Grilled Angel Food Cake

Grilling does something magical to angel food cake. The airy crumb toasts into crisp, golden edges while the inside stays pillowy soft. Pair that with caramelized nectarines basted in a lemon-sugar glaze and a scattering of fresh blueberries, and you’ve got a summer dessert that looks fancy but takes almost no effort.

Thread the nectarine slices onto skewers so they’re easy to flip on the grill. The direct heat caramelizes their natural sugars, and the lemon-powdered sugar glaze builds a sticky, tangy coating with each baste.

Toast the cake on a cooler part of the grill, not directly over the hottest coals. Angel food cake is mostly air and sugar, so it goes from golden to charred in seconds over high heat. One flip is all you need.

Fresh blueberries go on at the very end, uncooked. Their cool burst of juice against the warm, smoky cake and hot nectarines is what makes this dish sing.

Kitchen Tips

• Use ripe but still firm nectarines. Overripe fruit falls apart on the grill and slides off the skewers.
• Oil the grill grates before adding fruit. Sugary glazes stick ferociously to a dry grate.
• Mix the glaze right before using. The lemon juice dissolves the powdered sugar into a thin, brushable consistency that thickens as it caramelizes.
• A store-bought angel food cake works perfectly here. No need to bake one from scratch for this recipe.

Variations

• Peach swap: Use ripe peaches instead of nectarines. The skin comes off easier after grilling if you prefer them peeled.
• Vanilla ice cream: Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream alongside the warm cake and fruit for a grilled sundae.
• Honey-balsamic drizzle: Replace the lemon glaze with a mix of honey and aged balsamic vinegar for a deeper, more complex flavor.