The Challenge:
Moulton's Angel Food Cake versus Thorne's Strawberry Shortcake
Dorothy's Review
"It's the perfect thing to eat on a hot, sunny day." I had to agree with my friend. After an hour of basking on the Quad and enjoying the 75 degree warmth and sunshine, nothing was more refreshing than a slice of angel food cake topped with strawberries. Each slice—or, to be more accurate, mound—of cake towered at a staggering height (mine was a good four inches) though the massive size was tempered by a consistency that was surprisingly light. With a fluffy white interior that reminded me of the airy quality of clouds, the cake is named "angel cake" for a good reason. Not only was the texture so light that it melted in my mouth, the taste—with just a hint of sweet vanilla—was truly heavenly.
Classified as a foam cake, angel cake requires little flour compared to the amount of egg whites used. Its counterpart, devil's cake, relies on butter, eggs and flour to lift the cake and provide a denser, moist texture. Angel cake is unique in that it uses air trapped in the beaten egg whites as its leavening agent. This means that you have to thoroughly whip the egg whites until the resulting light cream creates stiff peaks. This also means that angel cake, with no butter, is fat-free, which makes it a relatively healthy cake, given that you use less sugar. The hole in the middle of the cake is a consequence of using a tube pan, which maximizes the leavening of the cake, allowing the batter to rise by clinging to the pan's sides.
The result, if done right, is a soft, light cake that is often said to be food "fit for the angels." Whether you drizzled it with a chilled strawberry sauce and topped it whipped cream, covered it with warm, melted chocolate, or ate it plain, the angel cake at Moulton proved to be not only delicious, but versatile as well. In the end, its lightness and subtle sweetness proved that Bowdoin's angel cake was truly baked to perfection.
Alicia's Review
As much as I know about desserts, I know very little about strawberry shortcake. In fact, I had the second strawberry shortcake of my life last Tuesday from the dining hall. The first was on Easter. So, lucky for me, shortcake has been quickly entering itself into my mind and my belly then ever before.
The dining hall version was quite similar to be traditional strawberry shortcake—a buttermilk biscuit served with strawberry topping inside. I loved the process of serving myself. I scooped the syrupy strawberry topping into a small bowl and then proceeded to crown it with an overwhelming cap of whipped cream, so that the berries were barely discernible beneath. I then grabbed two petite biscuits, one for me, one for my partner in crime.
The biscuit was rather dry and floury on the outside but broke easily in half to a soft, moist interior. With each bite of the dessert, I tore off a bit of biscuit and spooned on equal ratios of cream and berries, careful not to waste all the biscuit before we finished the topping. The slightly salty, buttery biscuit contrasted beautifully with the sweet juiciness of the berries. In the final bites, a last aggressive spray of whipped cream was necessary. And then it was over, and I needed to lie down.
Strawberry shortcake makes me think of warm months and the relaxed attitude that always accompanies them. Not too fussy or overwhelmingly rich, it only seeks to be mouthwateringly delicious. And so it is. I can easily envision having a shortcake breakfast or a shortcake snack over the summer, throwing caution to the wind and getting my priorities straight—in other words, shamelessly having as much dessert as often as I see fit.
The Verdict: Tough call, but strawberry shortcake wins—barely. Both desserts were light and reminiscent of the season. However, Alicia's apparent decision to have strawberry shortcake for breakfast, lunch and dinner is pretty strong evidence of which dessert came out on top.