Angel Food Cake

Light, fragrant, moist, and sweet enough to serve

without frosting. My mother often served this cake

to company or for special occasions.

She had enough practice to know how to make it 

come out just right every time, and she had the

right size cake pan, (a deep 10 inch tube pan),

which she used pretty much only for this cake.

Using a stand mixer with the wire whisk beater is

the best way to go in order to whip the egg whites

into stiff peaks in a timely manner.

Whisking by hand might take 30 or 40 minutes,

and I wouldn’t want to find out exactly.

I only have a hand mixer on hand and using that

took around 20 minutes, and I probably could have

whipped the egg whites a little longer for a better

result. The recipe uses 12 egg whites, so it is good

to make this if you have them on hand after

making something else, or if you have a plan for

using a lot of yolks.

Ingredients & Method:

Measure and sift together 3 times...

1 cup sifted cake flour or unbleached flour (measure after sifting)

⅞ cup sugar

Measure into a large mixing bowl (the bowl of a stand mixer)...

1½ cups egg whites (12) at room temperature

1½ teaspoon of cream of tartar

¼ teaspoon salt

1½ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

Beat the ingredients in the bowl until foamy,

then Gradually add 2 tablespoons at a time…

¾ cup sugar

Continue beating until meringue holds stiff peaks.

Sift the flour-sugar mixture gradually over the

meringue, and fold it in gently just until it disappears.

Push the batter into the ungreased tube center pan.

Gently cut through the batter with a sharp knife in

circles to break air bubbles. Bake in a 375 degree

oven for 30 to 35 minutes until cake tests done.

(No imprint remains when finger lightly touches

the top of the cake.) Invert the cake and let it

hang until cold.