Celebration Angel Food Cake

Sharon123's Note:

This cake is different in that it has red, white and blue sprinkles which makes it perfect for 4th of July! Change the color of the sprinkles and you can use this for any celebration! And now a little history: Angel food cake is also called ice cream cake (a Pennsylvania Dutch wedding cake). It is felt that the abundance of cake molds in southeastern Pennsylvania, one of the major producer of cake molds, indicates that the angel food cake originated there in the early 1800s. Some historians think that the first angel food cakes were probably baked by African-American slaves from the South because making this cake required a strong beating arm and lots of labor to whip the air into the whites. Angel food cakes are also a traditional African-American favorite for post-funeral feasting.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 5 mins
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 1 cake

• 1 3/4 cups egg whites, room temperature (about 12 to 14 large eggs)
• 1 1/4 cups cake flour, stir before measuring
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/3-1/2 cup red white, and blue candy sprinkles (about 1 3/4 to 2 ounces)

Directions:

1. Sift flour with 3/4 cups sugar 4 times; set aside.
2. With a hand-held electric mixer at high speed, beat egg whites with salt and cream of tartar until soft peaks are formed. Gradually beat in remaining 1 cup sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time.
3. Beat well after each addition; continue to beat until stiff peaks form when beaters are raised out of mixture.
4. With a rubber spatula, gently fold almond extract and vanilla into the beaten egg whites.
5. Sprinkle about a quarter of the flour mixture evenly over the egg whites; fold in gently with a spatula, about 15 strokes. Repeat until all of the flour mixture and fold in the sprinkles with about 10 to 12 more strokes.
6. Preheat oven to 375°F
7. Gently spoon batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan. Cut through batter in pan with a narrow spatula or knife. With rubber spatula, spread batter to smooth the top and make sure batter is spread to touch the sides of the pan.
8. Bake on a lower oven rack for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly touched with fingertip. Invert pan to cool completely, about 2 hours. Use a narrow spatula or knife to gently loosen cake from sides and center of the tube pan. Gently, grasping the center tube, lift cake out of pan. Use a narrow spatula or knife to loosen the cake from the bottom. Remove the cake from tube section and frost with a fluffy white frosting or serve with sweetened strawberries or other fruit.

Reviews

[BLUE ROSE]

What can I say but this is so much better than the box!
Very nice and airy! To surprise our guests I chose to make small loaf's so that our guests could take it home with them.

[Lynne the Pirate Queen]

This was *wonderful* -- light, airy, beautiful and delicious! I made it as a birthday cake for a friend who told me that, growing up, angel food cake (with whipped cream frosting) was his favorite kind of birthday cake, the cake his grandmother used to make for him. The whipped cream frosting recipe from Cocoa and Cream Cake (another cake that I adore) made a perfect crowning touch. Homemade angel food cakes are so much better than store-bought, and this is recipe is so easy there's no reason to ever not make a from-scratch cake again. :) Thanks for sharing!!

[MichelliBelli]

We love angel food cakes in my family and I used pastel colored sprinkles in this recipe with a really pretty effect. I used glaze for the frosting, then topped with more sprinkles and fresh strawberries, and served with homemade whipped cream on the side. Excellent recipe Sharon!