The two most important things to have are egg whites at room temperature and an angel food cake pan.
So far, I haven't used cake flour and the cakes have been fluffy. I do encourage you to use organic flour. I've used white organic flour from Wholefoods in their bulk foods and Safeway brand Organics flour. Following in Julia Child's pans and spoons, you want flour with good fat to it so the taste and fat hasn't been processed out of it.
Also, you can add food coloring to the cake or the whipped cream. Red for St. Valentine's Day? I used blue this past weekend pre-Super Bowl in support of the Panthers.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and have the oven rack low enough to accommodate the Angel Food Cake pan.
Needed ingredients:
• 1 cup good organic flour
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 12 egg whites, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups sugar (I buy the organic sugar at Costco. Flavor is better than traditional, over processed white sugar.)
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (use the real thing. It costs more but flavor is way better plus no chemical aftertaste)
Whipped Cream
• Heavy whipping cream
• 1-3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Fresh berries, washed
Separate egg whites from the yolks. Make sure no yolk is in the whites or it'll impact how fluffy you can get the whites. Also, make sure the bowl and beater are super clean. Beat whites until they're fluffy. Gradually add cream of tartar and sugar until you have stiff egg white peaks. Add vanilla, beating in. All this should take 5-10 minutes depending on the weather.
Place flour and salt in a sifter. Sift flour, salt mixture gradually into whipped egg white mixture stirring together gently and gradually. Use a rubber spatula to do this if you have one. When flour is just blended with egg whites so you don't see dried ingredients, spoon batter into an ungreased Angel Food Cake pan. That's right. No oil in cake or pan.
Bake 35-40 minutes until cake is golden. Cool in pan, inverted for at least 30 minutes. You may need to use a knife on pan sides and bottom to release cake.
Slice and serve with a dollop of whipped cream and berries. Bon appetite!
Tip: Use the egg yolks for homemade custard
