Flo’s Angel Food Cake
Makes one 10-inch round tube cake, 4 inches high
1 1/2 cups (11 to 12 large) egg whites
1 1/2 cups sifted (150 grams) confectioners’ sugar
1 cup (100 grams) sifted cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. About 1 hour before baking the batter, place fresh, cold egg whites in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer. (This will bring them to about 60°F, slightly below room temperature.)
2. Pour the sifted confectioners’ sugar, sifted cake flour, and salt into a triple sifter and sift onto a sheet of wax paper.
3. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350°F.
4. In the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on low speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and increase the speed to medium. Beat until soft peaks form. Continue whipping and gradually add the granulated sugar, until the whites thicken and form soft, droopy white peaks. Add the vanilla in the final moments of whipping.
5. Sprinkle one-quarter of the flour mixture over the whites, and with a rubber spatula, fold into the whites. Repeat this process with the remaining flour mixture, folding in only one-quarter at a time. Gently pour the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan.
6. Bake until the top is golden and springs back when gently pressed with your fingers, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes.
7. Invert the cake pan onto the neck of a bottle or funnel. (If the cake tilts a little, that’s fine.) Cool completely in the pan, 2 to 3 hours.
8. To remove the cake from the pan, slip a flexible metal spatula carefully down the side of the pan. Slowly trace around the perimeter to release the cake. When the sides are free, push up on the removable bottom to remove the cake from the sides. Tilt the cake and gently tap the bottom of the pan against the counter to loosen the cake, rotating as you do so, until the cake appears free. Cover the cake with a rack or a plate, and at the same time that you invert the cake onto the work surface, tap it firmly on the surface. Lift the pan from the cake. To serve, slice with a serrated knife using a sawing action.
From The Baker’s Dozen Cookbook by The Baker’s Dozen Inc., a California not-for-profit corporation. © 2001. HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
For more information about The Baker’ Dozen Cookbook, including recipes, questions for the Baker, and a Baker’s Dozen Group Invite, please visit www.bakersdozen.org.
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