Angel Food Cake

Cake

• 12 Egg whites, room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp Cream of tartar
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1 1/2 cups Granulated sugar — divided
• 1 cup Cake flour
• 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

Prep

1. Heat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Do not grease the tube pan — the batter needs bare sides to cling to and climb during baking.
2. Make sure the mixing bowl and whisk are completely clean and free of any grease, and separate the eggs carefully with no trace of yolk in the whites. (Tip: Any fat at all — a greasy bowl, a speck of yolk — will stop the whites from whipping to full volume. This is the single most important precaution in the whole recipe.)

Whites

1. Whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar and salt until foamy, then gradually add half the sugar, continuing to whip until glossy, stiff peaks form.

Fold

1. Sift the remaining sugar with the flour, then sift a third of it over the whipped whites and fold in gently with a large spatula. Repeat in two more additions, along with the vanilla. (Tip: Fold, don't stir — big, slow, deliberate strokes that cut through the centre and turn the bowl. Every rough motion here deflates the foam you just built, and there's nothing else leavening this cake.)

Bake

1. Scrape into the ungreased tube pan and run a knife through the batter to pop any large air pockets. Bake until golden and springy, and a skewer comes out clean.

Cool

1. Immediately invert the pan (most tube pans have feet for this, or balance it upside down over a bottle) and let hang until fully cool. (Tip: Cooling right-side up lets gravity collapse the delicate risen structure before it's set. Upside down, gravity is instead stretching it taut while it firms up.)

Unmold

1. Once fully cool, run a thin knife around the edges and centre tube to release, and turn out.