Name: Angel Food Cake
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 70 min
Ingredients: 1 cup cake flour (spooned and leveled); 0.25 teaspoon salt; 12 large egg whites, room temperature; 1 teaspoon cream of tartar; 1.25 cups sugar; 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract; Berries and Cream , for serving (optional)

Prep Time:

30 mins

Total Time:

1 hr 10 mins

Servings:

8

This angel food cake is an airy delight made with just six ingredients, including 12 egg whites—and doesn’t contain any butter or oil. You’ll need a special angel food pan: a tall tube pan with feet that allows you to invert the cake while it cools, which is part of the angel food cake magic. Folding the flour mixture gently into the voluminous egg whites is key to keeping the cloud-like texture of the cake.

Always use a serrated knife when slicing an angel food cake. It's more gentle on the delicate cake and won't smush it as a chef's knife might.

Ingredients

1 cup cake flour (spooned and leveled)
¼ teaspoon salt
12 large egg whites, room temperature
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Berries and Cream, for serving (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven and sift dry ingredients:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place flour and salt in a sieve set over a bowl; sift into bowl, and set aside.
Beat egg white until foamy:

With a mixer, beat egg whites on medium-high until foamy, about 1 minute.
Add cream of tartar:

Add cream of tartar; beat until soft peaks form.
Gradually add sugar and beat until stiff peaks:

Continue to beat, gradually adding sugar; beat until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla; beat to combine.
Transfer to wide bowl:

Gently transfer egg-white mixture to a large, wide bowl.
Sift dry ingredients over egg white mixture in 4 additions:

In four batches, using the sieve again, sift flour mixture over egg-white mixture. While turning the bowl, use a rubber spatula to fold in the mixture by cutting down the center and coming up the sides.
Spoon batter into angel food pan and bake :

Gently spoon batter into an ungreased angel food cake pan with a removable bottom; smooth top. Bake until cake is golden and springs back when lightly pressed, 35 to 40 minutes.

Cut a knife or small spatula through batter to release any air bubbles in the batter once it is in angel food cake pan.
Invert and cool

Invert pan; let cool in pan, 1 hour.
Unmold cake:

Run a knife around the inside of the pan and around the tube to release cake, and unmold. Use knife to release cake from bottom of pan, and remove.