Forget Strawberry Shortcake — Give Premade Angel Food Cake A Lemon Twist In 10 Minutes

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At Tasting Table, we're big fans of turning store-bought ingredients into creations that look homemade. Whether it be transforming store-bought pizza dough into savory garlic knots or store-bought cookie dough into stuffed cookies, the possibilities are endless, and one of the best store-bought baked goods to work with is an angel food cake. While you could certainly snack on it as is, this simple dessert really is a blank canvas full of flavor and textural possibilities. It's often used to make strawberry shortcake-style desserts, but if you're looking to switch things up, there's an easy way to give yours a lemon twist — and it takes just 10 minutes.

Beyond being quick to whip up, you can buy everything you need for this layered lemon angel food cake at the store, making it the ultimate store-bought delight. To get started, you'll need an angel food cake, a tub of Cool Whip (or your favorite whipped topping), lemon pudding, milk, and a jar of lemon curd. If you want to get really fancy with it, you can even pick up a fresh lemon to sprinkle fresh zest over top, but this is optional.

Before cutting your cake, prepare the pudding by following the instructions on the package. Once it's done, chill it, then fold in the whipped topping of your choosing; this gives it a super fluffy texture and makes a delicious, rich frosting for your angel food cake.

Once you've made the topping, it's time to assemble the cake. You'll begin by slicing your angel food cake into three horizontal sections. If you've ever eaten an angel food cake, you know that it's quite soft, so it won't be difficult to cut. However, you want to be precise with this step, as you'll be able to see the three different layers when you cut off slices of the dessert. To ensure that your slices are nice and straight, use a serrated knife.

Begin with the bottom layer of the cake, adding a layer of the whipped pudding topping. After the bottom layer is covered, add a few spoonfuls of lemon curd. While the pudding is lemon-flavored, the lemon curd is what will really give the dessert that strong, tart citrus taste, so don't skip this ingredient. Once you've spread both toppings on the bottom layer, do the same for the middle layer.

When you reach the top layer, cover the entire outside of the cake with the whipped pudding topping, making sure not to skip the inner ring. Sprinkle the top with lemon zest, if you have it, and serve it in slices. This lemon angel food cake treat is easy to make year-round, since it uses jarred lemon curd instead of fresh fruit — and it's guaranteed to brighten up your day, whether it's winter, spring, summer, or fall.