Angel Food Cake

When I was little (and by little, I mean when I was in High School) I was afraid of the dark. I remember going to see the movie Jurassic Park when I was in 9^th grade and when I got home from the late show, I made my older brother, look in the closet and under the bed for…dinosaurs? Really? –  no! I knew there weren’t going to be dinosaurs under the bed but there could have been something else scary under there… so after I had him inspect my room for scary things, I made him sleep on the floor.

So that is what scared me then, what about now? Well, I still do not like scary movies or things that go bump in the night, but what I’m really afraid of these days are things that I worry about failing at; like, parenting or making technical food items. J

Perhaps if I figure out how to succeed at the latter, than the former will just work itself out. Kids will give their parents a break if they provide good food right? I mean forget that you are 8 and still can't tie lace up shoes  - you had a mom that made good food.

Well, here’s to hoping but just in case hoping isn’t enough, I’ve decided to face my fears. The parenting will take a bit longer in order to report the results but the cooking of technical foods…that is what the blog is for. So, food fear: Angel Food Cake, here I come.

The funny thing about this (and other food’s I’m afraid of – like cheesecake) is that I’d never made them before so all of my fear is based on someone else’s bad experience. That’s right, before I ever had a chance to figure out if this cake was going to be a challenge for me, I’d already made up my mind that it was. Why do I do that?  It kind of sucks the excitement & joy out of the whole experience. (Good, something else to work on.)

What I learned in baking this cake is that Angel Food Cake really isn’t that tough. Technical? Some may say so, but really…follow the instructions and this recipe is literally…a piece of cake.

A few things to keep in mind:

Have all of you ingredients pre-measured and ready to go

Use weight measurements instead of volume measurements when they are called for.

No yolks in the egg whites (it really messes with getting your whites stiff)

Cream of tartar is your egg white soft/stiff peak friend

Don’t grease the pan

Also, when you use a recipe from the American Test Kitchen Family (this recipe came from Cooks Country - click here to watch the episode) you really increase the likelihood of turning out a really great dish. That said – I did NOT use cake flour, I never have because I feel like I have too many flours in my pantry as it is, plus I couldn’t find it so I made my own. To do this I measured 3 tablespoons cornstarch into a 1 cup measuring cup then filled it with AP flour and put it in a small bowl with additional ½ cup AP flour. I whisked it together then processed it in my food processor until it was fine and well combined. For the recipe I then weighed the amount needed and discarded the remaining. 

You know, since this cake is packed with egg whites and at the time I was still nursing my extremely egg white allergic baby I shouldn’t be able to tell you that the cake was absolutely divine but what can I say - I’m weak - the cake was delicious and [other than failing at parenthood by taking generous tastes that would leave my baby itching for at least a week] I had nothing to be afraid of.

Angel Food Cake

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1 Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour (4 1/2 ounces) or make your own (see notes)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar (12 1/4 ounces)

12 large egg whites

1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Whisk 1cup plus 2 tablespoons of cake flour and salt in bowl.
2. Process sugar in food processor until fine and powdery, about 1 minute. Reserve half of sugar in small bowl. Add flour mixture to food processor with remaining sugar and process until aerated, about 1 minute.
3. With electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until frothy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium-high. With motor running, slowly add reserved sugar and beat until soft peaks form, about 6 minutes. (if using a plastic bowl or a Bosch, it took 4 ½ minutes on highest speed for soft peaks to form)
4. Add vanilla and mix until just incorporated.
5. Sift flour mixture over egg whites in 3 additions, folding gently with rubber spatula after each addition until incorporated. Scrape mixture into 12-cup ungreased tube pan.
6. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean and cracks in cake appear dry, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool, inverted, to room temperature, about 3 hours. To unmold, run knife along interior of pan. Turn out onto platter. Serve.

Notes: To make your own cake flour, measure 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into a 1 cup measuring cup and then top the cup off with AP flour. (repeat this measure until you have the amount needed) Use a whisk to combine then powerize in a blender or food processor until fine and aerated.

Source: Adapted for use of homemade cake flour from Cooks County

Gwenevere

Strawberry Cake from Scratch

Last weekend was typical for me…I had way more planned that I would ever, humanly, be able to accomplish. I was in the process of whittling down my to do list by removing things from it, when a friend of my sister’s dropped by for a visit. In a simple twist of fate I discovered that she, like me, has an affinity for all things cake.

“Lindsey?” I asked, “How do you feel about decorating cakes?”

The next day I stopped by Lindsey’s house with 5 layers of cake, 10 lbs of frosting and instructions on how to construct and decorate a castle cake. I assured her that anything she did was going to be fabulous because it meant that I didn’t have to do it.

On Saturday morning, on our way to Chuck E Cheese's with a car-full of 6-year-old girls, I dropped by to pick up the cake. When Lindsey brought it out to me, I was overcome with emotion. Seriously I almost cried.  The cake was amazing. 

She went way beyond what I had requested and I knew this was just the cake that Ren had requested for her birthday. She was going to be thrilled. As I carried the cake to the car, my heart swelled up with all those squishy feelings you get when you know you are loved  and you are reminded that the world may not be as cold a place as the news wants you to think it is.

