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Ruhlman’s Angel Food Cake




Source of Recipe


“Ruhlman’s Twenty” by Michael Ruhlman


Recipe Introduction


The full title of this recipe is “Michael Ruhlman’s Angel Food Cake with Whipped Cream and Toffee”, but there isn’t enough room in the title field. I was lucky enough to be asked to do some pre-publication recipe testing for this book and this was one of the recipes that I tried. I’ve made it 5 or 6 times since the first time and had good luck each and every time. It is a wonderful cake – tastes fantastic and has a great texture. I don’t always do the whipped cream and toffee. It goes very well with a drizzle of Michael’s caramel sauce (a Shook family tradition).


List of Ingredients




TOFFEE:
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter

CAKE:
1 1/2 c. sugar
Scant 1 c. cake flour
10 large egg whites
1/2 t. cream of tartar
1 T. lemon juice
2 t. vanilla extract
Kosher salt

WHIPPED CREAM:
2 c. heavy cream
1 – 2 T. brown sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
1 t. Frangelico liqueur (optional)

GARNISH:
2 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped


Recipe



TOFFEE:
Line a cooky sheet with parchment paper. Place the sugar and butter in a small, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir to make sure that it cooks evenly. When it begins to froth and brown, stir occasionally until it reaches a caramel color – 5 to 10 minutes (or about 300 degrees). Pour it onto the paper and allow to cool. You may have some butterfat breaking out of the toffee – this is fine, just blot it up.

CAKE:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a pan. [I diverge a bit here from Michael – he suggests using a springform pan with a heatproof glass placed in the middle. I prefer to use a tube pan - the bottom lined with parchment paper].

In a food processor combine 3/4 cup of sugar and the flour and pulse a few times. In the bowl of a stand mixer, at high speed, whisk the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar, lemon juice, vanilla and a three finger pinch of salt. Whisk on high. Slowly add the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar. When the egg whites reach the soft peak stage, stop whisking and begin to fold in the flour/sugar mixture by hand. Fold in gently until completely mixed in. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until it passes the toothpick test (actually a long skewer is better for such a thick cake), 40 – 50 minutes. Invert the pan over a bottle and cool completely (1 hour or more). Remove from pan.

WHIPPED CREAM:
Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on high until the cream holds its shape.

PUTTING THE CAKE TOGETHER:
Coarsely chop the toffee and mix all but 2 tablespoons gently into the whipped cream. Cut the cake into two equal layers. Frost between the layers, up the sides and over the top of the cake. Sprinkle with the 2 tablespoons of toffee and the shaved chocolate.

Obviously, you'll need to store any uneaten cake in the refrigerator if you frost it with the whipped cream.