Almond Angel Cake Slices

We’re giving classic angel cake slices a serious upgrade! This version has layers of soft almond sponge, vanilla Italian meringue buttercream and fondant icing.

If you’re a fan of a classic British angel cake slice then you’re going to love this homemade version! This is my twist on the Mr Kipling snack and features layers of soft pink & yellow almond and vanilla sponge, a light Italian meringue buttercream that’s flavoured with vanilla and a good pinch of salt and topped with the signature white & pink fondant icing.

This recipe makes a generous number of cake slices, so there’s plenty to share! These cake slices only have 3 components (sponge, buttercream & icing) and are surprisingly easy to make. Don’t worry if you’ve never made Italian meringue buttercream before, it’s super simple and I’ll walk you through it in the recipe card. The rest is nice and straightforward. The sponge cake is made the traditional way by creaming butter & sugar together and the icing is just icing sugar & water!

For more baking recipes, check out every growing baking recipe collection! There’s plenty to choose from here, from chocolate chip cookies & brownies, to homemade breads, pastry & loads more. I’d recommend our homemade country slices…

What Are Angel Cake Slices?

If you’re in the UK, you’ve probably seen angel cake slices in the supermarket as they’re a nostalgic bake popularised and sold by Mr Kipling. This cake has layers of pink and yellow sponge that are sandwiched together with vanilla buttercream and topped with a simple fondant icing. Angel slices are not to be confused with Angel food cake which is a light American cake that’s made with egg whites.

Angel Slices Ingredient Notes

• Butter – You’ll need unsalted butter for the cake batter and the buttercream. With baking recipes, I prefer to use unsalted butter then add salt in myself.
• Sugar – This recipes uses caster sugar for the cake & buttercream and icing sugar for the icing.
• Food Colouring – Angel cake features layers of pink and yellow sponge, so you’ll need food colouring to dye the batter. And a small amount of pink for the icing. Liquid or gel food colouring will both work and there’s a visual guide to the shades you’re looking for below.
• Ground Almonds – Substituting a small amount of the flour with ground almonds give the cake extra flavour and a moister crumb. I like to add a splash of almond extract into the batter as well, for even more flavour.
• Sour Cream – Sour cream is like a secret ingredient when it comes to cake baking. Adding it to the batter gives cakes a softer, moister crumb without effecting the consistency of the batter.
• Eggs – You’ll need large eggs for the cake batter. Each egg should weigh around 55 grams out of the shell.
• Vanilla – Using good quality vanilla makes all the difference with this recipe! I use extract for the cake batter and paste for the buttercream.
• Flour – We’re using plain (all purpose) flour for the cake batter then adding raising agents in ourself.
• Raising Agents – This recipe uses both baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
• Cream Of Tartar – Adding a small amount of cream of tartar to the Italian meringue buttercream helps stabilise the mix, preventing it from deflating.

Components Of Angel Cake Slices

A classic Mr Kipling angel slice features layers of pink and yellow sponge that are sandwiches with vanilla cream and topped with fondant icing. This version is slightly different as I’ve flavoured the sponge with almond and used a vanilla Italian meringue buttercream as the filling. The topping is the same and I’ve kept the pink feathering on top.

Almond Sponge Cake

For this cake, we need to make 2 layers of sponge. One that’s pink and another that’s yellow. The best way to make 2 sponges that are the exact same size & thickness, is to weigh the batter out into 2 equally sized tins. Now, if you’re oven isn’t big enough to fit 2 tins in at once, you can easily divide the ingredients for the batter in half and bake them in batches.

This cake batter is made the classic way, by creaming butter and sugar together until pale & fluffy then mixing in eggs, followed by the dry ingredients. For extra flavour, there’s vanilla, almond extract and ground almonds added to the batter. Plus some sour cream, for extra moisture and to give the cake a softer crumb.

Salted Vanilla Italian Meringue Buttercream

To make the filling as close to the original as possible, I’ve gone with an Italian meringue buttercream that’s flavoured with a good pinch of salt and plenty of vanilla. This buttercream may sound tricky to make but it’s basically just Italian meringue with softened butter whisked in at the end!

Fondant Icing

The icing that’s spread on top of angel cake slices is simply icing sugar mixed with water. To make the classic pink and white topping, you keep most of the icing white and start by spreading it on top of the cake. The rest of the icing is mixed with a tiny amount of pink food colouring then piped in rows on top of the white icing. Then you feather the icing by running a skewer through the icing, the opposite way that you piped the pink icing.

How To Assemble Angel Cake Slices

One of the key parts of making any layer cake, is to make sure that you’ve got a flat surface to spread buttercream, frosting or icing on. Fortunately, the sponges for this angel cake bake pretty much perfectly flat already, so there’s very little trimming required. Though I like to flip the sponges upside down, so that the layers stack up neatly.

Don’t worry if the edges aren’t too neat as you assemble the cake. We’ll be trimming the edges to square the cake off before cutting!

Step By Step Assembly

1. Carefully lift the sponges out of their tins then use a sharp serrated knife to lightly trim the tops level if needed.
2. Take the pink sponge and place it onto a baking tray, so that it’s facing bottom side up.
3. Spoon the buttercream on top of the sponge then use a palette knife to spread it out into an even layer. Make sure that the buttercream is spread out to the edges.
4. Place the yellow sponge on top of the buttercream (facing the same way as the pink) then chill the cake in the fridge, whilst you make the icing.
5. Spoon the icing on top of the cake then spread it out all the way to the edges, in an even layer.
6. Next, pipe rows of pink icing onto the white icing, spaced 1cm apart. Then run a skewer down the icing (in 1cm rows) to feather.
7. Chill the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes, to set the icing then trim off the edges, cut the cake into slices and serve.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Baking Recipes To Try

• Homemade Country Slices
• Thin Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake
• Stroopwafel Biscoff Rocky Road
• Classic School Cake
• Brown Butter & Miso Pecan Pie Bars

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