Hey guys it's Bettie from BakerBettie.com and welcome back to another video!
Now today I have a new cake mixing method for you and if you missed last
week's video the month of March is our cake series. So each week I'm bringing
you a new mixing method with a cake recipe. Now this week we are learning
angel food cake. Now I feel like angel food cake has a reputation of being
really difficult to make but I promise you it is actually so easy. We're going
to be pairing our cake today with a fresh strawberry sauce and this is a
bonus recipe video so make sure you check it out and I will leave the link
for that video down in the description box. Now as always all of my recipes can
also be found on my website so I will also leave the link for that in the
description box but let's go ahead and dive into the recipe. Now traditionally
angel food cake is baked in a special type of pan called a tube pan. Now you
can see here how it is slightly different than a bundt cake pan because
the bottom and the center tube actually separate from the walls of the pan if
you don't have a tube pan you can read the full written post for details about
baking this cake in other types of pans or into cupcakes. So go ahead and
pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and then our first step is
going to be separating our egg whites from the egg yolks. Now you can do this
however it works best for you but I find that cracking a room-temperature egg
into a small bowl and then using my clean hands to remove the yolk is the
best method to avoid breaking the yolks. Now I never separate my egg yolks over
the already separated egg whites because if any yolks do break and get into that
batch of egg whites you're actually going to have to toss all of them.
This is because we are going to be whipping our egg whites and if there is
any fat present they are not going to whip up to stiff peaks. Now you're going
to need 1 and 1/4 cups of egg whites which is
typically about nine to ten large eggs.
Now as always make sure you wash your hands well after handling raw egg next
we are going to go ahead and pre-measure out all of our ingredients before we
start mixing. Angel food cake requires very few ingredients and once we start
mixing the process is going to go really quickly. You're going to need a total of
one and a half cups of granulated sugar but we're going to actually separate
that sugar in half so 3/4 of a cup is going into our egg whites and then the
other 3/4 cup is going into our dry ingredients. So I'm measuring out the
sugar separately here. You're also going to need one cup of cake flour and it is
really important that you are using cake flour for the most light and tender
angel food cake. Now if you don't have access to cake flour
you can make a cake flour substitute and you can see the full written post for
details about how to do that. Next we need 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt and one
teaspoon of lemon zest and this is actually optional but I highly recommend
adding it for a little extra tangy flavor. And then we're going to need a
1/2 tablespoon of either lemon juice or cream of tartar and this acidic
ingredient is going to help stabilize our egg whites. Now in a mixing bowl
we're going to whisk all of our dry ingredients together so mix your cake
flour with one portion of the granulated sugar and the salt and whisk together
until well combined. Next we are going to whip our egg whites into a meringue. And
this is really the key part of angel food cake, the whipped egg whites are
going to give this cake such a nice fluffy and airy texture so I've placed
my room-temperature egg whites into the bowl of my stand mixer and I'm using the
whisk attachment to start whipping them on high
speed for about 30 seconds just until they get a little frothy. Now you can use
a hand mixer but be aware that it does take a little bit longer to get your egg
whites to stiff peaks. Now at this point when your egg whites are a little bit
frothy we're going to add our acidic ingredient so I'm using lemon juice but
like I said you could use cream of tartar here and then I'm going to turn
the mixer back on to high speed. After about one minute the whites should look
like they are gaining some volume and we can go ahead and start slowly adding our
sugar. So we are using the other half of the sugar that we measured out for our
whites and just start slowly spooning it into the mixer while it is running. Once
all of the sugar is added you can check to see where you are at with your
meringue. Mine is at about medium peaks so I'm going to go ahead and add that
optional lemon zest and continue mixing until I get stiff peaks. Periodically
check to see where your meringue is at because you don't want to over mix it.It
should look really glossy and the peaks should stand up nice and tall. But if
your mixture starts to look dry and crumbly then you have actually overmixed
your meringue and you will need to start over. Next we are going to sift our dry
ingredients into the bowl with the egg whites. You want to sift it because you
don't want to weigh down the whites
Now take a rubber spatula and gently fold the dry ingredients into the egg
whites. To fold cut down the center of the mixture to the bottom of the bowl
and bring the spatula back up and over turning the bowl 90 degrees. Now take
your time here and be gentle with the mixture because you don't want to
deflate our egg whites. Continue doing this until there are not any visible
patches of dry ingredients left. And that is it, it is very simple to make this
cake batter. And while this method is actually specific to only angel food
cake. It's actually called the angel food method. This process of whipping egg
whites and then folding is used in a few other more advanced cake mixing methods.
Okay go ahead and gently scoop your batter
into your tube pan. Now you do not want to grease your pan at all. This cake is
going to climb up the walls of the pan and greasing it is going to prevent that.
And once the cake batter is all in the pan take a butter knife and then run it
through the center of the batter to make sure that there are no large air pockets.
Place the pan on the center rack of the oven and set a timer for 30 minutes. It
is essential that you do not open the oven until the cake is very close to
being done because if the whites are not yet set when the oven opens your cake is
going to fall. At the 30 minute mark check the cake by gently pressing in on
it. It should be firm and spring back. Once the cake is removed from the oven
it is important to cool it upside down. Now some people do this by placing a
wine bottle in the center of the tube and then turning it over to cool it that
way. However if the tube is taller than the pan itself like mine is you can
actually do this on a cooling rack. This is going to prevent our cake from
sinking while it cools and since we didn't grease the pan it's going to
cling to the walls and it's not going to fall out. I promise, just trust me.
Once the cake is completely cooled flip it back over and run a knife all around
the outside edge to remove the center tube.
Now go ahead and run a knife along the bottom of the pan as well as around the
center tube to release the cake. Flip the cake over so that that smooth bottom is
now at the top of your cake because it tends to look a little nicer this way.
Now you want to use a serrated knife to cut your cake to avoid crushing it
because this cake is so light and tender and airy from all of those egg whites
that we whipped. And even though there is no fat in this cake at all the sugar in
the cake actually helps keep it really nice and moist. Just look at how
beautiful this cake turned out. It is so incredibly light and fluffy and it is
absolutely delicious all on its own but I'm actually going to
add a few toppings to elevate it a little bit. So I'm going to add some
fresh whipped cream and I do have a recipe for this on my website I'll leave
the link down in the description box and I'm also going to add this fresh
strawberry syrup that is our bonus recipe for today so make sure you check
out that video as well. And now it's time to have a taste.
It is so light and airy, I mean it's almost like a cloud. It's so fluffy and
that fresh whipped cream and those strawberries just really elevates it. I
cannot wait to hear what you guys think of this. I encourage you to try it
because it is such a simple recipe to make. Now I really hope you enjoyed this
recipe tutorial and if you did please give it a thumbs up. If you have any
questions you can leave those down in the comment section and I will be happy
to answer those. And I'm also going to leave the link for the entire playlist
of our cake series down in the description box so you can watch all of
those videos. If you aren't already subscribed, go ahead and hit that
subscription button and ring the notification bell so you never miss a
video. And you can follow me @BakerBettie on Instagram and on Facebook.
I'll see you guys next week with another recipe tutorial. Bye!