Angel Food Cake

Recipe credit to: In The Kitchen With Matt

Here's what you need: 

• 1 3/4 cups of granulated sugar or caster sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup of cake flour
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups of egg whites (about 10-12 large eggs)
• 1 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract
• Fruit or toppings of your choice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Separate your egg whites from the yolks making sure there is NO egg yolk in the whites. Allow the egg whites to come to room temperature. 

If using granulated sugar, add to a food processor. Pulse and blend for about a minute to produce a very fine sugar. Pour about a cup of it into a measuring cup and set aside for later in the recipe. If using caster sugar, you can skip this step and just divide it. 

Now add the salt and cake flour to the food processor with the remaining sugar and blend for about 30 seconds. Set aside.

Pour the egg whites into a large bowl or stand mixer. Beat until they begin to get frothy, then add the cream of tartar and the extracts. Continue beating until the eggs whites double or triple in volume.

Continue beating and add the cup of sugar about a tablespoon at a time, mixing well between additions. After all of the sugar is incorporated well, keep beating until soft peaks form. When you life the beater, a peak should form and then curl over on the top. 

Now, add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the egg whites and gently fold it in with a spatula. Do not stir, just keep folding the batter over on itself until there are no dry streaks. Then repeat two more times until all of the flour mixture is added to the egg whites. 

Now add the batter to an ungreased Angel Food Cake pan. Make sure it is UNgreased. Then run a butter knife through the batter in zigzags to help it settle and break up any large air pockets. 

Place the cake in your preheated oven on the middle rack and bake for 35-45 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. It will be golden brown and will be cracked on top. This is normal!

When the cake comes out of the oven, flip the cake pan over and let it rest on the "tips" of the cake pan. If your pan doesn't have "tips" on it, you can turn a glass upside down and rest the center of the cake pan on the glass. Let it cool completely, upside down, for at least 2 hours. 

Once the cake has cooled, turn it right side up and use a butter knife to run along the outside to loosen it from the pan. Then do the same with the inside part of the cake. Push the cake up from the bottom and then run your knife under the bottom of the cake. 

You can flip the cake over on a cake plate or remove it from the base and place it right side up (that's what I did, because I love the rustic look of the top!). 

Use a serrated knife to cut the cake and top with fruits, whipped cream or ice cream, etc. Enjoy!