This Angel Food Cake is exactly what it should be – just the right amount of sweetness, light, fluffy, and moist with a slightly crunchy bottom. This is a great lighter dessert for a break from heavy holiday food or for a little something sweet in January when New Year’s resolution diets are in full force. When we served this, my nephew came back for seconds saying, “I didn’t think I liked Angel Food Cake that much – I didn’t know it tasted like THIS!”
Source: American Home All-Purpose Cookbook (copyright of my mom’s cookbook is 1966!)
1 cup sifted cake flour
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 1/2 cup egg whites (from 10-12 eggs)
1 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (original recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon, but I prefer 1/4)
Heat oven to 350 degrees or 325 convection bake.
After measuring sifted flour and confectioner’s sugar, sift flour and confectioner’s sugar together.
Combine egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt in large bowl; beat until foamy.
Add sugar gradually. Continue beating until meringue forms stiff, glossy peaks.
Fold in vanilla and almond extract. It helps to move the batter to a bowl with the wider top before folding.
Click on link below for a demonstration of folding (thanks to my mom for folding while I videoed!)
folding in the flour and sugar mixture
Sift flour mixture, one quarter at a time, over meringue; fold in. Push batter into ungreased 10×14 inch tube pan. Cut through batter gently with knife or spatula to prevent air pockets.
Bake 30-35 minutes (35 in my oven) or until cake tests done when you poke it with a toothpick.
Invert pan. If your pan does not have feet to keep the cake from touching the counter, place inverted on a bottle for cooling.
Let stand until cold. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen the cake from the pan. Remove cake from cake pan by turning it upside down over your cake plate and hitting the sides of the pan. It may take some hitting and shaking for awhile to work the cake loose. Serve plain, with strawberries and whipped cream, or with fudge sauce (see link below) and ice cream.
http://notjustanotherfoodblogger.com/really-fudgy-hot-fudge-sauce/
Variation: For a chocolate version, sift about 1/3 cup cocoa into sugar and flour mixture.
