Angel Cake - light and airy

Angel cake is the ideal pudding if you have lots of left over egg whites and want to do something different to the ubiquitous meringues.  It's very light and absolutely delicious with strawberries and lashings of cream....  This is a classic recipe from the Hulme and Downs Cordon Bleu Cookbook, and the photo below is of one I thoroughly over-decorated for the Stour Festival.   It is also at least 1.5 times the recipe!

Angel Cake                                                                       oven:  180-190 deg C

2 oz fine white plain flour

3 ½ oz caster sugar

pinch salt

6 egg whites

¾ teaspoon cream of tartar

2 ¾ oz caster sugar

2-3 drops vanilla essence

½ pint cream (I usually use more)

1lb strawberries

Sift the flour and the 3 ½ oz castor sugar together three times and set on one side.  Place the egg whites with the salt and cream of tartar in a deep bowl and whisk until foaming.  Add the second portion of sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, and the essence, and continue whisking until the mixture will stand in peaks.  Carefully fold in the sifted flour and sugar. 

Turn the mixture into a clean, dry, 9” tube cake pan (I don’t bother, and usually use an 8 or 9” spring clip cake tin) and level the surface.    Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes (recipe says this, but mine is done earlier) or until no imprint remains when a finger lightly touches the top.   (the cake should not go too brown!)

When the cake is done, turn the tin upside down on a wire cake rack and leave until quite cold when the cake will fall easily from the tin.  To finish, split through 2 or 3 times (this bit always makes me feel inadequate, mine usually only splits once!) and fill with whipped cream and sliced strawberries.  Mask the cake with cream and decorate with strawberries.