Angel Food Cake

One of my less guilty pleasures is Angel Food Cake. I am probably one of the few people that actually love Angel Food Cake. It's so light and spongy and I feel a lot less guilty about eating a second slice. Many people are intimidated by making this cake, but it's really simple and if you have patience, you can make this cake.

The skill you need for this cake is separating the egg whites from the yolks. This skill isn't hard, but it does take a little focus. There are cartons of egg whites in the stores, but I've never had good luck with using them. They just don't fluff up the same way and you never know what type of result you're going to get from those products. You can buy egg white separators, but these are sometimes a gamble as well.  I have one that is wire from Pampered Chef. It works okay. I have only had one yolk break with it and I think it was my fault.

My preferred method is the old-fashioned method. I learned how to do this by watching my friend, Gesh. She was helping to make a meringue for a Baked Alaska. You need three bowls to properly separate egg whites no matter which method you choose. One working bowl over which you are separating the eggs. Another bowl for discarding the yolks and the last bowl is for your clean egg whites. I say clean egg whites, because they must be completely without any of the smallest bit of yolk. This is why you must separate them over the working bowl. That way, if you accidentally break the yolk, you can discard this egg without ruining your entire supply. 

When you crack the egg, keep the the egg in one half of the shell that you've cracked. The goal is to transfer the egg yolk to the other half of the shell while allowing the egg white to fall into the working bowl below. Using the smoothest edge of the shell, allow the egg white spill over your shell and catch the yolk with the other shell. Continue this process a few times if necessary to get as much egg white as possible. Be sure not to puncture the yolk as this will ruin your egg white.

Don't worry about wasting those yolks. There are plenty of recipes you can use them to make. I will link a few Orange Skillet recipes that utilize egg yolks below.

Chocolate Mousse

Creme Brulee

You also will need a tube pan that has legs on it. After you've baked your Angel Food Cake, you will need to invert it while it cools. Having the legs on the pan helps keep your pan raised so air can get into the pan for the cake to cool. If your tube pan does not have legs, you can find a bottle to turn it onto using the hole in the center.

Angel Food Cake

1 cup flour

1 ½ cups superfine sugar, divided

1 ¾ cups egg whites (13ish room temp.)

1 Tbs. warm water

½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350º with rack in center.

Sift flour and ¾ cup sugar into bowl 4 times.

In mixer with whisk beat egg whites and water on low until foamy.  Add salt, cream of tartar and vanilla and beat on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, ~3 min. While beating add the remaining ¾ cup sugar, 1 Tbs. at a time. Beat on high speed until peaks are stiff and glossy, but not dry, ~2 min (do not over mix).

Transfer mixture to a large bowl and sift flour mixture over egg-white mixture in six parts. Quickly, but gently fold it in with rubber spatula between each addition. Gently transfer batter to an ungreased 10” tube pan. Run a knife through the batter to release any air bubbles, and smooth with spatula.

Bake until cake is golden brown and springs back when touched 35-40 minutes. Invert pan onto legs and cool 1 hour (completely).

Carefully run large offset spatula around edges to loosen.

Serve with sweetened strawberries and whip cream or whatever toppings you like. Remember to comment, share and enjoy!!