Little Angel

Whenever I had extra egg whites, there are only 2 items in my mind to make - macarons or meringues. For the latter, my oven is simply too unstable to hold a 100°C temperature for a long time or rather, not even a good 15 minutes. As for the former, I have succeeded twice but failed the third time and I had come to the conclusion that I don't like that sweet cookie that much to try it so many times. Back to Donna Hay's book and I went for the classic Angel Food Cake instead.

The recipe required 12 egg whites, I only had 2. So I reduced the recipe by 6 times and felt really odd making it. It's like playing masak masak, as my friend once put it since I tend to use such small amounts when it comes to baking.

I followed the recipe to a T and glazed it with chocolate as well. Ok, not very my style but I admit, I had spare pouring cream in the fridge that I needed to get rid of. The book served it with nice cute red raspberries as well and I thought I will use what I have in the fridge - big black cherries.

How did it go? Guess a picture tells a thousand words. As always, Hubby liked it. Just like.. not loved since he has a dense personality and does not take to a chiffon or for that matter, an angel food cake. Fortunately, he loved the chocolate glaze and we had it with cherries after, a mini-fondue.

Angel Food Cake
Adapted from Donna Hay's Modern Classics2
(Makes a tiny little cake using a 6" chiffon tin)

Ingredients
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
3 tbsp sugar
few drops of vanilla extract
2+3/4 tbsp plain flour

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190°C
2. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar till soft peaks form.
3. Add sugar to the egg whites, one tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat till firm peaks form and mixture is glossy.
4. Add vanilla and beat slightly.
5. Sift the flour twice and sift a third time over the egg mixture. Fold gently.
6. Spoon mixture into an ungreased angel food cake tin (or chiffon tin), levelling it with a spatula.
7. Bake for 20-30 minutes until cooked when tested with a skewer.
8. Remove from oven, invert the tin and allow the cake to cool completely before unmoulding.
9. Serve with cooled chocolate glaze (see below) and raspberries or whatever fruits you like. (Strawberries and blueberries now sound like a good idea)

Chocolate Glaze
My own version. Steps adapted from Donna Hay.

Ingredients
50g chopped chocolate
50g cream

Method

1. Place chocolate and cream into a saucepan and heat over low fire. Stir until melted and smooth.
2. Set aside for 10 minutes till mixture thickens.
3. Ready for use on cake or can be stored in fridge.