Angel in disguise
Angel food cake certainly deserves its heavenly name. Its snowy, white appearance and lighter than air texture — not to mention its fat-free factor — all add up to the perfect summer dessert. Plus it goes great with summer berries and a dollop of whipped cream. The only problem: Making angel food cake from scratch is a fussy endeavor. Separating eggs, sifting flour and carefully calculating when the egg whites have been whipped just right is more than I have cared to bother with. That’s why I usually cheat and use a boxed angel food cake mix. However, I recently decided to see just how good boxed angel food cake mix is compared with “the real thing.” For a Fourth of July barbecue, I whipped up two angel food cakes; one from scratch, the other from a mix. Friends were kind enough to play guinea pigs and taste both cakes. Then I asked them which was which.
Of course, I intentionally tried to trick them. I used a recipe from the Betty Crocker Web site to dress up the cake mix. I adapted the company’s Low-Fat Mocha Angel Cake into a Mocha Almond Angel Cake.
For the cake from scratch, I simply allowed the kids to squeeze tubes of red, white and blue frosting over the top.
There were other differences, too. The boxed cake stood a good 2 to 2 1/2 -inches taller than the cake from scratch. My first thought was I had botched the whipping process, but after quite a bit of digging into cookbooks and baking Web sites, I learned that a recipe from scratch using 12 eggs whites should yield a cake that is about 4 to 4 1/2 -inches tall. Mine was pretty close to that. Whew.
Even though the cake from the mix stood taller, it lacked structure. Once it was out of the pan, it sort of drooped, the sides started to buckle under the weight of the cake, especially when frosted.
The cake from scratch came out level on top and sturdy. Even with the gobs of frosting the kids put on it, it never buckled.
My guinea pigs were fooled. They thought the Mocha Almond Angel Cake was made from scratch. After revealing the truth, they concluded that there was a definite difference in texture. The cake from scratch tasted “spongier” they said. Go figure, angel food cake is a sponge cake.
With each bite, that difference became clearer. The boxed mix had a chewier, more bread-like texture, we all decided. But dressing it with a decadent sounding frosting and calling it something special was enough to trick the tastebuds. The group liked the mocha cake better, but said the main reason for that was the mocha flavor.
Whether I was biased from the start could be debated but I preferred the cake made from scratch; each bite was more “heavenly” than the next, even without extra flavor.
Will I use a boxed mix again? Hard to say. The convenience is certainly enticing, but seeing that sturdy, yet oh-so-light cake from scratch turn out on the first try was inspiring. Besides, with 12 egg yolks left over, I was able to make homemade ice cream. You can’t do that with a boxed mix.
Heavenly Angel Cake
By Marion Cunningham, published in “Birthday Cakes,” by Kathryn Kleinman
Cunningham’s directions are as follows. However, I used directions gleaned from Cook’s Illustrated, baking911.com and “Brilliant Cooking Tricks and Food Tips” (See tips box).
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup sifted cake flour
1 1/2 cups unbeaten egg whites (about 12)
2 tablespoons cold water
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract (optional)
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)
Few drops almond extract (optional)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Add 1/2 cup of the sugar to the flour and sift them together 3 times. (Use 2 pieces of waxed paper to sift back and forth.)
Put the egg whites in a large bowl and add the water, cream of tartar, salt and flavorings all at once. Beat until barely stiff enough to hold a peak when the beater is lifted. Don’t beat until the egg white mixture is dry (this is most important because if the whites are too stiff, the air will be knocked out of them by folding in the remaining dry ingredients). Gradually add the remaining 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons at as time, beating gently after each of the first few additions, then fold in the remaining additions. Gently fold in the flour mixture, 3 or 4 tablespoons at a time until blended.
Spoon the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan. Tap the pan sharply on the counter a few times to break large air bubbles. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted in the center. Remove from oven and invert the pan to cool the cake upside down. Unmold after cake has cooled completely, frost if desired.
Yield: 10 servings
Approximate nutrition per serving: 174 calories, no fat, 5 grams protein, 38 grams carbohydrate, no cholesterol, less than one gram dietary fiber, 182 milligrams sodium.
Mocha Almond Angel Cake
Adapted from www.BettyCrocker.com
The original recipe called for a Mocha Topping made with a packaged whipped topping mix. I chose, instead to make the coffee glaze that follows and then topped the glaze with toasted almond slices.
