A Birthday Cake for Papa--Angel Food Cake
When my Papa’s birthday rolls around, I do not have to ask him what kind of cake he wants—for I know that ever since a little boy my Papa’s favorite cake has been an Angel Food Cake. His Mama used to make it for him, and she even covered it with frosting. Truth be told, I have never had a frosted Angel Food Cake. We have always topped our cake with fruit—and nothing could be better than sliced strawberries drizzled with maple syrup and allowed to sit until the strawberries release their juices. Our strawberry plants this year produced abundantly the week before Papa’s birthday—and I saved everyone so that I could slice them up and slather them on our cake slices. I have thoroughly enjoyed the strawberries this year—although I have had to share them with the bugs. When I go out to harvest the greens, I always keep an eye out for a bright red juicy berry. I believe that the strawberries taste best when the sun has shined down on them and warmed them up—I think that the heat intensifies the flavor. I guess that I could say that a strawberry is best when bright red, and kissed by the sun.
Papa grew up on a white flour, white sugar Angel Food Cake. For the first ten or so years of married life—Mom made the cake with white flour and white sugar too. Then health became an issue, and white flour was replaced with freshly ground whole wheat flour, and white sugar was replaced with Rapadura sugar (similar to Sucanat). We continued to make the Angel Food Cake—and the healthy version worked perfectly. Years later Mom became allergic to gluten, and we swapped the whole wheat flour for half millet and half buckwheat flour. The cake was still a success! Then last year Mom found out she was allergic to cane sugar, and because of her thyroid problem, she had to go off of all grains. In our house we have a rule— “If Mom cannot eat it, we do not eat it.” Papa has always believed that it was easier to cook just one meal, and if the food that Mom could eat would keep her alive—it would keep us alive too. So now I had a new challenge—how do you make an Angel Food Cake without grain and without cane sugar?
Over a year ago we were introduced to Cassava flour. At first it was the perfect solution to pie crust. Then we found out that we could make pancakes with it, gravies, and muffins. So I thought—why not give it a try with an Angel Food Cake. It is light and fluffy like white flour, so it should work perfectly. For sugar I decided to use Maple Sugar. I had one other dilemma—vanilla extract. I am allergic to corn, so I cannot use the store bought kind. Mom is allergic to wheat, so that ruled out making our own with the expensive wheat vodka. I have found some pear brandy that would work—but have never gotten around to getting any. So I asked Papa to buy me some vanilla beans. Two inches of vanilla bean, is equivalent to 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. So with my Cassava flour, maple sugar, and a whole vanilla bean I was ready to begin baking.
The first thing that I had to do was to separate 18 egg whites from their partner the egg yoke. May I suggest that you count out your eggs first. I thought that it would be easier to just grab the bowl of eggs from the counter and start cracking and separating—counting as I went. Then around egg number ten, I busted the egg yolk, had to work hard to get the little bit of yolk that escaped out of my egg whites—and I lost count of how many eggs I had cracked. I tried to count the egg yolks in the bowl—but with the busted egg in there, it was impossible. Therefore, I had to count the shells. So, count out your eggs before you begin cracking.
With the eggs all separated, it was time to put the egg whites in the mixer with 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. I then ran the mixer on medium speed until the egg whites were frothy.
Next I add 1 and 1/8 cup of maple sugar 2 tablespoons at a time while beating on high speed. It was at this point that I added the vanilla bean paste that I had scrapped out of the vanilla bean. I continued to beat the mixture on high speed until the egg whites held stiff peaks.
While that mixer was busy beating, I took a separate bowl and mixed together 1 cup of Cassava flour, 6 tablespoons of arrowroot powder, and 3/4 cup maple sugar. I sifted them together through a strainer.
Once the whites hold a stiff peak, I would sprinkle a 1/3 cup of the flour mixture at a time on top of the whites, and then turn the mixer on just enough to mix it in. When all the powder was mixed in, I used a rubber spatula to gently fold in the ingredients more smoothly.
Then I gently scrapped the batter into an ungreased tube pan, and leveled it off, taking a knife through it a little to get out and any air pockets.
I then popped it in the oven that was preheated to 375 F. I cooked it for about 30-35 minutes, until golden brown and firm to the touch. To my delight the cake rose well over the top of the pan, and was light an fluffy.
When the cake came out of the oven I turned it upside down on top of a bottle and let it hang out until it had cooled off.
Later I used a knife to loosen the cake from the pan, and dumped it out onto the cake pan.
Of course the next thing we did was cut it up and slather it with juicy strawberries and eat it! Yum! Yum!
Angel Food Cake
Add the following three items to mixer, and beat on medium speed until frothy.
18 egg whites
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 375 F
Mix together sugar and vanilla bean paste. Turn mixer to high and add 2 tablespoons of mixture at a time.
1 1/8 cup maple sugar
1 vanilla bean
Continue to beat on high speed until egg whites form stiff peaks.
In a separate bowl sift together the following ingredients:
1 cup Otto’s Cassava Flour
6 TBLS. arrowroot powder
3/4 cup maple sugar
When stiff peaks are formed turn off the machine. Add 1/3 cup of flour mixture, and turn on the machine just long enough too mix. Repeat until all flour is added. Finish last little bit by hand.
Gently scoop batter into an ungreased tube pan and level off. Using a knife, cut a few strokes through the batter to remove air pockets.
Bake a 375 F for 30 to 35 minutes, until golden brown and firm to the touch.
Cool cake upside down—preferably hanging over a bottle.
Use a knife to loosen the edges and remove cake from pan.
Top individual servings with sliced strawberries, that were drizzled with maple syrup—done hours in advance so that the strawberries juice.