Thanks Lindsey, everyone loved the cake and all the other Chuck E Cheese's patrons couldn’t stop looking at it and making delightful comments about how amazing it was.

The cake recipe comes from Confections of a Foodie Bride and let me just tell you, when it comes to cakes, I think I’ll go to her first. I’ve tried her carrot cake, her vanilla bean cake and now her real strawberry cake and all of them are so delicious. Careful on this strawberry cake though, the lines that define the doneness of the cake are quite fine. If you follow the toothpick test instead of the  “this looks about right” method for determining if a cake is done, your cake will turn out perfectly. If you can find someone to decorate it for you…then it will be even better!

Strawberry Cake from Scratch

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Makes: 2, 8-inch cakes

Ingredients:

½ lb very ripe fresh strawberries, hulled (24 ounces if using frozen)

1-2 tsp sugar (optional)

1/4 cup milk, at room temperature

4 eggs (6 large egg whites, room temperature- original recipe)

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 cup cake flour, sifted

1 3/4 cup sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

12 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened (not melted)

¼ cup rainbow sprinkles (optional if making funfetti style)

Directions:

1. If using frozen strawberries, thaw them in a fine strainer over a bowl and let them sit. Occasionally, lightly toss the strawberries to remove any pockets of excess liquid.  Reserve the liquid for the filling between the cakes.
2. If using fresh strawberries, hull and slice them and place them in a bowl. Sprinkle with a teaspoon of sugar and let them set at room temperature for a couple of hours until they are nice and juicy.
3. Place strawberries in a food processor or blender and puree.
4. Reserve 3/4 cup puree for the cake. Use leftover puree to flavor the frosting and the juices to make a preserve filling.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two 8 inch pans: grease, lay a piece of wax paper cut to the size of the bottom of the pan into the pan, grease again then dust with flour.
6. In small bowl, combine puree, milk, eggs, vanilla and mix with fork until well blended.
7. In bowl of stand mixer, add sifted flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix to combine. Continue beating at slow speed and add butter. Mix until combined and resembling moist crumbs.
8. Add liquids and beat at medium speed for about 1 minute or until full and evenly combined. Stop mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl and hand beat for 30 more seconds. Fold in the sprinkles if using then divide the batter evenly among the pans and smooth tops.
9. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (time will vary). Let cakes rest in pan for about 10 minutes and turn out onto wire racks. Let cakes cool completely before stacking & frosting. (about 2 hours).

Source: adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

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Covers 12 cupcakes, or 1, 8-inch round 2-layed cake

Ingredients:

½ cup butter

8 oz cream cheese

¼ cup strawberry puree or strawberry preserves

4-5 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1.     Cream together butter & cream cheese. Mix in  puree until combined. Add in powdered sugar until you reach desired spreading consistency.

Source: Adapted from Wilton

Strawberry Filling

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Makes: 2 cups

Ingredients:

1 pkg (16 ounces) frozen sliced strawberries, packed in sugar and thawed

1/3 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:

1.     Drain strawberries; reserving liquid. Add enough water to liquid to equal 1 1/4 cups.

2.     In large saucepan, combine strawberry liquid, sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice; mix well. Heat and stir until mixture boils and thickens. Cool completely.

3.     Stir remaining strawberries into the cooled mixture (if using).

2.     Refrigerate until ready to use. Fill cupcakes.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Source: Wilton

Gwenevere

Fauxstess Cupcakes

Perhaps you’ve seen a cupcake like this before?

From the time I was small, I’ve been a big fan. Come to think of it, the original Hostess Cupcake may have been the start of my cake obsession. I really like cake, “good cake”, as the Barefoot Contessa would say.

I saw these little knock off cupcakes all over the web and I knew I wanted to try to make one. When I saw that Cook’s Country had a rendition all their own, I knew this would be the version I would try first. Their recipe did not disspoint. The cake is so tender and moist. I think I will actually start using it as my go to chocolate cake recipe (when my cake doesn’t have to be stacked or loaded with frosting – because I don’t know if this cake has the tensile strength to stand up to much frosting.)


The only problem I had with these cupcakes is that they looked like everyone elses. How do you make something so great, just different enough to add your own “signature”?


As I thought about how I could do this, a popular  poem kept coming to mind….

The Road Not Taken

By Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Not that my version of these cupcakes have or will make any huge LIFE differences for me or anyone else for that matter but they certainly can represent the opportunity. No one can know for sure where our choices will take us but even if the choices seem insignificant, like changing the pattern of icing on a cake, they may just make all the difference. We’ll never know unless we take that road.

