Angel food cake with citrus salad, blood orange sauce and crème anglaise.

I wanted to find a way to showcase the many types of oranges I had in the fridge. I was looking for a neutral cake base, and decided on a homemade angel food cake. I had never made an angel food cake before, and this was a definite success. The flavor and texture is so much better than the store bought cakes, which tend to remind me of cotton. The sauces can be made a day or two in advance.

Angel food cake with citrus salad, blood orange sauce and crème anglaise
Serves about 8

Angel food cake – recipe
Crème anglaise – recipe (make the sauce, but don't freeze it)

Blood orange sauce
¼ cup sugar
1 T grated blood orange zest
2 large eggs
2/3 cup blood orange juice
2 T butter

Combine sugar, orange zest and eggs in a saucepan. Cook on medium heat, whisking constantly, until sugar is dissolved (about 2-3 minutes). Stir in orange juice and butter, and whisk constantly until mixture thickens slightly (about 5 minutes). Cool and chill in refrigerator.

Citrus salad
2 large navel oranges, peeled and sectioned
2 blood oranges, peeled and sectioned
1 cara cara orange, peeled and sectioned (this orange has a pink flesh – if you can’t find it, you could try substituting pink grapefruit or just use more navel and blood oranges)
2 teaspoons sugar

Combine orange segments and sugar in a bowl. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

To assemble:

Pour blood orange sauce and crème anglaise on a plate in a decorative manner. Add a slice of angel food cake and top with the citrus salad. Alternatively, bring the sauces and citrus salad to the table and let your guests assemble their own dessert.

I had leftover sauces, so I combined them and put them in the ice cream maker to make a blood orange ice cream.