Angel Food Cake
By America's Test KitchenPublished on August 22, 2013
Time
1 hour, plus 3 hours cooling
Yield
Serves 10 to 12
Ingredients
Before You Begin
Do not use all-purpose flour. Our tasters unflatteringly compared a cake made with it to Wonder Bread. If your angel food cake pan does not have a removable bottom, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. In either case, do not grease the pan (or the paper).
Instructions
- PROCESS SUGAR Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Whisk flour and salt in bowl. Process sugar in food processor until fine and powdery, about 1 minute. Reserve half of sugar in small bowl. Add flour mixture to food processor with remaining sugar and process until aerated, about 1 minute.
- BEAT WHITES With electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until frothy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium-high. With motor running, slowly add reserved sugar and beat until soft peaks form, about 6 minutes. Add vanilla and mix until incorporated.
- SIFT AND FOLD Sift flour mixture over egg whites in 3 additions, folding gently with rubber spatula after each addition until incorporated. Scrape mixture into 12-cup ungreased tube pan.
- BAKE Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean and cracks in cake appear dry, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool, inverted, to room temperature, about 3 hours. To unmold, run knife along interior of pan. Turn out onto platter. Serve.
Time
1 hour, plus 3 hours coolingYield
Serves 10 to 12Ingredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
The key to Angel Food Cake is voluminous, stable egg whites. A mere speck of yolk precludes them from whipping to peaks. We had the best success with either cold or room-temperature egg whites. Cold whites whipped to the same volume as room-temperature eggs (they just took a few minutes longer). Cream of tartar offered some insurance against deflated whites. Its acidity helped stabilize the egg whites.
Before You Begin
Do not use all-purpose flour. Our tasters unflatteringly compared a cake made with it to Wonder Bread. If your angel food cake pan does not have a removable bottom, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. In either case, do not grease the pan (or the paper).
Instructions
- PROCESS SUGAR Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Whisk flour and salt in bowl. Process sugar in food processor until fine and powdery, about 1 minute. Reserve half of sugar in small bowl. Add flour mixture to food processor with remaining sugar and process until aerated, about 1 minute.
- BEAT WHITES With electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until frothy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium-high. With motor running, slowly add reserved sugar and beat until soft peaks form, about 6 minutes. Add vanilla and mix until incorporated.
- SIFT AND FOLD Sift flour mixture over egg whites in 3 additions, folding gently with rubber spatula after each addition until incorporated. Scrape mixture into 12-cup ungreased tube pan.
- BAKE Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean and cracks in cake appear dry, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool, inverted, to room temperature, about 3 hours. To unmold, run knife along interior of pan. Turn out onto platter. Serve.
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