Cranberry Angel Food Cake
The lightness of Angel Food topped with the tartness of cranberries create a fresh tasting summer dessert that is sure to please.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 1⁄2 cups sugar, divided use
- 12 large egg whites
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cranberries, picked over (or more!)
- 1 tablespoon orange zest (or more!)
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Clean and dry tube or bundt pan (trace amounts of oil may cause whipped egg whites to deflate).
Stir together flour and 3/4 cup sugar, and set aside.
In a large bowl, whip egg whites with vanilla, cream of tartar, and salt until medium stiff peaks form.
Gradually add remaining 3/4 cup sugar, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Batter will fill mixer’s bowl and appear very shiny (see note in step 7 also).
Gently fold in flour mixture, 1/3 of it at a time.
Carefully fold in cranberries and orange zest (batter should be very thick – when we made it – the dough was thick enough to keep the cranberries in suspension and they did not sink to the bottom during baking).
Pour batter evenly into pan.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until cake is light golden brown and springs back when lightly touched.
Invert pan over the top of a thin necked bottle (sound like a good excuse to open a bottle of wine) and allow to cool completely (this prevents decompression while it is cooling).
Loosen cake by running a knife around the edges and center of the pan. Invert onto a serving plate. (this is where having a springform pan helps. The cakes tend to stick in a bundt pan, so you;ll need to work a little to get it to release.)
Serve with a fresh cranberry compote (this one is good!) and whipped cream.
