Wednesday, 1 August 2012

Angel Food Cake

Welcome to another Gluten Free Ratio Rally! If you're new to this particular baking challenge, have a look at Shauna's original post over at Gluten Free Girl and the Chef.


When I offered to host this month's Gluten Free Ratio Rally I was excited, I had never made angel food cake before; this would be fun! Or so I thought. I chose angel food cake because I love the idea of a cake raised with egg whites, leaving the choice of flour open to a wide range of opportunities. Having never seen or tasted angel food cake, I was at a disadvantage, I really didn't know where to start. So, I started with the ratio...

3:3:1

That's 3 parts egg white, 3 parts sugar and 1 part flour. Add a pinch of salt and some acidity to stabilise the egg whites, bake and you're all done. My first was a flop, literally! I took it out of the oven too soon and the whole cake fell. My next attempt welded itself to the cake tin, it was impossible to turn out! So, I decided to go smaller, and my star-shaped silicone moulds would help with the sticking issue, too.

When it did work, I was left with light, moist cakes with a sweet, slightly chewy crust. Success! Definitely a cake to make and enjoy time, and again.

I can't wait to see what heavenly delights the rest of the gang have come up with!

TR | No One Likes Crumbley Cookies Peach Angel Food Cake
Charissa | Zest Bakery Saffron Angel Food Cake
Caneel | Mama Me Gluten Free Angel Food Cake "Pudding" with Fresh Cherry Sauce  
Aunt Mae | Honey From Flinty Rocks Angel Food Cake with Lemon Glaze
Heather | Discovering the Extraordinary Coconut Lime Angel Food Cake Roll
Gretchen | kumquat Caramel Macchiato Angel Food Cake
Angela | Angela's Kitchen Grilled Lemon Angel Food Cake with Lemon Curd and Berries
Adina | Gluten Free Travelette Cacao Spice Angel Food Cake
Pete & Kelli | No Gluten, No Problem Caramel Peach Angel Food Cake
Mary Fran | FrannyCakes Gluten-free angel food cake with roasted cherries and earl grey
Jonathan | The Canary Files Lavender Angel Food Cupcakes



Almond Angel Food Stars
After all my attempts at this cake, I resorted to using cartons of egg whites! They are brilliant as you can weigh them out without waste and you're not left with a mountain of yolks to contend with later.

150g egg whites, at room temperature
150g caster sugar
50g ground almonds
a pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
  • Add half of the sugar to the ground almonds and mix with a whisk to aerate and break up lumps.
  • Whisk the egg whites until they are frothy, add the salt and cream of tartar and continue whisking until they are at stiff peaks.
  • Sprinkle the almond-sugar mixture over the whisked egg whites, a little at a time, and gently fold in. Be careful not to knock any of the air out by stirring.
  • Once well combined, spoon into silicone cupcake moulds and bake at 180°C for 10-15 minutes, until a skewer comes out cleanly.

7 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, sooo many awesome creations at the rally this month!!! Thanks for hosting us, Caleigh! :)

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  2. Adina | Gluten Free Travelette2 August 2012 03:30

    What a great idea to use cartons of egg whites! I had grand plans to make something with my egg yolks but ran out of time. Love the little stars too - so cute! Thanks for hosting this month!

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  3. mary fran | frannycakes2 August 2012 15:31

    egg white cartons = life saver. I started buying them when I became obsessed with merengue buttercreams.

    I love the use of the almonds in this cake!

    Thank you so much for hosting!

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  4. Oooo- grain-free angel food cake! Awesome! And I love the stars. Thank you for sharing and being a wonderful hostess, Caleigh!

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  5. Super yummy and super cute!! My name is Cindy and I blog over at Vegetarianmamma.com I wanted to invite you to link up your recipe at our Gluten Free Fridays Recipe Link up party! It happens every Friday and we'd love to have you join us with some of your awesome recipes! You can find this week's link up here: http://vegetarianmamma.com/gluten-free-fridays-recipe-party-2/
    Also be sure to link up your blog on our Gluten Free Bloggers directory. You can reach the directory by clicking the "glutenfree bloggers" tab on our blog! Thanks, Cindy :)

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  6. Annie in Illinois1 September 2012 15:44

    I'm about to attempt these a second time. I assumed one half of the sugar was to be added slowly sometime between the addition of salt/cream of tartar & the folding in of the sugar-flour mix. Any advice?
    They were soooooo good the first time, & I'm going to sub tapioca starch for the almond meal this time. I can hardly wait to bury them in strawberries! Mmmmm.......

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  7. Find all the GFRR recipes here: http://www.gfratiorally.com/Blogs+Recipes.html.

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