Angel Food Cake

Made this as a lower-calorie alternative to strawberry shortcake.  While it tasted good, didn't turn out perfectly due to some miscalculation with the oven rack positions... oh well, you can visit the link for a pretty photo of a better-executed angel food cake!

You will have a dozen egg yolks left over, so visit this post for ideas how to use 'em up! Lemon bars, puddings and other goodies await! 

Method
Bring a dozen eggs up to room temp. Then separate (yolks versus whites-- make sure no yolk in the whites!


Grind 1.75 C granulated sugar in food processor until powdery. Reserve about half in a separate bowl.  Add 1 C + 2 TB cake flour, 1/4 tea salt and 1/2 vanilla bean to the sugar and grind.  (This is not the recipe to use any whole wheat type flour- you need something light that won't weigh down the eggs.)

Check the oven.  You need a rack in the oven that has enough clearance for the pan + 3-4 inches or more before the burner/element at the top. Don't do what I did- slid it in and while it cooked it ran into the top of the oven.... what a mess!

Now preheat to 325 F while you do the next steps:

Beat the 12 egg whites and 1.5 tea cream of tartar  to frothy.

Add the ground up sugar in a slow stream while beating (i.e. half of the 1.75 C you ground in the beginning). Continue beating until you get soft egg peaks - about 3-5 minutes? 

Add 1 tea vanilla extract and mix to combine.

Fold in flour-sugar-salt mixture until just combined. 

Pour into UNGREASED pan (use 9x13" pan or usual angel food cake or bundt cake pan).

Bake at 325 F for 45 minutes. Invert to cool. Slice and enjoy.