- Yield: 10
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Serving: 10
Nutrition facts (per portion)
- Calories: 213
- Carbohydrate Content: 42
- Protein Content: 4
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Sodium Content: 184
- Sugar Content: 1
Angel Food Cake
Hey Everyone!
Just when I thought gluten-free couldn't get any better!!! This angel food cake is light and airy, which is usually a very hard texture to get from gluten-free food. But the good thing is that angel food cake is largely egg based and does not rely on the gluten to help it get it's height (according to Alton Brown). It also has a beautifully caramelized outside but a snowy white inside. This recipe tastes JUST LIKE the original angel food cake we all know and love.
Here are a few tips on how to make this beautiful and tasty work of art. First, off....follow the directions EXACTLY! I messed up on the first go round and ended up sacrificing a whole cup of GF flour and 12 whole eggs. I was slightly peeved at myself for wasting so many good groceries that aren't exactly cheap.
Second, be patient! It takes a while for the egg whites to get to the medium peak stage. If your hand isn't hurting by the end of it, you probably didn't mix it long enough.
Finally, be super careful when folding in the sugar and flour and when putting it into the bundt cake pan. Make sure to use as few motions to mix it as possible while still making sure that there are no streaks of flour hiding in your batter. When you move the batter from the mixing bowl to the cake bowl, make sure that you spoon the mixture gently into the pan (I like to use a soup ladle). Don't worry if it isn't perfectly smooth yet, it will smooth out in baking. And above all else....do not tap the bowl or the pan at any time! This will make you lose all of those hard earned air bubbles.
I hope you like this rare gluten free treat as much as me and mine did!
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- fine sugar - 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups
- salt - 1 tsp
- almond extract - 1/2 tsp
- vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
- cream of tartar - 1 1/2 tsp
- egg whites (at room temperature) - 12
- warm water - 1/3 cup
- All Purpose Gluten Free flour blend (I used Great Value All-Purpose Flour Blend) - 1 cup
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. If you do not have fine sugar, start by making your own. Process 1 ¾ cup regular sugar in a blender or food processor for 2 minutes until it becomes superfine and reduces in volume to 1 ¼ or 1 ½ cups.
3. Take half of your fine sugar and sift it together with the salt and the flour. Set the other sugar aside. You will sift the flour-sugar-salt mixture again when adding it to the egg foam. Do not skip any sifting! It adds more air to the mixture resulting in a lighter cake.
4. Make sure that all the surfaces that they eggs are going to touch are very clean so that the eggs don't get contaminated. They will not gain the proper fluffiness if they are contaminated by ANYTHING.
5. Pour your ultra-pure 12 egg whites into a bowl (preferably metal). The eggs must be at room temperature (because they whip better that way). Add the warm water.
6. Add the extract and cream of tartar to the egg-water mixture. Using a large whisk, whip up the egg-water-extract-tartar mixture by hand until frothy. Then, use a hand-held mixer (if available) to continue beating the mixture on medium speed. If using a hand-held mixer, be sure to move the beaters around the bowl and not keep them completely submerged all the time; bring them up carefully, partially above the batter, to grab hold of air. You should see the whites grow in volume. Now sprinkle in the reserved sugar, one tablespoon at a time.
7. When the beaters start making tracks in the thickened egg whites, you know they are ready. Keep beating on medium until the mixture is very thick but not solid. You want a flexible yet sturdy mixture. You don't want the egg whites to form stiff peaks because then the mixture will be too dry.
8. Remove the beaters from the bowl and sift on just enough of the sugar-flour-salt mixture to cover the top of the foam. Fold this in using a spatula to gently bring the egg whites from the bottom of the bowl to cover the sugar-flour-salt mixture. Repeat three or four more times until the sugar-flour-salt mixture has disappeared and is fully incorporated, then sift on more to cover the foam and start folding gently again.
9. When all of the sugar-flour-salt mixture is incorporated, immediately spoon it gently into your bundt pan with a large spoon or spatula. Do not pour the batter into the pan as this will remove air and flatten out your cake! Avoid tapping or moving the pan or smoothing out the top since this can lose all that beautiful air you have worked so hard to create in the batter! It may look a little uneven on the top, but it is worth it for a light, airy cake. Immediately put the pan into the oven on the middle rack.
10. Do not open the door for at least 35 minutes or else you risk flattening the cake. If after 35 minutes the top still has not turned golden, turn the heat down to 325 and bake up to 10 more minutes. Test the cake with a wooden skewer at this point. If it comes out completely clean then the cake may be overdone. You want the skewer to come out slightly moist.
11. The cake will continue to bake and will set while cooling, as long as it is properly cooled in the pan upside down. You can set it up on a bottle upside down, or if it hasn't risen above the rim, you can just turn it upside down on a plate or cooling rack. Let the cake cool completely and do not touch it or allow and crazy bumping to go on near it. Yes, you have to literally baby this cake for the absolute best results but it is SO worth it!
12. When the cake is cool, turn the pan right side up and take a thin serrated knife, insert it at the edge of the pan and gently move all the way around the rim of the cake and around the center tube to help loosen the cake from the pan. Turn the cake out onto a plate or pan.
13. Slice your cake with a serrated blade and serve plain or with the topping of your choice. Enjoy!
Allergens
