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Brown Sugar Angel Food Cake

Source of Recipe

From "Screen Doors and Sweet Tea" by Martha Hall Foose


Recipe Introduction

"My grandmother Elsie was very ill when I returned from cooking school in France. Her dear friends Tot, Virginia, and Dicey wrote and called every day, as she slowly succumbed out at my parents' farmhouse, Gumgrove. She was not really up to visitors. A call each day at eleven o'clock went like this: 'Martha? Virginia. How's Elsie?' Reports would follow, met always with many 'best of wishes' and 'keep us posteds.' As Elsie was quite tired of our hovering and lack of gossip, a tea party was planned. The 'girls' (Tot, Virginia, and Dicey, all in their seventies) came out, and with Elsie propped on pillows with a lap robe and turban, we all took high tea, with silver service polished on the sideboard. I made this cake, and the conversation was light and breezy. We were admiring some of my mother's needlework when Virginia chimed in, 'Next time I marry, Cindy, I want you to make my wedding dress. Something with a high yoke.' 'Oh, Virginia!' exclaimed Tot. 'Not a high yoke! Why, everyone will think you had to get married!' This cake has a lovely ecru color and is perfect for tea parties, served with lemon curd and fresh berries."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 1 ½ cups cake flour
â—¦ 1 ¼ cups packed light brown sugar
â—¦ 1 ½ teaspoons salt
â—¦ 14 large egg whites
â—¦ 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
â—¦ 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
â—¦ ¼ teaspoon almond extract


Recipe

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Sift together the flour, brown sugar, and salt twice onto a piece of waxed paper or parchment.

In an electric mixer, whip the egg whites on low speed until frothy. Add the cream of tartar, increase the speed, and whip until the whites hold soft peaks. Whip in the vanilla and almond extracts.

Transfer the whites to a large mixing bowl. Sift the flour and brown sugar mixture over the whites in three additions, folding them in with a large, flat rubber spatula. Turn the batter into an ungreased 12-cup angel food cake pan. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the cake springs back when touched. Remove from the oven, invert the mold, and let cool in the pan. Run a thin knife around the sides of the pan. Unmold the cake and transfer to a cake stand or serving platter.

Makes one 10-inch cake