for the upcoming March feasts of St. Patrick and St. Joseph. You can find additional cakes decorated by Regina Coeli Baker here. Thank you, Anna!

I decorated this cake for the 150th Anniversary of St. Benedict Parish. It is a cluster of four Parishes, St. Benedict, Sacred Heart, St. Patrick and St. Joseph. 

 

 

The statues of Saints were totally edible and built on ice cream cones. Flowers are hand modeled with fondant. Topper and arches in pastillage. Tailor made cakes for every saint. Chocolate with Chocolate filling for St. Benedict. Red velvet with cream cheese filling for the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Green with almond filling for Saint Patrick. White cake with rum buttercream for St. Joseph. Also a yellow cake tier with dulce de leche filling. Covered with buttercream.

St. Patrick, pray for us! St. Joseph, pray for us!

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Gaudete Sunday and Our Lady of Guadalupe Cake

The following cake was submitted by Anna, from Regina Coeli Baker, "to put together two great feasts, Gaudete Sunday and the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The cake inside is white and orange cake, filled with cranberries and white chocolate ganache. The image of Our Lady is totally edible, hand modeled and hand painted. The cake is covered with homemade white chocolate marshmallow fondant. " You can find additional cakes decorated by Regina Coeli Baker here. Thank you, Anna!

Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us! 

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St. Ambrose and the Bees Honeycomb Cake

The feast of St. Ambrose, patron saint of beekeepers, bees, and candlemakers, is celebrated on December 7th. Here is a recipe for Honey Bun Cake baked in a Honeycomb Cake Pan in honor of St. Ambrose, the honey-tongued doctor.

St. Ambrose and the Bees Honeycomb Cake

adapted from The Cake Mix Doctor

Cake:

• baking spray for cake pan
• 1 package (18.25) oz plain yellow cake mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 4 large eggs

Filling:

• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)

Sugar Glaze:

• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Note: I only used half of the glaze after baking the cake in the Honeycomb Pull Apart Cake Pan. This cake can also be baked in a 13-by-9 inch baking pan. 

Honeycomb Pull Apart Cake Pan

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Coat pan with non-stick baking spray. Set the pan aside.

Place the cake mix, sour cream, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well blended.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula.

Tip: If using the Honeycomb Pan, don't fill the pan more than 3/4 of the way full, otherwise you may end up needing to remove a scoop or two of batter while it's baking to prevent it from overflowing! ;) 

Add the filling. Drizzle the honey on top of the batter, then sprinkle on the brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans if desired.

With a dinner knife, swirl through these ingredients blend them slightly. Place the pan in the oven. 

Bake the cake until it is golden brown and springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 38 to 40 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes while you prepare the glaze.  

For the glaze, place the confectioners' sugar, milk, and vanilla in a small mixing bowl and stir until the mixture is well combined. 

Flip the Honeycomb Cake onto serving platter and pour the glaze over the top of the hot cake. 

Note: If you used a 9x13 pan, leave the cake in the pan and pour the glaze over the top of the cake, spreading it to the sides with a spoon. 

Allow the cake to cool for 20 minutes more before serving warm. 

Saint Ambrose and the Bees from Brother Wolf, Sister Sparrow: Stories about Saints and Animals

I shared additional pictures over at Shower of Roses. 

You can scroll through the archives for additional recipes in honor of St. Ambrose. 

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Ascension Cake

Our diocese is one that has moved the Solemnity of the Ascension to Sunday -- today, so today we celebrated Ascension Sunday and Mother's Day. 

My mother happens to love my deep dark chocolate cake frosted with whipped cream rather than buttercream frosting, and whipped cream just makes such heavenly looking clouds of yum, that I was reminded of the Ascension of Jesus. 

"When they had gathered together they asked him, 'Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? ' He answered them, 'It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority.But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.' When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight." Acts 1:6-9

GAROFALO
Ascension of Christ

I created some edible Sacred Hearts of Jesus with strawberries, some melted chocolate chips in an icing bag (or ziploc bag) and some whipped cream tinted orange for some flames. It didn't turn out quite exactly what I had in mind, but the ratio of result to work was pretty high (ie very little work) and the taste was delicious, so I'll not complain. Believe me, if you've never decorated a cake, you can handle this one.

You could technically hide any cake under the whipped cream, but my mom loves the contrast of the dark chocolate cake with the whipped cream, and it was Mother's Day, so dark chocolate it was. This cake is from scratch, but don't let that fool you -- it couldn't be easier. And frosting with whipped cream is so foolproof, you can have this cake finished in no time. 

Deep Dark Chocolate Cake

2 cups sugar
1 ¾ cups flour
¾ cup cocoa
1 ½ t. baking soda
1 ½ t. baking powder
1 t. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cups oil
2 t. vanilla
1 cup boiling water

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour two round 9” pans.
In a large mixing bowl combine dry ingredients.
Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla.
Beat on medium speed for two minutes.
Stir in boiling water (by hand). (Batter will be thin.)
Pour into prepared pans.
Bake for 30-35 minutes
(inserted toothpick will have moist crumbs, but nothing "wet").
Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans.
Cool completely before frosting.


Whipped Cream Frosting

3 c. whipping cream
4 T. instant vanilla pudding mix
4 T. powdered sugar

In a large mixing bowl, begin whipping cream on medium.
Add pudding mix and powdered sugar and turn up to high.
Whip until cream is very fluffy and holds its peaks
(just don't go to far and make butter).
After cake is completely cool, frost in between layers, sides and top of cake.
Decorate if desired.

