Delight of the Week - Heavenly Angel Food Cake

Scott and I have been enjoying some pretty heavy desserts lately so I decided to make one of my favorite light desserts for this week's Delight of the Week. It turns out that this might be one of Scott's favorite desserts. That or he was quite hungry when he gobbled up three slices in one night!



When making Angel Food Cake, it is important to have fresh egg whites. The older your eggs, the less the cake will rise which still results in a tasty cake, just a shorter one at that. Angel Food Cake is actually pretty simple to make and a snap if you have a stand mixer. I served ours with a Raspberry Sauce but be creative and top your cake with dulce du leche, whipped cream, chocolate sauce or really anything you want.



Heavenly Angel Food Cake
Adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

Ingredients
1 cup cake flour, sifted
1 1/2 cups fine sugar
9 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Take out your un-greased 10-inch tube pan and set aside.

2. Sift together the flour and 1/2 cup of sugar. Repeat once more.

3. Beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the salt and cream of tartar. Continue to beat until you have soft peaks. Beat in the remaining sugar and extracts. Continue to beat until the peaks are almost stiff.

4. Gradually fold in the flour mixture. Be gentle here. Turn the batter into your 10-inch tube pan and bake for 45 minutes or until the cake is firm and nicely browned.

5. Invert the cake onto a rack and let cool for about an hour. Using a knife, carefully cut around the sides of the cake and remove. Serve with Raspberry Sauce (recipe follows)



Raspberry Sauce

Ingredients
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons butter
2 cups frozen raspberries (really any berry would work here)

Directions
1. Combine water, sugar, butter and berries in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until the mixture is thick and syrupy.

2. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 2 minutes until berries are completely broken down. Serve warm or at room temperature over Heavenly Angel Food Cake.