Lolo’s First Ever Angel Food Cake – A Kitchen Success!

Imagine my surprise when grandgirl Lolo told me she had never tasted angel food cake! So of course that crime needed to be quickly remedied during GrandCamp 2018.

Angel food cake requires some skills not usually associated with cake making, so I knew this would be another great kitchen lesson to be learned in Meemaw’s kitchen. And even though I have my own angel food cake pan we took off to my go-to thrift store in search of one for the girls to take home to Indy. We also picked up a bundt pan since Lolo told me she really wanted one of those as well. (And just wait until you see what she did with THAT pan after she went home to Indiana!)

After scrubbing those thrift store treasures it was time to start baking.

Angel food cake is a type of sponge cake. It uses LOTS of egg whites but there is no butter or oil in the cake. It’s great to serve if you’re cutting calories since it is a fat free cake.. It’s also a wonderful base for many simple desserts. I love to serve it topped with fresh berries and a big scoop of yummy vanilla ice cream.

Since I didn’t have a hen house full of egg whites sitting around in my refrigerator we decided to “cheat” and use a mix to simplify this baking lesson.

And speaking of lessons, there are some serious rules to follow when baking an angel food cake if you want it to rise properly.

• Use a Metal or Glass Mixing Bowl. NO PLASTIC!
• Make Sure the Bowl and Utensils are SQUEAKY CLEAN with NO hint of grease!

The mix we chose contained two separate envelopes of dry ingredients. Envelope A (those dried egg whites) only required the addition of water…and LOTS of high speed mixing. (Notice the damp cloth under the mixing b0wl? That keeps the bowl from spinning right along with the beaters!) 

Next came Envelope B. And that required a new mixing technique for Miss Lolo. She carefully folded that flour mixture over and over to incorporate the four mixture into those whipped egg whites without deflating them. I suddenly remembered the wire “whip” spoon Mom had in our farm kitchen…and if I run across one of those in my thrift store searches I will pick it up for Lolo. But a large slotted spoon worked well for her.

The directions said to level off the mixture with a RUBBER scraper, so that’s what we did.

Next time I would suggest an offset metal spatula to make darn sure no hidden grease might be on that rubber utensil. Better safe than sorry, I say.

Lolo was amazed at how that cake began to magically rise even higher than the pan! 

As soon as she took the cake from the oven we inverted it on a wine bottle to allow gravity to keep the cake as tall as possible. (Another reason for Meemaw to drink wine?)

After it had cooled completely, she cut all around the cake to release it from the pan.

I would say Lolo earned an A+ on that angel food cake lesson!

When dinnertime rolled around, she was ready to serve her dessert to all of us. She sliced fresh strawberries and added some blueberries. She mixed in a sprinkle of sugar and a drizzle of real vanilla extract.

Next she sliced generous pieces of that amazing cake and crowned it with that berry mixture. She added a couple scoops of vanilla bean ice cream and a sprig of fresh mint.

Yes…the memories made in my kitchen will live forever. And for that I am eternally grateful.

Angel food cake…made by one of my seven little angels.