Friday, June 29, 2012

Old Fashioned Angel Food Cake

 Have you ever tried making an angel food cake from scratch? I don't make it very often, but every so often we have egg whites to use up. This time I had 9 whites. I was just going to pull out my favorite recipe and whip it up, but it called for 14 egg whites!! So I headed for the cookbook collection and found one that only took 8-10 egg whites.
 Now I have made an angel food with a vintage recipe before. It didn't turn out so well, so I wasn't too sure what to expect. I did notice differances between the "modern" recipe and the vintage. In the vintage, you do not whip in the sugar like making a merigue, it is just folded in before the flour. Also the temperature was a lot lower. And the flour to egg white ratio was higher then in the modern recipe.
 A few tips I have learned about angel food. Definatly leave the egg whites out a couple of minuets to warm up, they get fluffier at room temperture. Cake flour makes a big differance. It is finer and blends in better. If you can't stand the bleached taste (llike I can't), mix half cake flour and half all purpose. Cool throughly, there is nothing worse then a mushy cake. I know it is hard to wait, but it is worth it! I my opinon, the little "legs" on the pan don't work all that well, I used a bottle.
As you can see, it didn't last long. I hardly had time to snap a few pictures! And no time to decide what to put on top!! Even though it wasn't as tall as a regular angel food, I was really happy with the texture. Very fine, but still moist. I think this recipe is a keeper!

Wondering why I would have 9 eggs white to get rid of? Extra Special Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream!!

8 comments:

  1. Instead of using cake flour, I learned to sift my flour three times prior to using in a cake recipe. For this sponge cake, I might sift the flour more than three times, processing the flour seven to nine times through the sifter.

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    1. Hmmmm......sifting.....I haven't tried that yet. I guess I should find myself a cute little vintage sifter and give it a try. Thanks for the tip!

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  2. I love making old-fashioned cakes, I think I've done an angel food cake once before, but you know what...you just inspired me to make another one. I think your cake looks delicious. Thanks for sharing.

    xox,
    Jacqueline

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    1. Yey! So glad to inspire you! Once you start making cakes from scratch there is no going back!
      I love the versatility of angel food, you can put fruit on top, or drizzle chocolate on it, frost it or just eat it plain!

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  3. Did you make a custard with the egg yolks? I haven't made a homemade angel food cake for years. I think I'll do that, as soon as I can find some reason to get rid of all those egg yolks - maybe in homemade frozen custard!!! Anyway, I find that a worcestershire or soy sauce bottle works well to rest the cake upside down while it's cooling.

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    1. That is too funny that you said a soy sauce bottle! Exactly what I pulled out of the cupboard to use! It was kinda the other way around, I had the egg whites leftover from making ice cream.
      Glad to inspire you!

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  4. I have not made an angel food cake. I will have to give it a try. I have several egg whites in the freezer from making ice cream.
    Happy 4th!

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    1. Once I got over the fear of making angel food it was easy. It really isn't that hard to make. Perfect combination, that is what I had the whites leftover from too, ice cream making. Happy 4th to you too!

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