For Sacred Heart strawberries:

Wash and pat dry two large strawberries (cut them so that you get 
two heart-shaped halves from each).

Cut the leaves out by cutting out the hull and creating a heart shape at the cut end. 

Place 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips in an icing bag. Microwave for 30-60 seconds until melted. Cut tip off bag and pipe chocolate onto the strawberry in the shape of a crown of thorns (it might help to refer to an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus). Let chocolate set and then place them in the center of the cake (if you have smaller strawberries than I did, you might need to use three -- for six halves). Tint a little bit of whipped cream yellow or orange and place in icing (or ziploc bag). Pipe flames coming from the tops of the "hearts".

Refrigerate cake before serving and refrigerate leftovers.

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Thunder Cake for St. Scholastica

February 10th is the feast day of St. Scholastica, foundress and sister of St. Benedict. This year her feast falls on Ash Wednesday so is a day of fasting. I had an idea for her feast day based on the story I shared last year about her association with thunder and lightning. This cake idea comes from a much loved children's picture book which has been a favorite of mine for years - Patricia Polacco's Thunder Cake.  In the story a little girl, afraid of an upcoming thunderstorm, is distracted by her grandmother as they find ingredients to bake a "thunder" cake. The book includes the recipe for a version you can do yourself.  I love the book for its story as well as the depictions of holy images (icons) in the home of the Russian grandmother - so lovely.

But since her feast this year falls on Ash Wednesday, Shrove Tuesday would be a great time to make this cake and "use up" the eggs and sugar and such, which would have been common in earlier days as preparation for Lent. So this is a way to both prepare for Lent and also to celebrate St. Scholastica the day before her feast. 

Thunder Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs, separated 

1 cup cold water
1/3 cup pureed tomatoes
2  cups cake flour 

1/2 cup dry cocoa
11/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together one at a time the shortening, sugar, vanilla. Blend yolks in. Beat whites until they are stiff, then fold in. Blend in water and tomatoes. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.  Mix dry mixture into creamy mixture. Bake in two greased and floured 8 1/2 inch pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Frost with chocolate butter frosting. Top with strawberries. 

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Saints Louis & Zélie Martin :: French Vanilla Cake and Cupcakes in Honor of the Watchmaker and Lace Maker

"God made me a Father and Mother more worthy of Heaven than of Earth." 

~ St. Thérèse of Lisieux

I spent yesterday afternoon creating a few treats to celebrate today's canonization of Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St. Thérèse.  I didn't really have a plan when I pulled out a box of French Vanilla cake mix from the cupboard, but was so happy with how it all came together!

I started by making "lace" mini cupcake wrappers using some 8" Doilies I had with my craft supplies. These were so easy to make and really turned out beautifully! If you have larger doilies you could make larger wrappers for full size cupcakes. 

While I was assembling the cupcake wrappers, I baked 24 mini French Vanilla cupcakes, saving the remaining batter for a small 8" round cake. 

Once the mini-cupcakes had cooled I topped them with some homemade buttercream frosting:

1 cup butter, 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp milk, 1/8 tsp salt

Whip until smooth.

At first I thought I would decorate the 8" cake as a clock face, but after placing the cake on the platter I decided to surround it with twelve of the mini cupcakes. I added Roman Numerals and clock hands using Black Decorating Icing. I probably would have opted for melted chocolate if I had any dark chocolate candy melts in my stash.

I also made some Saint Zélie Martin Cameo in Lace Candy. These little candies would work great as cupcake toppers!



You can find additional ideas for Commemorating the Canonization of the Parents of Saint Thérèse, Saints Louis and Zélie Martin over at Shower of Roses!

Saints Louis & Zélie Martin, ora pro nobis! 

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World Cake for St. Therese

The following cake was submitted by Julie Machado, from Marta, Julie e Maria, for the feast of St. Therese. Thank you, Julie!

Seeing as St Therese is the patroness of all foreign missions, here is an idea for a world cake. I used this chocolate cake recipe and glaze from RealSimple minus the strawberries. Then I printed out a world map outline and roughly cut out the continents. I gently rested the paper on the cake and sifted powdered sugar on it, then lifted off the paper. I used a pastry brush to wipe of excesso sugar. Voilá!

A blessed St. Therese day!

Additional ideas and recipes for the feast of St. Therese can be found in the archives. 

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St. Thérèse the Little Flower Cake

The following cake was submitted by Anna, from Regina Coeli Baker, to celebrate the Little Flower! This was her daughter's 10th birthday cake. "It was a white and red velvet cake with raspberries and buttercream. Accents and topper were made in fondant (and totally edible)." You can find additional cakes decorated by Regina Coeli Baker here. Thank you, Anna! 

O Little Flower of Jesus, pray for us!

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Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cake

This beautiful cake was created and submitted by Angelica Hernandez, inspired by the Holy Name of Mary coloring page found at Waltzing Matilda, in honor of today's feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary. Thank you, Angelica! 

"The devils fear the Queen of heaven to such a degree, that only on hearing her great name pronounced, they fly from him who does so as from a burning fire." 

~ Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

Additional recipes for the feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary can be found in the archives.

Happy Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary! 

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