This isn't the most beautiful angel food cake, but it's perfect for when you need angel food as a component to another dessert. The recipe comes from a Texas chicken farmer who shared it with Southern Living, and it's a little different because it's baked in an 8-inch square pan. Aside from cracking all those eggs (and pondering what to do with the yolks), this recipe is simple -- no grinding sugar, no using special flour. You just beat your egg whites, add vanilla & lemon juice, then fold in the flour/sugar mixture. The batter goes in a foil-lined 8-inch square pan which you invert and let cool. The end results is a cake with a texture like this.
Square Pan Angel Food Cake Size
The original recipe was actually double the volume and baked in a 9x13 inch pan, so you can certainly double it if you need or want lot of angel cake. For my purposes, which will be the subject of another post, the 8-inch square was more than enough. And you know what the big bonus is? No tube pan to clean!
Foil Lined Pan
Here's a picture of what the batter looks like in the foil-lined pan. I did not push down the foil overhang, but rather let it stand straight up to help the cake climb. I don't think it really made a difference, honestly. My thought was that it might help support the angel food cake in its climb.
Like I said, it's not the prettiest cake, but it has a very good texture and is quick to prepare. For best results, use the weights. For me, 7 egg whites weighed about 260 grams, but eggs vary in size so you might actually need 6 to 8. If you don't have a scale, you can measure by volume which would be 1 ¼ cups.
Recipe
Square Pan Angel Food Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups sugar (250 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour (90 grams)
- 7 large egg whites at room temperature or 1 ¼ cups (260 grams)
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Adjust the oven rack so that it's the second to the lowest, then preheat to 375 degrees F.
- Mold 2 large sheets of foil around an overturned 8-inch square metal so that you have a 3 inch overhang on all 4 sides. Turn the pan over and press the foil into the pan, shaping so that the foil goes up slightly to make a bit of a wall. It doesn't have to be a strong wall, it's just a bit of reinforcement for the batter.
- Whisk together the flour, salt and sugar.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on one of the lower speeds for about a minute. Increase speed and beat just until stiff peaks just start to form -- don't overbeat. The peaks should just barely hold. Beat in the lemon juice and vanilla.
- Remove the mixer from the stand and use a large, heavy duty scraper to fold in the flour in ⅓ cup increments. The batter will deflate somewhat as you fold. Try to keep it airy, but also make sure you get the flour mixture blended in evenly.
- Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes.
- Invert and let cool upside down with the foil and pan covering. When cool, remove the pan and peel away the foil.
Darlene says
It looks heavenly!
Sue says
Angel food cake is very nostalgic for me. I will for sure make this someday!
It’s a great idea to make it like this for when you want to use it in another recipe. Can’t wait to see what you’re going to do with it next!
My brain is stuck on an old recipe where you pour jello and probably cool whip over it and then chill it. I think it has frozen strawberries too.