Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Spiced Angel Food Cake with Pumpkin Whipped Cream!


Guys, I have been craving Angel Food Cake for about 6 months now. No joke. It's so good. Pillowy soft, light as air, sweet, and delicious! Especially those golden brown edges. Yum!

So why on earth has it taken me 6 months to get around to it? Well, first of all, if you haven't picked up on it by now, I can't eat gluten, so I can't just go buy one at the store. But also? I've never made it before, and sometimes I get a little intimidated by new recipes. Especially when they require a pan that I don't have at my disposal.

Well, last week, I finally broke down, bought a tube pan, picked up a WHOLE CARTON OF EGGS, and decided to make it happen. Being fall, though, I definitely wanted to bring some autumn flavors to the mix so I decided to make this a lightly spiced angel food cake and serve it with pumpkin whipped cream. Yum!!!

Here's how to make it:
Spiced Angel Food Cake with Pumpkin Whipped Cream
Cake recipe adapted from Artisanal Gluten-Free Cooking

Ingredients:

For the Spiced Angel Food Cake:
- 1 1/2 cups egg whites at room temperature (10-12 eggs)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar (sift it and then measure it!)
- 1 cup sifted flour (sift it and then measure it!). I used Trader Joe's all purpose gluten free mix.
- 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum (if you are using gluten free flour.)
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

For the Pumpkin Whipped Cream:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 4 tbs granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Combine the egg whites, vanilla, cream of tartar, and salt in a very large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
3. Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue beating until hard peaks form.
4. Sift the powdered sugar, flour, xanthan gum, and pumpkin spice together into a large mixing bowl.
5. Carefully fold the flour mixture into the egg white mixture just until all the flour is mixed in. 

I found it helpful to start with about a third of the flour so I didn't totally sink it into the egg whites right off the bat.
6. Pour the batter into a 10" angel food cake (tube) pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until browned and dry in the cracks that form on top.

7. Once that's happened, remove the cake from the oven, immediately invert it, and allow it to cool thoroughly upside down.

8. After cooling, use a long thing knife or a wooden skewer to loosen the edges and pop the cake out of the pan!
9. While the cake is cooling, beat the heavy cream in a large mixing bowl until it starts to resemble whipped cream!
10. Add the vanilla, sugar, and pumpkin spice, and continue to beat until it's nice and thick. Just don't over beat it or you will end of with butter. True story.
11. After your whipped cream is ready, add the pumpkin puree to it and fold it in until well combined. Look how pretty! It's so good. You will definitely want to eat this stuff by the spoonful!
When you are ready to serve this dreamy dish, I highly suggest cutting your Spiced Angel Food Cake with a serrated knife so you can preserve the light fluffy texture. If you cut it with a standard knife, you'll find that the cake gets kind of smashed down.

I also recommend serving the whipped cream on the side so folks can add as much or as little as they want. I've been walking around the house the last few days with a piece of Spiced Angel Food Cake in my hand that has some of the Pumpkin Whipped cream spread right on top. SO GOOD.
If you want to get fancy though/actually serve this to other people and not just walk around the house eating it out of your hand, you can plate it up with a big dollop of the whipped cream on the side!
So, let's take one last look here. We've got light as air, fluffy Spiced Angel Food Cake with deliciously carmelized edges, and just a hint of lovely fall spices. Beside it, a heavenly whipped cream that pretty much tastes like pumpkin pie and is also just as fluffy as can be.

All in all, I'm going to say that this dessert was a success! And if you've never made angel food cake before, give it a try! This was my first effort and it came out amazing! I loved giving it a fun twist for the fall and imagine I'll soon be coming up with an angel food cake recipe for every season.

Til next time!

-Becca
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28 comments:

  1. Oh, I didn't realize you couldn't have gluten...I have some friends that are the same and I always stress about making them food, particularly desserts, for fear that I will accidentally hospitalize someone.

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    1. Oh dear! It's not too hard once you get the hang of it, you just have to learn your ingredients. I bet your friends really appreciate your effort!

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  2. looks soooo delish! I've never made my own angel food cake, but I definitely love eating it :)

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    1. Thanks, Juni! It's actually pretty simple. I love eating it too, for sure!

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  3. This looks awesome! I definitely want to try this.

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  4. I didn't know you had celiac. As a dietician I know it is very hard to choose the right things to eat because nowadays they seem to hide gluten everywhere! Anyway, making your own breads and pastries, is still the best because only then you know exactly what's inside.
    This cake looks absolutely delicious, I love light and airy cakes. And oh my, that pumpkin whipped cream looks just incredible!

    Sofie x
    http://littlegreensofie.blogspot.be/

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    1. I actually don't know for sure if I have celiac, but I'm definitely gluten intolerant. I get super sick when I eat it! I've been eating gluten free for over 5 years now, so it's second nature, but sometimes I think it must be so nice to eat things without thinking about it at all!

      Also, thank you! The pumpkin whipped cream is ridiculously good!

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  5. i'm glad that you finally took care of your craving :) this cake looks very light and fluffy, gonna have to try it!

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  6. This sounds absolutely heavenly and I really wish I didn't have to go through the cooking process to have it! Air mail some to me, would ya? ;)

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    1. Thank you so much! Clearly I need to look into a baked goods delivery service!

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  7. thanks for the recipe, looks delicious! going to try it ASAP! :)

    xo,
    Anna of serendipityhappening.blogspot.com

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    1. Of course! You're very welcome. I hope you love it!

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  8. this sounds lovely— my boyfriend's two favorite foods are angel food cake and pumpkin pie so this is right up his alley!

    fun fact: i recently heard/learned that you are "supposed to" make angel food cake and devils food cake at the same time— angel food for all the egg whites and super moist devils food recipe uses all the yolks! i mean, that's just what i *heard* but the more you know, eh? -jenna

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    1. Awesome! I didn't realize that! I was thinking about making a custard or something. I'll keep Devil's Food Cake in mind!

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  9. Oh my... this looks too delicious.

    Xo, Hannah

    sweetsweetnoir.net

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    1. Too delicious! There's no such thing ; ) Thanks, Hannah!

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  10. YUM! I'm always on the look out for new good pumpkin recipes!

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    1. Oh good, I hope you can add this one to your list!

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  11. My grandma made angel food cake all the time, but I haven't ever tried it. One of these weekends for my "cheat" times I might just have to try this! It looks so good! (Also, my mom can't have gluten, so it's really fun sharing your recipes with her because she gets so excited to find recipes that are delicious and gluten free. But also, have you ever heard of Einkorn wheat? It's apparently completely different from other wheats in that it has little (or no? I'm not sure) gluten in it, and mom -- who gets terrible reactions from normal wheat-- has absolutely no issues with eating that kind.)
    xo
    Kristina
    www.eccentricowl.com

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    1. You definitely should try it sometime! It's full of egg whites, so at least you can justify it by saying it's high protein and low cholesterol! Hahaha. I'm so glad you like sharing my recipes with your mom! I haven't had Einkorn. I think it's one of the ones that's good for folks with wheat allergies, but still doesn't jive well with gluten intolerance. I'll have to look into it, though!

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  12. I love angel food cake so much! I've never made it- I don't really want another pan either, and it always seemed really hard. This sounds SO good- I'm going to at least try this frosting on something (maybe even just a spoon, haha).

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    1. I was reluctant to get the pan, but I figure I can always make a bundt cake in it, too! I hope you like the pumpkin whipped cream. I legit ate the leftovers with a spoon the other night and felt no shame.

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