I'm no angel

Churning litre upon litre of ice cream had one predictable surprise: abundant quantities of abandoned egg whites.

Abandoned, but not for long.

Unfortunately, as it was at the start of my month-o-phlegmy-grossness, my culinary fantasies of macarons, marshmallows and coconut macaroons-on-their-ways-to-becoming-home-made-Bounty-bars were not to be. I was (and still am) tired, and not yearning to be creative or daring or even interesting. I also didn't want to bin (or shall I say pour out) the egg whites...that would be wasteful.

I was looking for maximum bang for my cluck with relatively minimal effort. Yes, I could make a week or two's worth of egg white omelettes and play with the fillings and flavourings, but...meh...I just wanted to be done and over with as many as possible, as quickly as possible. I suppose their viscosity too closely resembled...well...you know.

Yeah, nothing like thinking an ingredient reminds you of snot to make you want to get rid of it in an appropriate way...not that I'd consider using real snot as an ingredient...maybe when I was two-year old, but not now that I'm a multiple of...two. So, in this case, an appropriate way does not include tissues or zippy white pills that add a bit of pep to my step...it involves baking.

I must admit that it's been a long time since I last had angel food cake. A really long time. So long ago that I'd forgotten how...ummm...unmemorable these cakes are...when served on their own.

But I suppose their versatility makes angel food cakes popular. They really don't need to be iced or frosted or dusted. A cake with a bright white and tender crumb is a lovely thing, but well...it needs something--fruit (either fresh or in a coulis) or even a few moments on a hot grill. Heck, these cakes are really very marshmallowy like. A thick slice, grilled then served with a raspberry coulis or lemon curd would go very nicely.

Admittedly, I'd lost my va-voom a few days after I made the cake, so I wound up having it with warmed caramel or hot fudge sauce...which may have been a bit of a boo-boo...you try snoozing off a cold when totally loaded on sugar-covered sugar.


Angel Food Cake
adapted from Spiced Angel Food Cake, found in Alton Brown's I'm Just Here For More Food, p270-271.

13 egg whites
75ml water
1.5 tsp cream of tartar
390g sugar
0.25 tsp salt
125g cake flour
splash orange extract

Preheat oven to 180C/350F.

Whip together egg whites, water , orange extract and cream of tartar until white and foamy. Add sugar and beat to medium peaks.

Sift remaining dry ingredients together. Gently fold the flour mixture into the marshmallowy mixture, about one-quarter to one-third at a time, until all the dry ingredients are fully incorporated.

Spoon the batter into an ungreased 4.5 L tube pan, being careful to not deflate the mixture. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool for at least an hour in the pan before turning out.




cheers!
jasmine