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Angel Cake (Whites of eggs cup Northern)
Whites of 9 eggs 1 cup Northern flour (after sifting) 1¼ cups sugar 1 1/2 level teaspoonful cream of tartar teaspoonful vanilla extract Beat whites of eggs and cream of tartar till very stiff. Fold in sugar very lightly, also flour and flavoring. Bake in ungreased pan. 3. eggs
A plain angel food cake of the pre-mixer era, written for a cook who was expected to know her own oven. The original gives no temperature or baking time, so those have to be supplied from standard practice.
- The hinge: fold, do not stirThe whites carry the entire cake — there is no chemical leavener and no fat. Sift the flour and sugar and fold them in with a light hand, cutting down and lifting over, stopping as soon as no dry streaks remain.
- Cream of tartarStill sold in the spice aisle. It acidifies the whites so they whip stiffer and hold through baking. The recipe's 1 1/2 level teaspoons is in line with the usual proportion for nine whites.
- Egg whitesNine whites from period eggs run to roughly 1 to 1 1/4 cups. Measure rather than count, and let them come to room temperature — cold whites will not reach full volume.
- VanillaThe recipe calls for a teaspoonful, which suits this size of cake.
- OvenBake at 325F for 40 to 50 minutes, until the top springs back and a skewer comes out clean. Angel cake wants a steady moderate oven; too hot and the crust sets before the interior rises.
- Ungreased pan, and whyThe recipe says only that the pan is not to be greased; the batter must grip the sides to climb. A tube pan is the usual choice, and it is standard practice to invert the pan the moment it leaves the oven and leave it until completely cold, or the crumb collapses under its own weight.
- YieldA small tube cake, probably around 9 inches; roughly 8 to 10 servings. Cut with a serrated knife or pull apart with two forks.
Angel cake belongs to the late nineteenth century, when cheap refined white sugar, reliably fine bolted flour and -- crucially -- the wire whisk and the rotary egg beater made a foam of nine or a dozen egg whites a practical proposition in a domestic kitchen rather than a professional one. The name distinguished it from the yolk-rich, butter-heavy gold and pound cakes of the same era; its whiteness and lightness were the whole point. It needs no creaming, no leavener and no judgment about butter temperature, only patience with the whisk, and it made an impressive showing on a tea table.