Angel Food Cake

My earliest memories of angel food cake are walking in to grandmas kitchen and seeing the angel food cake pan upside down on a bottle of soda. I am sure my grandma has made so many angel food cakes that she has lost count. She would also joke: "do you know how to make angel food cake?...You take 12 egg whites and beat the devil out of them" [For the record, my grandma, or "gram" as we call her, is 90 years old//hilarious//adorable]. I can remember helping her as a child. She would let me separate the egg whites even at a young age. When the bowl would be filled with shells, she would calmly scoop them out and say something kind like "that makes it taste better", "there is no use crying over something like that" [she also said that when I dropped and broke an antique cake stand, "no use crying over that"]. My gram is just the greatest lady ever.

The classic angel food cakes all use the same few ingredients, precisely mixed together to create a delicious, light, fluffy, and spongy treat. Whenever I make angel food cake I go to my girl, Martha. [Martha Stewart, the woman knows her desserts] I have all of her cookbooks and use them basically every time I bake. The recipe I use is this one. It has yet to let me down.

Angel Food Cake

                                                   Recipe from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cake flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 large egg whites, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla [Martha's recipe uses Vanilla Extract, I used pure vanilla]

Directions:

 

Separate 12 egg whites. I guess you can use the yolks for custard, or at least that is what is suggested...      (I threw them away. Sorry, environment?)

When you first put the egg whites in the mixer, beat them for about 1 minute before you add the 

cream of tartar. [<---- which was the only ingredient I needed to make a run to the store for.]

The next part is important, because you do not want to deflate the egg whites. 

• Get a large bowl. Add 1/4 of the egg whites to the bowl, then re-sift 1/4 of the flour mixture on to the egg whites. Repeat 4 times, until all the egg whites and flour are in the bowl. 
• Gently fold the mixture together, do not over mix/stir.
• Transfer to your cake pan and bake at 350 degree for 25-30 minutes. 
• Turn the pan upside down. (I balanced mine on my brothers water bottle, my grandma used to use a pop can)
• Leave the cake this way for an hour, then remove from the pan.

I covered my cake in Cool Whip and Strawberries, because this cake was for my Aunt's birthday and strawberries are her favorite. There are all kinds of toppings you can use, but strawberries are my go-to. They are the best fruit, hands down. 

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