An Angel Of A Cake

Angel food cake, cooled and ready to unmold

Aloha, everybody! Happy angel food cake!

It’s been a while since my last newsletter. Here’s why. I spent a few weeks getting ready to do a live demo on an amazing angel food cake for the San Francisco-based organization--thebakersdozensf.org—a terrific group of devoted bakers.

After baking many cakes—each one takes about 14 egg whites—I finally got consistent results and now I’m happy to share the recipe—and photos—with you.

About angel food cakes. They are American, and the first recipe, called white sponge cake, was published in 1839 by Lettice Bryan in her cookbook, “The Kentucky Housewife.” I do not know if the recipe was original with Mrs. Bryan, but it’s the first of its kind I’ve found: a sponge cake with egg whites and no yolks.

Cakes with the name angel food didn’t appear in books until the later 1800s, Recipes then began to standardize the proportions of the main ingredients. For example: The weight of the sugar should equal the weight of the egg whites, and the weight of the flour equals one-third the weight of sugar. Notice there are no cup measurements, only weights.

Cake flour is an essential ingredient in angel food cake. There is no substitute. Invented by Addison Igleheart in 1894, cake flour is low in protein and specially milled to give cakes their light textures.

Greg’s Angel Food Cake Video

RECIPE

Amazing Angel Food Cake
(Adapted from the 1951 Pillsbury Bake-Off (3rd); recipe of Mrs. Virgil Hogdal)

This is a highly unusual way to bake a cake, but it works! The numbers are correct!

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees (yes!) with a rack in the lower third position. Have ready a 10 x 4-inch aluminum angel cake pan with a removable tube section. Do not use a nonstick pan. You will need a scale and heavy-duty foil.

5 ounces cake flour (no substitute; I use Softasilk)

1/2 cup (2 ounces) confectioners’ sugar

1/2 teaspoon table salt

2 cups egg whites, cold is fine (from about 14 large eggs)

1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1. Sift together the cake flour, confectioners’ sugar, and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk for at least 30 seconds to aerate and combine well. Set aside.
2. Whip the egg whites, granulated sugar, and vanilla with the whisk attachment of an electric mixer on medium speed until foamy, about 2 minutes. Add the cream of tartar and whip on medium to medium high speed just until whites are thick and hold a soft shape when dropped from the whip, about 4 to 6 more minutes. You’ll see lines left by the beater as you’re getting close. Beating time varies with electric mixers, so feel free to stop and check frequently. The cream of tartar stabilizes the egg white proteins so that the whites won’t turn runny on you suddenly.

Here are the beaten whites. In the bowl you’ll see how they hold a soft shape and form a droopy peak. On the beater they point downward. They’re ready to have the dry ingredients folded in

3. Resift about one-fourth of the dry ingredients over the whipped whites and fold together gently with a large flexible spatula. Be sure to go all around the bowl and scrape the whites up from the bottom to fold in the dry ingredients.

Work slowly and carefully, bringing the whites from the bottom of the bowl up and over the dry ingredients

Repeat three more times. Take your time and be vigilant.

Notice how the whites are folded over the dry ingredients. The spatula is about ready to move downward and around the side of the bowl and up and over the top of the whites

Reach all the way down into the egg whites with each folding motion and be sure to rotate the bowl as you fold. Dry ingredients often collect at the bottom, so be gentle but thorough in folding and do not rush it.
4. Pour the batter into the pan and spread level.

Because the batter is not stiff, it will practically level itself. I’m just going around the top with the rubber spatula to smooth out the high spots.

Cover tightly with heavy-duty foil.

Make sure the foil is pressed tightly onto the side of your pan. This will hold in the moisture and allow the cake to begin rising.

5. Bake 10 minutes at 475 degrees. With the cake still in the oven, carefully remove the foil.

Wearing mitts, I reach into the oven and quickly lift off and remove the foil. Notice that the cake has already started rising

Close the oven door, reduce the thermostat to 425 degrees and bake 15 minutes more. Interior of cake temperature should be about 200 degrees. The cake will be tall and golden brown with cracks on top and spring back when pressed gently.

Always hang angel food cakes upside down to cool. The little feet on the pan are fine, but I like to support the cake a bit higher with a small bottle inserted into the tube

6. Hang it upside down on a narrow-necked bottle and cool completely for 2 to 3 hours. To unmold, use a thin bladed knife or icing spatula. Insert it vertically and move it up and down all around the outside edge of the cake. Lift the cake out of the pan by the tube, then release the cake from the bottom of the pan with the knife or icing spatula. The cake should slide right off the tube onto a cooling rack. (If it needs help to release from the central tube, a long wooden skewer—move it up and down all around the tube—will do the trick.) Turn the cooled cake right side up and it’s ready to serve.

Notice the fine texture of this cake. It has small bubbles.

7. Use a serrated knife to cut the cake. It is delicious with berries and whipped cream. Leftovers are terrific toasted.

Here’s a serving with whipped cream, berries, and lemon curd.

Makes 12 to 16 servings.