Recipe: Orange Angel Food Cake (scratch recipe)

ORANGE ANGEL FOOD CAKE

1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar, divided use
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups egg whites (from about 12 large eggs), no traces of yolk*
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice (strained of any pulp)
1 1/2 teaspoons orange extract
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest

Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Set aside 3/4 cup sugar. Sift remaining sugar, together with the flour, onto a piece of parchment or wax paper. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the egg whites, salt and lemon juice. Using the mixer's whisk attachment, whip at medium speed until the eggs are white and opaque and be gin to hold their shape.

Increase the mixer speed to medium-high, and whip in the reserved 3/4 cup sugar a couple of tablespoons at a time. Whip until the egg whites hold a soft, glossy peak. Add the orange extract and zest, and whip another few seconds.

A third at a time, sift the flour and sugar mixture over the whipped egg whites, then use a large rubber spatula to care fully fold it in.

Scrape the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan, rotating the pan to fill it evenly. Gently plunge the rubber spatula into the batter at 2-inch intervals with an up-and-down motion to release any large air bubbles. Use the spatula to smooth the top of the batter.

Bake the cake 45 to 55 minutes or until well browned, well risen and firm to the touch. Invert the central tube of the pan onto the neck of a bottle so the cake hangs upside down, and let the cake cool completely, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Use a long, thin knife to loosen the cake from the sides of the pan, scraping the knife against the side of the pan, not the cake. Remove the cake from the pan by pulling the central tube. Run the knife between the cake and the bottom of the pan, then use the knife to loosen the cake from the tube. Invert the cake onto a platter, and gently pull the pan base and tube away from the cake.

*If you buy egg whites by the carton, be certain to get those intended for use in angel food cakes. Because of the way they are processed, most egg whites will not whip.

Makes 1 (10-inch) tube cake, 16 servings
Source: Perfect Light Desserts by Nick Malgieri and David Joachim