Fauxstess Cupcakes

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Makes 18 cupcakes

Ingredients:

CUPCAKES

1 cup flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup boiling water

1/3 cup cocoa powder (natural unsweetened)

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 tablespoon instant espresso (optional)

¾ cup sugar

½ cup sour cream

½ cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

FILLING

3 tablespoons water

¾ teaspoon unflavored gelatin

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

pinch salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ¼ cups marshmallow crème

GLAZE

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions:

CUPCAKES

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and adjust oven rack to middle position. Grease and flour wells of 18 muffin cups or put in paper liners.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
3. Whisk water, cocoa, chocolate chips, and espresso (if using) in a large bowl until smooth. Add sugar, sour cream, oil, eggs and vanilla and mix until combined. Whisk in flour mixture until incorporated.
4. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out with few dry crumbs attached, 18 to 22 minutes. Cool cupcakes in tin 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack and cool completely before filling or frosting 

FILLING

1. Combine water and gelatin in large bowl and let sit until gelatin softens, about 5 minutes. Microwave until mixture is bubbling around edges and gelatin dissolves, about 30 seconds. Stir in butter, vanilla, and salt until combined. Let mixture cool until just warm to touch, about 5 minutes, then whisk/stir in marshmallow cream until smooth; refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes. (I let mine sit overnight and then when I was ready to put it into the cupcakes I just stirred it up to loosen it a bit.
2. Transfer 1/3 cup marshmallow mixture to pastry bag fitted with small plain tip; reserve remaining mixture for filling cupcakes.

ASSEMBLE CUPCAKES

1. Microwave chocolate and butter in small bowl, stirring occasionally, until smooth, about 30 seconds.
2. Cool glaze to room temperature, about 10 minutes. Hollow out a cone from top of each cupcake and fill cupcakes with 1 tablespoon filling each. Replace tops, frost with 2 teaspoons cooled glaze, and let sit 10 minutes.
3. Using pastry bag, pipe curlicues (or center road marks) across glazed cupcakes. Serve. (Cupcakes can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for 2 days.)

Notes: Cooke’s Country advises to use the cone method to fill the cupcakes because the cake is so light. Piping the filling into the cake will compromise it’s stability and the cupcake will fall apart.

Source: Adapted from Cook’s Country: Chocolate Cream Cupcakes

Gwenevere

Carrot Ginger Cupcakes

I have a theory…Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve said that. I used to be the theory Queen and that phrase, “I have a theory” was used at least once a day. I wonder why I haven’t had so many theory’s lately…Maybe it’s not due to the lack of theories, so much as the lack of people to share them with. My life is my kids these days and they just don’t appreciate a good theory hatched from the interworkings of their mom’s mind…unless said theory has something to do with testing the effects of sugar overload on children under the age of 9.

Anyway…

I have a theory...Moms (as in your mom…not [necessarily] you as a mom) like carrot cake.

If you were to help me test this theory by making these Carrot Ginger Cupcakes for your mom this weekend, I’m guessing my theory would be confirmed. You might even hear such exclamations of joy like...

Oh my goodness, this frosting is amazing!

Can I please have more of this cream cheese frosting?

What is in this frosting that makes it so tasty?

Hmmm…. maybe it's the frosting and NOT the cake that mom's like?  I may need to adjust my theory.

Oh well, since we don’t know where the true love lies (in the cake or frosting) it’s best to have your bases covered with a phenomenal cake and an exceptional frosting! Thanks to  the foodie bride we've got it covered. And thank you foodie bride for shredding your carrots small and adding subtle flavors that make everyone’s taste buds sing - even the kids, who when they eat this cake won’t ask, “Is this a healthy dessert?” because really….what is the point of a healthy dessert?

So this mother’s day, make everyone happy. Let these cupcakes sing to you too.

Carrot Ginger Cupcakes

with orange cream cheese frosting

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Ingredients:

CARROT GINGER CAKE

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans


1 lb large carrots, peeled


3 large eggs, room temperature


1/3 cup buttermilk


1 tsp pure vanilla extract


2 cups sugar


1 1/2 cups vegetable oil


1 1/2 Tbsp freshly grated ginger


2 tsp baking powder


1 tsp baking soda


1 tsp salt


1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon


ORANGE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature


2 (8-oz each) cream cheese, room temperature


8 cups confectioners’ sugar


1 Tbsp freshly grated orange zest
(half an orange)

1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger


Pinch of salt


Splash of orange juice

Directions:

Makes 24 regular cupcakes + 12 mini cupcakes.

CARROT GINGER CAKE

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Place muffin cup liners in muffin tins.
2. Using the smallest holes (less than 1/4 inch in diameter) of a box grater, grate carrots, yielding 2 1/2 cups. Place carrots, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, sugar, vegetable oil, and ginger in a large bowl; whisk until well combined.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the carrot mixture until combined. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tins filling cups 2/3 full. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the middles comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Remove tins from oven, and transfer to a wire rack to cool. After 7 minutes remove cupcakes from tins and cool completely on a wire rack.

ORANGE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1. Place butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add cream cheese, and beat until well combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes more. Add the remaining ingredients, and beat 5 minutes more. Use immediately, or store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to two days.
2. Once cupcakes are cooled, frost with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting. If you are just frosting with a knife you can ½ the recipe.

Notes:       If you are piping the frosting on the cupcakes with a pastry bag you will need the entire recipe. If you are spreading it on with a knife you could half the frosting recipe.

Source:     adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride

Gwenevere