1 package 1-step white angel food cake mix
1 1/4 cups cold strong coffee
1 tablespoon baking cocoa
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Coffee glaze (recipe follows)
2/3 cup almond slices, toasted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat cake mix, cold coffee and cocoa in extra-large glass or metal bowl on low speed for 30 seconds; beat on medium speed 1 minute. Pour into ungreased tube pan. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until top is dark golden brown and cracks feel very dry and not sticky. Do not underbake.
Immediately invert pan to cool, at least 1 hour. Run knife around the edges to unmold. Top with coffee glaze and toasted almonds.
Yield: 10 servings
Approximate nutrition per serving: 150 calories, 5.7 grams fat (1.7 grams saturated, 33 percent fat calories), 2 grams protein, 24 grams carbohydrate, 6 milligrams cholesterol, 1 gram dietary fiber, 45 milligrams sodium.
Coffee Glaze
Adapted from “The Pillsbury Cookbook”
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons margarine or butter, softened
1 tablespoon baking cocoa
1/4 cup hot strong coffee, plus more as needed
Combine all ingredients and beat on low speed or whisk by hand, adding more coffee a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture reaches desired consistency.
Raspberry Angel Food Cake with Raspberry Amaretto Sauce
From “The New Basics Cookbook,” by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins
10 egg whites, at room temperature
1 1/4 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup cake flour
1 cup fresh raspberries
Raspberry Amaretto Sauce (recipe follows)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer until they form soft peaks. Add the vanilla and almond extracts. Then gradually add the sugar, beating until the white are stiff and shiny, but not dry.
Sift the flour onto the egg whites and sprinkle the raspberries over the top. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the flour and raspberries.
Spoon the mixture into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan, and bake until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
Invert the pan onto a cake rack and let it cool completely without removing the cake from the pan.
When the cake is cool, invert the pan onto a serving platter. Remove the pan carefully, loosening the cake slightly around the edges if necessary, and serve with the raspberry sauce.
Yield: 16 servings
Approximate nutrition per serving: 130 calories, .2 grams fat (no saturated fat, 1 percent fat calories), 3 grams protein, 28 grams carbohydrate, no cholesterol, 1.7 grams dietary fiber, 71 milligrams sodium.
Raspberry Amaretto Sauce
From “The New Basics Cookbook”
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup amaretto liqueur
Puree the raspberries in a blender or food processor. Add the confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice and amaretto, and continue to blend until smooth. Strain the sauce to remove the seeds and serve.
Yield: 1 1/2 cups
Tips for a Successful Angel Food Cake
Here are some tips for making a successful angel food cake from scratch:
“ Do not grease the tube pan; the cake batter needs to stick to the sides to keep it from collapsing.
“ Start with a very clean and dry glass or stainless steel bowl and beaters. The authors of “The New Basics Cookbook” recommend a bowl with a narrower bottom than top. This, the cookbook states, ensures that all of the eggs whites are in motion at the same time.
“ Use cake flour and don’t skip the sifting step.
“ Regular granulated sugar works, but some recipes recommend superfine sugar. According to www.baking911.com, you can pulse regular sugar a few times in the food processor instead of buying superfine sugar.
“ Many recipes call for using room-temperature egg whites. However, the folks at Cook’s Illustrated say the temperature of the egg whites didn’t make a significant difference in their trials. (I trust Cook’s Illustrated and baked the cake with egg whites straight from the fridge with no problems.)
“ Start beating the egg whites at a low speed just until they start to froth, then increase the speed to medium until the egg whites form soft mounds.
“ Gradually add the sugar when large bubbles start to appear around the edge of the bowl. Continue beating until the whites form soft peaks.
“ Cooling an angel food cake upside down is essential for success. Many recipes recommend turning the pan upside down onto the neck of a narrow bottle to cool. This can be very unstable. A tip from “Brilliant Food Tips and Cooking Tricks,” by David Joachim suggests resting the edges of the pan on four equal-size cans. Another tip, listed on www.baking911.com, suggests turning the pan upside down in a metal colander.
Sources: Cook’s Illustrated, www.baking911.com, “Brilliant Food Tips and Cooking Tricks,” “The New Basics Cookbook.”