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Angel Food Cake
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Angel Food Cake

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups berry / superfine sugar*
  • 1 cup + 2 tablespoons cake flour** spoon & leveled
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 12 large egg whites at room temperature***
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Adjust the oven rack to the lower middle position and preheat oven to 325°F (163°C).
  • Take 1 cup of the sugar and set aside.
  • Add the 3/4 cup of sugar, cake flour, and salt to a food processor and pulse 5-10 times until sugar/flour/salt mixture is aerated and light.
  • In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip egg whites and cream of tartar together on medium-low until foamy, about 1 minute.
  • Switch to medium-high and slowly add the 1 cup of sugar you set aside.
  • Whip until soft peaks form, about 5-6 minutes.
  • Add the vanilla extract, then beat just until incorporated.
  • In 3 additions, slowly sift the flour mixture into the egg white mixture using a fine mesh strainer, gently folding with a rubber spatula after each addition. It's important not to add the flour mixture all at once! Adding it all at once will cause the whites to deflate.
  • Pour and spread batter into an UNGREASED 9 or 10 inch tube pan. Shimmy the pan on the counter to smooth down the surface.
  • Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 40-45 minutes. Rotating the pan halfway through baking. Remove from the oven, then cool the cake completely upside-down, about 3 hours. ****
  • Once cooled, run a thin knife around the edges and gently tap the pan on the counter until the cake releases.

Notes

* If you don't have superfine sugar, use granulated sugar. Put the granulated sugar in a food processor and whiz until it has become fine and powdery.
** If you don't have cake flour, take 1 cup of all purpose flour, remove 2 tablespoons, and add 2 tablespoons of corn starch. Sift TWICE. For this recipe, I doubled it to get the 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons.
*** I went with Sally's Baking Addiction recommendation of using real egg whites instead of egg white substitutes, previously frozen egg whites, or egg whites from a carton. Separate the eggs when they’re cold, then bring the egg whites to room temperature. She claims that fresh room temperature egg whites whip into the fluffiest volume, and I have to agree!
**** I like to cool my cakes, upside down, by setting the "tube" portion on a canning jar. Some angel food cake pans come with feet which would be handy. I also use a tube pan with a removeable bottom. Makes it easier to get the cake out.