Strawberry Cloud Dessert

Ingredients

• Strawberry Filling
• 6 cups fresh strawberries (about 2 pounds)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• Red food coloring (optional), or use 1/4 teaspoon Strawberry Extract, which will also amp up the red color a bit
• .
• 1 medium-sized rectangular (10 ounces or so) angel food cake
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 (8-ounce) package low-fat cream cheese (or use regular)
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• .
• Garnish: Thinly sliced strawberries and fresh blueberries (if you are going for the red, white and blue effect)

Directions

1. Make Strawberry Filling first: Wash and remove caps from strawberries. Finely chop 1 cup of the berries. Mix sugar and cornstarch in a 2-quart saucepan. Stir in water and mix until smooth. Add the 1 cup chopped berries and a couple of drops of food coloring (optional) or Strawberry Extract.
2. Cook and stir over medium heat until it begins to thicken, becomes clear and comes to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, then remove pan from heat. Set mixture aside to cool completely.
3. While mixture cools, slice remaining berries in half or quarters (or eighths, if they are gargantuan). When mixture is cool, fold in sliced berries, stirring gently to coat them well.
4. While berries are cooling: Slice angel food cake and toast the slices. I did it in an air fryer (400 degrees, 4-ish minutes), or you could line up all the slices on a baking sheet and toast them under the broiler. Watch carefully because if you go away to check your email, they will burn! Toast both sides for best flavor and effect. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
5. Assemble the dessert: Break or cut angel food cake into small bite-sized pieces, placing cake pieces evenly in an ungreased 13- by 9-inch pan (use one with a lid if you have it). Using an electric mixer, beat powdered sugar, cream cheese, almond and vanilla extracts together until smooth. In a separate bowl, whip the cream until it has firm peaks. Add whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture, stirring by hand so you don't deflate the whipped cream. Blend thoroughly. Spoon the white cream mixture evenly on top of the cake layer, and stir it around in the dish to make sure the cake pieces are coated.
6. Spoon the cooled Strawberry Filling evenly into the pan, covering the white cream layer. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve; should be refrigerated at least 4 hours for best results (cream mixture will soak into the cake a bit). Can be made the day before, and some people believe it is better made at least 24 hours in advance.
7. When ready to serve, garnish with thinly sliced strawberries, and a handful of blueberries (especially if you are going for the red, white and blue idea).
8. Serves 8-10.

Notes