Angel Food Buttercream Cake Roll

I set out to make one of these cake rolls a couple weeks back and I tried several different recipes - none of which worked. It was literally fail after fail after fail. Karen and I could not figure out what was wrong with the recipes we were trying. We took a break from cake rolls and tried making some homemade marshmallows and that too was a fail. It was like everything we touched for that entire week was just a disaster. Total nightmare. After three days of sucking at life I looked over at her and said, "we should just stop baking for a while because I can't take any more recipe fails." She started laughing and told me no way. I was beyond frustrated and out the door to a field trip with 15 children and I just told Karen to make whatever she wanted. Free day!!! 

Fast forward 5 hours and I came home to this pretty little cake roll. I walked in and it was all baked and rolled and perfectly pink. Karen told me, "like hell she was giving up," and I just laughed. She scratched all the recipes we had looked up and took out a boxed angel food cake mix, mixed it up, pressed it down in the jelly roll pan, and filled it with frosting. Not only was it easy, but it seriously tasted incredible. Because the angel food cake got pressed down and rolled, it changed the texture and became this squishy sponge-like cake roll. It was better than anything we had even imagined. And even better, it was less complicated than anything we had tried.

Later that night when my kids were in bed, my mind was spinning with thoughts about life and change and things not working out as planned. I had so many dreams in my head growing up and so many thoughts and plans of how things were supposed to happen and play out. And certain things did happen and certain things did play out. They just played out in a different way than planned. What I'm trying to say is that when things don't work out as planned it may seem frustrating or upsetting at first, but sometimes you weren't meant to go down that road. Sometimes things are meant to just play out differently. And sometimes those things end up even better than you had ever planned. Happy Tuesday creative people.

Angel Food Buttercream Cake Roll

Ingredients
1 box Angel Food Cake mix
powdered sugar

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Line a 12" X 17" jellyroll pan with parchment paper and set aside.

3. Mix cake as directed on bo. ur the cake batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenl to the edge.

4. Bake at 350° for 10-14 minutes until golden brown and it springs back when touched. (It may rise higher than the edges of the pan but should not overflow unless you use a smaller pan than specified.)

5. Remove from the cake from the oven and immediately dust with powdered sugar. Cover with a clean, lint free dish towel and invert. Remove the parchment paper and dust the cake with powdered sugar. Start on the short side roll up the cake in the towel. Place on a wire rack to cool (while rolled up).

Ingredients (Buttercream frosting)
1 cup butter, room temperature
3 cups sifted powder sugar
1-1½ tsp vanilla extract
1-3 tsp heavy cream
Pink food coloring gel
3-4 tbsp red/white/pink sprinkles

Directions
1. Using a stand mixer cream butter for 2-3 minutes. Slowly add the powdered sugar, about a half cup at a time, and mix. Once the sugar is incorporated increase speed and whip for 2 minutes.

2. Add vanilla extract and mix well. Add cream, a teaspoon at a time, until the frosting reaches the consistency you desire. Add food coloring and mix until blended. Fold in sprinkles and gently combine.

3. Carefully unroll the cake and spread the buttercream evenly to within a ½ inch of the edges. Re-roll the cake (without the towel) and place seam side down on a serving platter.