I'm going to give you these two recipes together, because that's how I've made them. They're both very easy, and nothing you can buy in a store tastes as good as a homemade angel food cake!
Both of these recipes are from the Woman's Day Encyclopedia of Cookery, which is very old and still a key component of my collection of cookbooks!
Angel Food Cake
1 cup sifted cake flour
1 ½ cups sugar
1 ½ cups egg whites (10 to 12 medium-sized eggs)
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
Sift flour and ¾ cup of the sugar together 3 times. Beat egg
whites with salt and cream of tartar in large bowl at high speed of mixer until
light and fluffy. Sprinkle remaining sugar over egg whites, 2 tablespoons at a
time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Continue beating until stiff peaks
form. Fold in extracts. Sift dry ingredients, 2 tablespoons at a time, over
beaten egg whites. Fold in gently but thoroughly with a wire whip or rubber
spatula. Pour batter into ungreased 10-inch tube pan. Make sure that there is
not a trace of any fat or grease in pan, or cake won’t rise. With a long knife,
cut gently through batter to remove air bubbles. Bake in preheated moderate
oven (350°) for 40 to 50 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and cracks are
very dry. Invert pan immediately and place on funnel or bottle. Cool cake in
upside-down pan for at least 1 hour. Cut cake out of pan with a sharp knife.
Using two forks, separate cake into pieces, or slice with a sawing motion using
a knife with serrated edge. Makes 10 to 12 servings.
Seven-Minute Frosting
1½ cups sugar
1/3 cup water
¼ teaspoon salt
2 egg whites
1½ teaspoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Combine all ingredients, except vanilla, in top part of
double boiler. Beat about 1 minute to mix thoroughly. Then, put over boiling
water and beat constantly with rotary beater or electric mixer for 7 minutes,
or until frosting will stand in stiff peaks. (Stir frosting up from bottom of
pan occasionally.) Remove from over boiling water and add vanilla. Beat until
of proper spreading consistency. Makes 5 1/3 cups.
DONNA'S NOTES: I've found that the evaporated cane juice I generally use in place of white sugar doesn't work well for making any kind of a meringue, which is essentially what an angel food cake is. So, I use white sugar for beating the egg whites and evaporated cane juice for sifting with the flour. And, for this cake, I do use cake flour.
I use my KitchenAid stand mixer for the entire operation of making the cake. Its slowest speed is just fine for stirring the extracts and the dry ingredients into the egg whites. A serrated knife works fine for slicing the cake.
And, I use my KitchenAid hand-held mixer for making the frosting. It's fun to see it develop!
