Angel Food Cake with Strawberry Sauce

For Father's Day, I decided to make an angel food cake, as that is one of my health conscious father's favorite desserts. I wanted to make the cake with some kind of fruit topping because my Dad can't eat chocolate or anything else that is really fatty. I did a search on Food Blog Search and came up with Biscuits and Such's Angel Food Cake with Strawberry Sauce.



Unfortunately, mine didn't turn out as well as hers did. I had never made an angel food cake from scratch before and didn't know if I should grease the pan or not. I asked my mother and she thought I should. As my mom is usually right on all baking related questions, I sprayed some Pam on the pan. However, I later found out via an internet search that if you grease the pan for an angel food cake, the cake can't climb up the pan and rise. So that is why mine looked really tiny and had a strange consistency, probably because it didn't rise all the way. It tasted alright though, and the strawberry sauce was really good. I would love to try the recipe again sometime and actually make it right.



I also learned from the recipe directions that you can make super fine sugar by spinning regular sugar in the food processor, which will be really helpful for future recipes. I don't have my own food processor at school, but while I'm home for the summer, I will definitely use this trick.

Here's a copy of the recipe:

Angel Food Cake with Strawberry Sauce from Biscuits and Such

Cake:
1 cup flour
1 1/2 cup super fine sugar
12 egg whites
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp almond extract

1. Stir together the flour, salt, and half the sugar. Set this mixture aside.

2. Add cream of tartar and almond extract to the 12 egg whites by whisking by hand for 1 or 2 minutes. Then, use an electric mixer with a hand whisk to beat the mixture for another five minutes. It should look a lot like soap when it is ready for the next step.

3. Slowly add in the rest of the sugar, while beating the mixture. Then, use a rubber spatula to add the flour mixture in.

4. When the flour is all mixed in, pour into a bundt pan and cook at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35-40 minutes. Let cool 1 hour before serving.

Strawberry Sauce:

1 box strawberries (about 3 cups)
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
1 tbsp strawberry jam

1. Bring water and sugar to a light boil. Meanwhile, chop strawberries into halves or fourths, depending on the size of the berries and your personal tastes.

2. Reduce heat to medium level and add in chopped strawberries. Then, add in jam and let melt. Let the mixture boil. Then cool.

3. Place in a bowl and cool in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Since we weren't planning on eating the whole cake at once, we served the cake with the bowl of strawberry sauce at its side so as not to make the parts that wouldn't be eaten mushy.