Angel Food Cake
Make one 9-inch tube cake ( our 9-inch tube pan was slightly too small thus causing the batter to overflow a little.
Ingredients: 1 cup cake flour
1¼ cups sugar (divided use)
½ tsp salt
12 large egg whites
2 Tbsp water
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Sift the four, ¼ cup of the sugar, and salt twice onto parchment or waxed paper and set aside.
In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites and water on low speed until foamy, 2 minutes. Add the cream of tartar and continue to whip until the egg whites form soft peaks, 2 minutes. Add the vanilla extract, then gradually add the remaining 1 cup sugar while whipping. Continue until the egg whites are glossy and form medium peaks, 3-4 minutes.
With a rubber spatula or wide spoon, gently fold the sifted flour and sugar mixture into the egg whites. Spoon the batter into an ungreased 9-inch angel food cake pan, run a butter knife through the batter once to ensure that there are no air pockets, and smooth the top. Bake until golden brown on top, 40-45 minutes.
Turn the cake pan upside down and let it cool completely before turning out. Use a spatula or thin knife to release the cake from the sides of the pan and turn out carefully. Serve at room temperature with whipping cream.
Chantilly Cream
Ingredients:
1 cup heavy cream chilled
¼ cup confectioners' sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
Makes about 2 cups
Chill a stainless-steel bowl and the beaters of a handheld mixer, the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, or a balloon whisk.
Pour the cream into the chilled bowl and whip on medium speed until thickened, about 3 minutes. Increase the speed to high and gradually add the confectioners' sugar while whipping. Add the vanilla extract and continue to whip until the cream has the desired peak according to its intended use. Soft peaks are good for dolloping cream, while firmer peaks are better if the cream is to be piped, used for topping, or folded into another mixture.
Note: If your cream starts to turn slightly yellow while you are whipping, it is close to being overwhipped and turning into butter. Fold in a small amount of unwhipped cream, if you have it, to rescue the texture.
Honeycomb Candy
Ingredients:
1 cup white sugar
1 Tablespoon white vinegar
1 cup dark corn syrup
1 Tablespoon baking soda
1 (10-ounce) package of chocolate melting wafers
1. Line an 8×8 square casserole dish with nonstick foil and set aside.
2. In a heavy bottom saucepan, combine sugar, vinegar and corn syrup.
3. Cook over medium heat stirring until the sugar dissolves.
4. Continue cooking without stirring until digital candy thermometer reads 148°C (hard crack stage)
5. Remove from heat.
6. QUICKLY stir in baking soda - mixture will foam and double in size.
7. Pour mixture into prepared casserole dish. DO NOT SCRAPE MIXTURE OUT. Just pour it.
8. DO NOT BUMP, SHAKE, STIR, or MOVE pan. You want it to keep all those air bubbles in the mixture undisturbed as it cools.
9. After 2 hours, once mixture has naturally cooled to room temperature, pull hard candy slab out of pan.
10. Place slab on a cutting board and with a sharp knife, carefully start to crack the candy into chunks. Generally, chunks should be around 1" pieces.
11. Eat candy, store extras or dip in chocolate.
12. To dip candy, melt chocolate according to package directions.
13. Place a chunk of candy into chocolate, submerge and lift with a fork. Tap excess chocolate off candy and place on wax paper to dry.
14. Once cooled, enjoy.
Credit to Nancy (Left third), who was once a chef, she inspired me to bake this cake.
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