Angel Food Cake

Who does not love a good strawberry shortcake every now and then right?  I know I do.  And what a great summer dessert.  This Angel food cake is so like and fluffy.  Its jammed packed with delicious decadence!

I had heard that Angel Food Cake was really intense and hard to make. This recipe for me, was surprisingly easy.  I mean it's no tossed salad but it's not that bad.  Just follow the instructions step by step and you will be totally fine! 

Make sure the read them ahead of time though so that you are comfortable moving from step to step. I have a ton of information below to help as well.  Don't get overwhelmed by it though!!

Also, this uses 12 egg whites.  So if you aren't comfortable throwing out the yolks... you might want to find something you enjoy, that only uses yolks. 

 I'm sure this would probably work in small loaf pans if you don't have a bunt.  Just not anything too big, where it won't cook all the way through.  Good luck! 

I love hearing everyone's feedback on here.  Thanks so much for posting it. I will try to do better at responding to you on here instead of in person, so that those that have the same questions can have them answered as well.

Angel Food Cake

1 3/4 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup cake flour, sifted (I used bread flour but cake would be better)

12 egg whites (the closer to room temperature the better)

1/3 cup warm water

1 teaspoon orange extract, or extract of your choice (I just used vanilla)

1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a food processor spin sugar about 2 minutes until it is superfine. (I just used my blender) Sift half of the sugar with the salt the cake flour, setting the remaining sugar aside.

In a large bowl, use a balloon whisk to thoroughly combine egg whites, water, orange extract, and cream of tartar. After 2 minutes, switch to a hand mixer. Slowly sift (see info below) the reserved sugar, beating continuously at medium speed. Once you have achieved medium peaks (see info below), sift enough of the flour mixture in to dust the top of the foam. Using a spatula fold (see info below) in gently. Continue until all of the flour mixture is incorporated.

Carefully spoon mixture into an ungreased tube pan. Bake for 35 minutes before checking for doneness with a wooden skewer. (When inserted halfway between the inner and outer wall, the skewer should come out dry).

Cool upside down on cooling rack for at least an hour before removing from pan.

This recipe comes from Alton Brown from the food network

Vocabulary:  Medium peaks:  In between a soft peak and a firm peak. Here is info on peaks taken from here.

1. No Peaks - After a few minutes of whipping, the egg whites are getting foamy and opaque, but they're still so liquidy that they won't hold a shape at all.

2. Soft Peak - When you turn your whisk upside down, the peaks are just starting to hold. They're soft and melt back into themselves after a second.

3. Firm Peak - Now when you turn your whisk upside down, the peaks will hold and the ridges are more distinct, but the tips fold back on themselves.

4. Stiff Peak - Turn the whisk upside down, and those peaks hold proudly! They should point straight up without collapsing at all (or maybe a little bit just at the very tips). The mixture is thick and heavy.

5. Over-beating - It's possible to take it too far. After the stiff peak stage, egg whites will start to look grainy and dull. They will eventually collapse back on themselves. Whipped cream will also get grainy and will start to separate into fat and liquid.

Sift:  Sifting flour or other ingredients is a way to allow air to get into the flour to make it lighter. When flour sits, it settles, so sifting it will make it light and perky again. You can buy a sifter or just use a small hole colander. If you don't have either, it's not a life or death thing.  Just spoon the flour into your measuring cup instead of scooping it.  This will help it not be so compact. You will actually be using less flour this way as well. You will use more if you scoop it out, because it is compacted.

Folding:  This is a term used to basically say be gentle!  Don't stir the mixture.  Gently take your spatula or spoon (I like a rubber spatula for this one) and scoop from the bottom and bring it towards the top of the mixture and fold it over. So that now the top, is in the middle and the bottom is on the top. Continue doing this until everything is combined.