Heavenly Raspberry Cream Angel Food Cake Dessert

This light and refreshing raspberry cream angel food cake dessert is perfect for summer! It’s so easy AND can be made ahead of time!

If there is a dessert with angel food cake involved, count me in. I’ve loved it since the beginning of time. 

And this raspberry cream angel food cake dessert is unbelievably fantastic. Low maintenance but still stunning, it’s the perfect dessert for potlucks or BBQs or whatever your summer (or year-round) plans entail. 

Messy is in

Full disclosure: this raspberry cream angel food cake dessert is not going to win any awards once plated. 

It’s messy. A little rumbly jumbly. And there’s no point in trying to make it otherwise. 

I’ve kind of come to realize that messy desserts are literally heaven on a plate. No pretenses. Just a whole lot of deliciousness ready to be gobbled up. 

If you are already a longtime fan of the older blueberry version, I think you’re going to love this new (and slightly improved) raspberry one.

Raspberry + Lemon

The raspberry filling for this recipe gets a boost from a healthy amount of fresh lemon juice. 

The flavors stay decidedly in the raspberry camp, but the pop of lemon adds a bright freshness to the mix that is undeniably needed. 

Fresh or frozen raspberries work great here. No need to thaw the frozen raspberries first. They simmer together with cornstarch, sugar, water and lemon juice until slightly thickened. 

Angel food cake + cream

Meanwhile, let’s focus our energy on angel food cake. YUM!

And also, please don’t ever leave me alone in the house with an entire angel food cake staring me in the face. It does not end well (for the cake). 

You can use any sort of angel food cake here: storebought, homemade, prepared box mix. I almost always use a boxed angel food cake mix. For someone that loves to go the homemade route, there is just something about boxed angel food cake mix that is like kryptonite to me. I love it. 

The key is to use just enough angel food cake cubes so the cream filling is plentiful and coats the cubes evenly. You don’t want any dry spots. I use about 12 cups of angel food cake cubes (which is right around 3/4 of a boxed mix angel food cake). 

How to Assemble the Angel Food Cake Dessert

Spoiler alert: it’s not rocket science. 

There are three main layers that get repeated for a total of six layers:

• coated angel food cake cubes
• raspberry filling
• sweetened whipped cream

You can see that the layers aren’t perfect. They’re a bit rustic. None of them are completely even. 

IT’S OK. In fact, it’s just the way it should be. Don’t stress. 

You can also choose to layer this dessert in a small trifle dish or glass bowl.

You can serve this delectable mess right away, or you can refrigerate for a couple of hours or up to 24 hours. 

I like to chill the dessert for a while. The flavors and texture get better, in my opinion. 

Plus, who doesn’t love a dessert that can be made-ahead of time? Dreamy. 

To serve, scoop out portions onto plates (paper plates are totally acceptable) or get fancy and serve piles of the fluffy, luscious dessert in dessert or trifle cups. 

This raspberry cream angel food cake dessert tastes phenomenal either way, and it is a huge crowd pleaser. I have firsthand knowledge of that fact and can call my pickleball groupies to testify if needed.

Check out the notes of the recipe if you want to really amp up the lemon flavor (lemon curd, I’m looking at you). 

I hope you love this one! It’s a keeper and bound to make repeat appearances this summer.

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Heavenly Raspberry Cream Angel Food Cake Dessert

Yield: 10 servings

Prep Time: 2 hours hrs 45 minutes mins

Cook Time: 10 minutes mins

Total Time: 2 hours hrs 55 minutes mins

4.74 stars (149 ratings)

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Ingredients

Raspberry Filling:

• 16 ounces (454 g) fresh or frozen raspberries, don't thaw if frozen
• ¼ cup (53 g) granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• ¼ cup cold water
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice, zest lemons before using juice – the zest is used in the cream layer

Cake and Cream:

• 12 cups cubed angel food cake (see note)
• 12 ounces (340 g) light or regular cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• ¾ to 1 cup half-and-half or evaporated milk (see note)
• ⅔ cup (141 g) granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract (optional – use for more lemon flavor)

Whipped Cream:

• 1 ½ cups heavy cream
• ¼ cup (29 g) powdered sugar

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Instructions 

• For the raspberry filling, in a medium saucepan, combine the raspberries, sugar, cornstarch, water and lemon juice. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until thickened, 5-7 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature, or refrigerate until needed (can be made several days in advance).
• For the cake and cream layer, with an electric mixer (handheld or stand mixer), whip together the cream cheese, half-and-half or evaporated milk, sugar, lemon zest and lemon extract (if using) until smooth and creamy, 3-4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Place the angel food cake cubes in a large bowl and pour over the cream mixture (see note). Gently mix until the cake pieces are evenly coated.
• For the whipped cream, beat together the heavy cream and powdered sugar until soft peaks form (or use a blender to whip the cream and sugar together).
• To assemble, in a trifle dish, a large glass bowl or a 9X13-inch (or slightly smaller) dish, spread half of the angel food cake mixture. It's ok if it doesn't form a completely even layer.
• Dollop half of the raspberry mixture across the top (I don’t spread this layer). Then dollop half of the sweetened whipped cream on top and spread into a mostly even layer. Repeat the layers (angel food cake, raspberries, whipped cream). The layers don’t have to be perfect. It’s one of those beautiful messy desserts.
• Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours. Serve chilled.

Notes

Raspberry Filling: the raspberry filling is intentionally tart to balance the sweetness of the cake and cream.

Angel Food Cake: you can use homemade, boxed mix, or storebought angel food cake for this recipe. The 12 cups called for in the recipe ends up being about 3/4 of a prepared box mix. Storebought and homemade cakes may vary in size.

You might want to start by adding only 9-10 cups of the cake cubes – and add more if there is a lot of extra cream mixture. The important thing is not adding TOO much cake or the dessert will be dry.

Half-and-Half: start with 3/4 cup half-and-half or evaporated milk and add more (up to 1/4 cup) if needed. Using light cream cheese will make the mixture thinner, so you may only need 3/4 cup of half-and-half or evap. milk; when I use full fat cream cheese, I use the full 1 cup.

Lemon Flavor: for extra lemon flavor, you could add dollops of lemon curd with the raspberry filling. I’ve also made a variation of this dessert using cubed lemon bread in place of angel food cake.

Author: Mel

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Method: Stovetop

Serving: 1 serving, Calories: 1061kcal, Carbohydrates: 201g, Protein: 23g, Fat: 21g, Saturated Fat: 12g, Cholesterol: 73mg, Sodium: 1646mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 114g

Recommended Products

Mixing Bowl

Small Offset Spatula

Serrated Bread Knife

White Ceramic 9X13-inch Dish

Recipe Source: based off this longtime favorite blueberries and cream version

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