Yesterday was the first day I ever made Angel food cake, let alone freshly milled whole grain angel food cake that’s light and airy. But I did it! Years ago, I’d taken cooking classes, so I’d learned the method but had never applied it. The idea of using so many egg whites, which aren’t my favorite, didn’t appeal to me at the time.
Fast forward to now, when strawberries are in season, and I wanted to give it a try. Why? I’d never seen anyone make angel food cake freshly milled before, and I wanted to test my application of a new (to me) method.
The KEY to making light and airy angel food cake is in the MIXING. Whether you do this by man-powered whisk or mixer, getting soft peaks (not stiff pointy ones) and being VERY GENTLE are key steps. Baking at a lower temperature is also key. Follow this one to the letter. That’s probably another reason I’d never made it before – I’m not a fan of following directions.
When you are whipping the egg whites (and sugar), the cream of tartar helps stabilize the whites so they get and maintain fluffiness. Don’t leave it out, or substitute a teeny bit of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar in it’s place.
While avoiding fat to line your pans is frowned upon, if you must – maybe lightly dust it with flour before you gently spoon in the fresh milled angel food cake mixture. Be sure not to tap your whisks or anything on the bowl or you’ll knock some of the air out and have flat cake. We want light and airy angel food cake – so treat it like a baby – super gentle.
Light and Airy Fresh Milled Angel Food Cake
Equipment
- whisk Manual or mixer
- pan you can use any pan, even a loaf pan, I used a 9.25" cake pan
- Parchment paper the rounds work well for my cake pan
Ingredients
- 225 g egg, whites approximately 5 eggs worth
- 112 g sugar
- ⅛ tsp cream of tartar lemon juice or apple cider vinegar would also work
- ⅛ tsp sea salt, celtic grey
- 85 g wheat berries, soft white you can also use spelt or other soft grains
- ½ tsp baking powder optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325 F.
- If you have a warm function on your oven, set your bowl of egg whites on it to warm them to 110 F (for faster soft peaks)
- Whip egg whites for about 30 seconds on high speed.
- Add cream of tartar and sugar. I also added my salt here.
- Whip until soft, white peaks on highest speed with wire whips. This means it should come up when you remove the whisk from the bowl, but then flop over like the crest of a wave. If it points up but does not flop over, you whipped too long. That's ok – keep going.
- On the LOWEST setting, incorporate the remaining dry ingredients just until mostly combined. Only a few short seconds. Optionally, do this by hand by using a spatula and folding down, around and up very gently.
- Gently use your spatula to spoon the mixture into your pan. Smooth it out without pressing down.
- Bake for approximately 20 minutes, until the middle is 210 F.
- Let cool a few minutes before releasing the sides from the pan.
- Turn it over, and slowly remove the parchment paper.
- Slice gently with a bread knife. Excellent topped with fresh fruit and whipped cream.
Perfect for strawberries and whipped topping, and simple to make. Thanks!
Oh yeah! The best.