Recipe: Angel Food Cake

Angel food cake is the perfect warm weather dessert - light and airy and matched wonderfully with vanilla ice cream, cool whip and fresh berries. With the warm weather peeking it's head into April now, it made the perfect addition to a weeknight dinner of Andouille and Beef Burgers with Spicy Mayo and Caramelized Onions with friends.

This cake has few steps, but using your hand mixer will make your arm tired - don't say I didn't warn you! - but I do promise that the arm exhaustion will be worth it. I found this recipe on Pinterest, from this blog, but it's originally from a 1970's Betty Crocker cookbook. In order to make it, you'll need the following:


1 cup cake flour
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
12 egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt (not pictured)
3/4 cup sugar

You'll notice that the picture above shows vanilla, but it's not listed in the ingredients. That's because I took this picture after I took out the ingredients listed in the recipe I was using, only to discover that the recipe itself does not actually call for vanilla at any point. So, albeit a bit perplexed, back into the cupboard it went.

First, pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees. Then, mix together the cake flour and 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of sugar into a small bowl. Set aside.


Then, crack your 12 eggs and place the egg whites into a large mixing bowl. (Note: There are all sorts of things you can make with these excess egg yolks, unfortunately, I didn't use them for anything and simply discarded them.) Next, add your cream of tartar and salt.



Using your hand mixer, blend until foamy.


Then, add the 3/4 cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, mixing on high speed until stuff peaks form.



Grab the flour/sugar mixture you set aside and, 1/4 cup at a time, slowly sprinkle it over your meringue mixture and fold in gently until the flour/sugar mixture disappears. Make sure not to over stir.


Next, grab your bundt pan and spray it with Pam Baking Spray (thank you Pioneer Woman) and pour/push your batter into the pan.


Bang the pan on the counter a few times to rid the mixture of any bubbles that may have formed and then bake for 35 - 40 minutes, until the top (bottom?) is browned and springs back when touched with your finger. Cool in the pan, inverted over a baking rack, and then serve with cool whip, vanilla ice cream and fresh berries.


An easy summer dessert that is sure to wow your guests! Have you made angel food cake before? What do you do with your extra egg yolks? Next time, I'll make sure to get more creative with them!