Rose's Ice Cream Bliss

Golden Angel Cake

Serves: 12 to 16

Caramelized sugar is the sweetener for this cake, which also lends it a lovely golden color. The flavor has a subtle edge of caramel with a soft, moist crumb. Angel food cake and ice cream are a marriage made in heaven. The ideal foil to the cake’s caramelized sweetness is a big scoop of coffee or vanilla ice cream. Alternatively, I like to cut 1 inch cubes of cake to add to each serving bowl—they act like little sponges to sop up some of the ice cream as it slowly melts.

Plan Ahead Combine the egg whites and caramelized sugar at least 1 and up to 4 hours ahead, for most of the sugar to dissolve.

Oven Temperature: 350°F/175°C

Baking Time: 25 to 35 minutes

Special Equipment

For the Caramelized Sugar:

One 17¼ by 12¼ by 1 inch half sheet pan, lined with a large sheet of uncoated heavy-duty foil (be sure it comes up the sides of the pan)

A coarse strainer

FOR THE GOLDEN ANGEL CAKE:

One uncoated 10 inch (16 cup) two-piece metal tube pan (if your pan has feet, a wire rack elevated at least 4 inches above the work surface by 3 or 4 cans, coffee mugs, or glasses of equal height OR a long-necked glass bottle weighted with sugar or marbles to keep it from tipping OR a large inverted metal funnel that will fit into the opening at the top of the pan)

Caramelized Sugar

Makes: 350 grams/1¾ cups

sugar, preferably superfine	350 grams	1¾ cups
water	79 grams	⅓ cup (79 ml)

Make the Caramelized Sugar

1) In a small saucepan, preferably nonstick, stir together the sugar and water until the sugar is moistened. Be careful to avoid getting sugar crystals on the sides of the pan above the syrup. Heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar has dissolved and comes to a boil. (If any sugar crystals form on the sides of the pan, either wash them down with a clean, wet pastry brush or set a lid on top of the pan for a minute and the steam will dissolve them.) Continue boiling, without stirring, until the syrup caramelizes to deep amber, about 370° to 375°F/188° to 190°C. (Do not let it go above 375°F/190°C or it will be bitter.)

2) Immediately remove the pan from the heat and pour the caramel (do not scrape the bottom) onto the prepared pan, tilting to spread it thinly.

3) When the caramel is completely cool, carefully break it into pieces and process in a food processor until most of it is fairly fine. Do not make all of it powder fine, because it will have a tendency to clump.

4) Weigh out or measure 300 grams/1½ cups into the bowl of a stand mixer.

Batter

Caramelized Sugar	300 grams	1½ cups
16 large egg whites	480 grams	2 cups (473 ml)
cream of tartar	.	2 teaspoons
salt	.	¼ teaspoon
bleached cake flour	125 grams	1¼ cups (sifted into the cup and leveled off)
pure vanilla extract	20 grams	4 teaspoons (20 ml)

Preheat the Oven

* Twenty minutes or longer before baking, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Set the oven at 350°F/175°C.

Mise en Place

* Into the bowl of the stand mixer containing the caramelized sugar, weigh or measure the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt and, with the whisk beater held in your hand, whisk them together until blended. Cover and allow it to sit at room temperature for at least 1 and up to 4 hours, or until most of the sugar has dissolved.

* In a small bowl, weigh or measure the flour and have a medium-mesh strainer or sifter ready.

Beat the Egg White Mixture into a Stiff Meringue

1) Attach the whisk beater. Beat the egg white mixture on medium-low speed until foamy. Gradually raise the speed to high and beat for a full 10 minutes. When the beater is raised slowly, the meringue will have very stiff peaks. Beat in the vanilla until combined.

Complete the Batter

2) Sift the flour over the meringue, about ¼ cup at a time. With a large balloon whisk, slotted skimmer, or large silicone spatula, fold in the flour mixture quickly but gently. It is not necessary to incorporate every speck until the last addition. Use a large silicone spatula to reach to the bottom of the bowl.

3) Use a long narrow metal spatula to spread a thin layer of batter onto the sides of the pan (this will ensure smooth sides). With a large spoon, gently scoop in the rest of the batter, distributing it evenly into the pan. In a 16-cup pan, it will be ½ inch from the top of the rim.

4) Run the metal spatula or a knife through the batter to prevent air pockets and smooth the surface evenly.

Bake the Cake

5) Bake for 25 to 35 minutes. The cake will rise about 1 inch above the sides of the pan, and will be done when it just starts lowering in the pan. It will be golden brown, with no moist spots visible in the cracks, and a wooden skewer inserted between the tube and the side will come out clean. An instant-read thermometer should read 202°F/94°C.

