Angel food cake or egg white cake

One of the more classic bundt pans is the Nordic Ware Angel Bundt Pan. It is a mold that is very popular because, being a round, smooth and tall mold, it gives a lot of play and allows for a multitude of recipes and combinations.

But the classic recipe for this type of pan is the cake that bears the same name, the Angel Food Cake, and that is the delicious proposal that Miriam, author of The Winter Guest , brings us today. You will find in this cake a light and spongy appearance, a white interior and a soft flavor, and you will understand why they call it that!

Angel food cake is one of the sweetest named sweets I know: angel food cake. But let's forgive him because he's deadly.

This cake is made only with egg whites as a leavening agent; It is prepared with a meringue that is what makes it rise in the oven. It has few ingredients because the meringue is mixed with flour and some flavoring, nothing else. The result is an extremely fluffy and soft cake.

Apparently born in the United States, angel food cake is traditionally prepared in a characteristic removable frustoconical mold that also has a hole in the center to facilitate cooking. The mold is not greased before pouring the dough according to the wise so that it does not slip and can rise as high as possible. For this reason, once cold, it must be separated from the mold with a knife or spatula, which gives it a characteristic chipped appearance.

As is very common in the United States, this cake is served with various accompaniments, such as fresh fruit, compotes, whipped cream, yogurt or even covered with a multitude of icings, although here I have opted for the easiest, which is to sprinkle it with icing sugar. . Because let's face it, that's how we hide that slightly filthy surface.

Ingredients

• 360 ml egg whites (about 12 eggs)
• 1 tsp. cream of tartar (optional)
• ½ tsp. of salt
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 125 g of pastry flour
• 300 g of white sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Elaboration

We will have the whites at room temperature; warm whites fluff up more than cold whites.

Sift the flour together with half the sugar, 150 g. If our sieve has too small holes, we can do it in a strainer . We booked.

We begin to mount the whites at high speed and when they are foamy we add the cream of tartar, the lemon juice and the salt, without stopping beating. The cream of tartar is used to stabilize the whites, but it is not essential.

When the whites are already very well assembled and begin to form peaks, we will add the remaining sugar one tablespoon at a time, without rushing and without stopping beating. Once all the sugar has been incorporated, we continue beating until, when taking a small portion of meringue and rubbing it between the fingers, the granules of sugar are no longer visible. Then the meringue will be ready.

Add the sifted mixture of flour and sugar four times, mixing each time with enveloping movements. When all the mixture is incorporated, pour it into the mold and level the surface with a spatula or spoon .

Bake the cake in the oven previously heated to 180° (without air), on a low level, between 40 and 45 minutes. We test if it is done with a skewer and take it out of the oven.

This cake has the particularity that it is allowed to cool already inverted, for which the mold has those little legs that you can see in the photo. We invert it as soon as we take it out of the oven and let it cool completely.

Once cold we will have to pass a knife or a spatula between the cake and the mold to be able to detach it. We invest it on a fountain or a stand , we decorate it to our liking and we serve it. Enjoy.