Angel Food Cake

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place the rack in the lower third of the oven.
• DO NOT PREP the angel food cake pan. It should be perfectly clean, grease-free, and dry.
• Separate your eggs carefully. I suggest doing each egg over a separate bowl before adding each egg white to the bowl of egg whites. Because if you get any yolk in your egg whites whatsoever, it’s game over! (Or you have to start separating all over again.)
• Process your white sugar for about 30-45 seconds using a food processor until you get superfine sugar.
• Pour half of the sugar out into a small bowl and reserve it.
• Add cake flour to the food processor with half of the sugar left in it and process for another 30-45 seconds.
• Take this mixture of sugar and flour and sift into a bowl.
• Beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt with a whisk attachment of your stand mixer on medium-high speed until frothy.
• Add vanilla while temporarily lowering the rate.
• Once frothy, gradually add the reserved sugar made in step 4 to the eggs with the mixer running. It’s crucial to add the sugar slowly for the meringue to form properly. Beat until you reach stiff peaks.
• Remove the bowl from the mixer and add your dry mixture (half sugar and flour that was processed and sifted) about 3 tablespoons at a time. It’s unnecessary, but when I add this dry mixture, I sift it into the egg whites again.
• Gently fold with a flexible rubber spatula each time the flour is added. Keep adding the flour mixture and VERY GENTLY folding it into the meringue.
• Transfer the batter to your cake pan. I like stabbing the cake several times with a long skewer to pop any possible large air bubbles.
• Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes. Don’t open the oven for the whole 35 minutes.
• At 35 minutes, the cake should be golden, and the toothpick test should pass (when inserted into the center, the toothpick should come out clean.) If by any chance it’s not yet ready, put it back into the oven, checking every 2 minutes. But generally, 35 minutes should be enough.
• Remove from the oven and turn the cake upside down. Your pan should have little feet, but if not, prop it over some metal cans or wire racks.
• Let the cake cool completely, about 1.5 hours.
• Once cool, run a thin butter knife along the edges of the pan (both inner and outer) and remove the cake by lifting the middle part of the pan out. Run the knife along the bottom of the pan also and invert the cake on your prepared stand. Serve as desired, and enjoy!