After making a batch of classic buttercream and Rose’s All-occasion Yellow Downy Cake, I had a big ol’ wad of egg whites that I made an angel food cake with. I had never made one before, but it was pretty straightforward. I baked it in a convection oven (mine automatically reduces the temp by 25F for convection baking), in an angel food pan with a slide-out bottom.
I looked a a few recipes on the Food Network, but I think I settled on the one from America’s Test Kitchen. I just looked for it on the web site, and it’s in their “premium content” section. I’ve got the PDF file and can e-mail it if you want. Some of the recipes I reviewed used all-purpose flour, others used cake flour. A few used lemon juice in place of cream of tartar, some used both. Everybody’s were pretty much the same—a meringue of egg whites, a little bit of flavor (usually vanilla, possibly with almond extract, citrus zest), and some flour.
I do know that your beaters and mixer bowl must be ABSOLUTELY free of oil or grease or your whites won’t whip. The finished cake also has to cool completely in the pan while upside-down (I’ve never heard the reason for this, but I assume to keep gravity from making it squish as it cools—pesky gravity).
Are you making a big one, or little ones?
