Angelfood Cake¶
15 minutes to make, 45 minutes in the oven, another 2-3 hours to cool.
Ingredients¶
300 g egg whites
225 g granulated sugar, in 2 halves
1/4 tsp salt
2.5 tsp vinegar
90 g flour
1.5 tsp vanilla
Equipment¶
stand mixer (or egg beaters)
2 angelfood pans (17.5 cm x 8.5 cm)
large mixing bowl
rubber scraper
whisk
Oven Temperature¶
Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Egg Whites¶
First, combine the egg whites, vinegar, salt, and vanilla in the mixer. Slowly ramp it up to high, and leave it there until it starts to hold its shape.
Flour¶
While that’s beating, mix the flour and half the sugar (112 g) in the mixing bowl. I sift these together then whisk until thoroughly mixed, but you can just whisk them.
Meringue¶
Once the egg whites are forming soft peaks, add the rest of the sugar to the mixer and spin it back up. Run the mixer until you get glossy stiff peaks.
Batter¶
Fold the flour/sugar mixture in either with a rubber scraper or with the paddle attachment on the mixer (on low speed). You want this to be just mixed in, but it doesn’t need to be completely homogenized. Too much mixing will cause the meringue to collapse.
Bake¶
Scoop the batter into your pans and stick them in the oven. It takes about 40-45 minutes to be done. If it’s ready, it will spring back when you press gently on it with a finger.
Cool¶
Set the pans out cake-side down on the counter to cool for a few hours. Once they’re done, you can free the cakes from the pans with a butter knife and slide them out. They’ll keep for a day out on the counter with no problem, but I’ve never had one last that long.
Commentary¶
I grew up thinking that strawberry shortcake was made with angelfood, which we could buy at the grocery store along with whipped cream and strawberries. This is (in my expert opinion) much better than actual strawberry shortcake. Get some cream and whip it with the stand mixer with a little bit of sugar and a dash of vanilla extract, chop up a bunch of strawberries, and serve it all together for the full experience. The whipped cream rounds out this otherwise fat-free cake.
This recipe is lifted almost directly from King Arthur’s angel food cake recipe. I adjusted a couple of things to make it work better in my kitchen, but their recipe is good.