Cool and Unmold the Cake

6) Immediately invert the pan onto the prepared wire rack or invert the center tube opening of the pan onto the neck of the bottle to suspend it well above the countertop. Cool completely in the pan, about 1½ hours.

7) To loosen the sides of the cake from the pan, use a rigid sharp knife or stiff metal spatula, preferably with a squared-off end. Scrape firmly against the pan’s sides and slowly and carefully circle the pan. In order to ensure that you are scraping against the sides of the pan to remove the crust from the pan and leave it on the cake, begin by angling the knife or spatula about 20 degrees away from the cake and toward the pan, pushing the cake inward a bit. It is best to use a knife blade that is at least 4 inches long and no wider than 1 inch.

8) Grasp the center core and lift out the cake. Run a wire cake tester or wooden skewer around the center core. Dislodge the cake from the bottom with a metal spatula or thin, sharp knife.

9) Invert the cake onto a flat plate covered with plastic wrap that has been coated lightly with nonstick cooking spray and then reinvert it onto a cardboard round or serving platter. Allow the cake to sit for 1 hour, or until the top is no longer tacky. Then cover it with a cake dome or wrap it airtight.

Store

Loosely covered: room temperature, 3 days; refrigerated, 1 week

Scoops

* Do not spray or oil the foil for the caramel as it would prevent the egg whites from beating.

* If it’s a humid day and the powdered caramel clumps after pulverizing, it will still dissolve in the egg white.

* The beater bowl and whisk must be free of any grease to enable the whites to beat to stiff peaks.

* This cake is unique to angel food cakes. Caramelized sugar is always slightly sticky and therefore requires 25 grams/¼ cup more flour than my other angel food cakes. It also takes a little less time to bake.

* My recipe uses 1 egg white per cup capacity of the pan. (To determine the volume of your pan, line it with a clean plastic bag and pour in water up to the top, counting the cups as you go.) If your pan is smaller, simply decrease the recipe or bake any extra batter as cupcakes. Be sure to cool the cupcakes upside down on a wire rack to ensure maximum volume. Sixteen beaten whites will rise to the very top of a 5 quart/5 liter mixer.

* To prevent cake batter from spilling inside the center core when filling the pan, wrap a piece of aluminum foil to cover the opening and about ½ inch down the outside of the tube to secure it. Remove it before baking the cake.

* To serve the cake à la mode, cut the cake using two forks back to back (for the fluffiest texture). Alternatively, use an electric knife or a serrated knife, but hold the cake gently without compressing it as you cut.

Variation

Angel Food Tunnel Cake

Angel food cake does not freeze as hard as most cakes, which makes it an ideal ice cream cake! Here the ice cream hides inside a tunnel cut inside the cake.

Espresso or Vanilla Ice Cream, 3 to 4 cups/710 ml to 1 liter

You may need the higher amount of ice cream if using commercial ice cream because when softened, it loses more volume (due to higher overrun—or more air—in the ice cream). It is best to have 1½ quarts/1½ liters on hand.

Composing the Ice Cream Tunnel Cake

1) Measure down 1 inch from the top (wider end) of the cake, and score the cake with a serrated knife. Using the scored line as a guide, cut through the cake. With two large spatulas or a removable bottom from a tart pan, lift the cut cake ring off the cake and set it aside.

2) Measure 1½ inches from the tip of a sharp paring knife and apply a piece of masking tape to the knife as a guide marker for depth. Cut the outer and inner sides of the tunnel, angled with the sides of the cake, so that the tunnel is about 1¾ inches wide and 1½ inches deep.

3) To remove the cake from the tunnel, first cut across the width of the tunnel at every inch to make sections. Use a fork to remove each sliced section. Once all of the sections are removed, you can use the fork or a spoon to scrape the bottom of the tunnel to make a somewhat even surface. (Save the scraps to make a trifle or parfait.)

4) Freeze the cake for 20 to 30 minutes. While the cake is freezing, soften the ice cream in the refrigerator. Fill the cake’s tunnel with softened ice cream and replace the cake top.

5) Set a serving plate or 10 inch cake round covered with plastic wrap on top, and invert the cake. Cover with two layers of plastic wrap and freeze for a minimum of 6 hours.

Serving the Cake

6) Set the cake in the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes to soften the ice cream. Use a sharp serrated knife, dipped in hot water and wiped dry, to slice through the cake. If the ice cream is still very solid, allow the slices to sit on the plates for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Store

Airtight: frozen, 3 days (about 1 week if using commercial ice cream with stabilizers)