Saturday, January 24, 2015

Angel Food Cake


I was lucky enough to have enjoyed a three day weekend last week. After spending much of my time running around to the various activities we had planned, it was wonderful to enjoy some good ol' baking. Time in front of my mixer is a huge stress reliever for me and I don't get to do it often enough anymore.

Angel food cake is definitely a little more time consuming and one dessert that needs to be planned ahead of time. But don't feel intimidated, it's fairly easy and so worth it! This is the perfect treat to enjoy during the warm summer months when fresh berries are plentiful. But no worries, I had strawberries in the freezer from summer to use in a quick sauce. You can do the same.

It sure didn't take our family long to dig into this cake. In fact our seven year old kept asking me when it would be done.  I'm pretty sure it was worth the wait!




Angel Food Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup sifted cake flour
1-1/2 cups sifted sugar
12 egg whites
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp almond extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees and adjust oven rack to the lower middle position.

In a bowl, whisk flour and 3/4 cup of sugar together. Set aside.

Beat egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer at low speed until frothy.  Add cream of tartar and salt, increase to medium speed and beat until egg whites form soft mounds. Still beating at medium speed, add in remaining 3/4 cup of sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Continue mixing until the egg whites are shiny and form soft peaks. Add in vanilla, lemon juice and almond extract.

Run flour/sugar mixture through sifter once more. Then gradually fold flour mixture into the egg whites. Gently scrape batter into an ungreased 9-inch tube pan with removable bottom. Give pan a tap on counter to release any air bubbles.

Bake in oven for 50 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and invert pan onto a bottle of some sort. Let cool completely, for 2 hours. When ready to remove from pan, run a knife around edges of the pan. Carefully slide cake out of pan and cut the same way around the bottom. Turn cake bottom side up and place on a large plate or platter.  Serve with desired toppings.

To make a quick strawberry sauce: Combine two cups of sliced berries, either fresh or frozen (be sure to thaw) with one-two tablespoons sugar. Using a spoon, stir together and let sit until ready to serve.


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