Tags
angel food cake, Christmas, Christmas baking, Christmas craft, David Lebovitz, dessert, DIY angel ornaments, recipe
Do angels really exist? Why, of course, they do! I live with at least a couple of them. The third one is yet to be determined. It’s not clear to me if he’s an angel or not at this point.
I called and called on him to come bring me a glass of water, as I was resting on the couch, completely pooped from all the shopping, decorating, cleaning, cooking, and yes, eating, but he wouldn’t come. He couldn’t be pried away from his game. Why did we keep buying him all these electronic games?
The other two are clearly angels. The daughter came to wrap a warm blanket around me while I was snoozing. The hubby followed up by building a fire. I ended up sleeping on the couch half the night, it was so warm and comfy there.
So, it’s only natural that I reciprocated and feed them the only food befitting angels, Angel Food Cake. I gave the angel-in-training a slice, too, even though it’s questionable whether he deserved it or not. After all, his mom is an angel herself. Hey, my name is Angie, isn’t it?
Angel Food Cake
There seems to be a consensus out there that this is hard to make, but I’m not sure what the fuss is. Angel Food Cake is not any harder to make than other cakes. Here are my thoughts on making this cake.
- Cream of tartar is a must-have ingredient.
- Cake flour creates a light cake, but is not necessary. Yes, I’ve made Angel Food Cake with all-purpose flour with very good results.
- Egg whites should be brought to room temperature before beating. It makes a difference in the amount of volume created.
- Don’t overbeat the egg whites. Overbeating creates a dry cake.
- Alton Brown is a genius. His method of grinding the sugar ahead of use is absolutely brilliant!
There are a couple of good recipes online for Angel Food Cake. Alton Brown and David Lebovitz both have good recipes. I sort of combined both to get to a happy medium.
1 cup cake flour (not self-rising) or 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
1 1/2 cups egg whites (about 12 eggs), at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp lemon juice
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. In a food processor, grind sugar until it is superfine. Combine half of the sugar with the flour, setting the remaining sugar aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat egg whites, cream of tartar, salt, vanilla, and lemon juice until soft, droopy peaks form.
4. Gradually add the reserved sugar (the half without the flour), beating on high-speed. Do not overbeat; David Lebovitz explains “the egg whites should not be overly dry or stiff, but soft and cloud-like.”
5. Spoon flour-sugar mixture 1/4 cup at a time over egg whites, folding gently with a rubber spatula, just until blended.
6. Spoon the batter into ungreased 9 or 10-inch tube pan, smooth the top, and bake for 45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Immediately invert cake onto a funnel or a bottle, unless your tube pan has “feet”, in which case you wouldn’t need the funnel or bottle. Let cake cool completely before removing from pan.
7. Serve with lemon sauce or blueberry sauce.
Note:
I made smaller cakes, using mini 5-inch tube pans. The recipe makes 6 mini cakes, or 24 muffins.
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Angel Ornaments
Now that we’ve decided angels do exist, the next question is, do they have wings? For the sole purpose of giving them that “cute” factor, I’m going against Father Renzo Lavatori on this one, and decided that they should. Otherwise, my angels would just look like triangles and circles hanging on a piece of ribbon!
And angels don’t have to be just for Christmas, by the way. They are perfect for everyday, and definitely a must for Valentine’s day. You know, Cupid! Isn’t he an angel? Anyway, I’m just giving you craft ideas. Come Valentine’s day, you might want to make a few angels or Cupids for decorations. I know I will.
Feliz Navidad, everyone! I don’t know what y’all are planning to do, but I’m going to sleep for the next three days straight. Angels need some rest and relaxation, too! 🙂
The Novice Gardener 