Brown Sugar Angel Food Cake with Candied Citrus Slices
There's a reason angel food cake is a favorite dessert -- it's tender, light as air, and tastes, well, divine. What's more, it's virtually fat-free and uses just six ingredients.
1¼ cups cake flour, not self-rising, sifted
1½ cups light brown sugar, sifted
14 large egg whites, room temperature
1½ tsp. cream of tartar
1 pinch sea salt
2 tsp. lemon peel, freshly grated
Garnish:
candied citrus slices
16 oz crėme fraîche
Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C/160°C fan, Gas Mark 4). Stir together flour and ¾ cup brown sugar. Sift twice.
Put egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar and salt. Raise speed to high, and beat until soft peaks form. Sprinkle half the remaining ¾ cup brown sugar over egg white mixture, and beat until combined. Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar over egg white mixture, and beat until stiff, glossy peaks form.
Transfer egg white mixture to a large bowl. Fold in flour mixture in 3 batches, folding in lemon peel, freshly grated with last batch.
Spoon batter into an ungreased 10” tube pan (not nonstick) with a removable bottom. Run a knife through batter to eliminate air pockets. Bake until cake is golden and springs back when lightly touched, about 45 minutes.
Invert pan onto its legs or over a narrow-neck bottle; let cool 1 hour. Reinvert, and run a knife around sides and tube to loosen; remove sides. Run a long knife along bottom of cake; remove from tube.
Place cake on serving platter. Cut a slit in rind of candied citrus slices; twist slices, and arrange around bottom of cake. Reserve 1 slice for hole in center.
Put crėme fraîche into a medium bowl. Whisk until lightened. Transfer a little more than ¼ cup to a pastry bag fitted with a large rose tip (such as Ateco No. 123). Decoratively pipe crėme fraîche around top edge of cake. Place 1 citrus slice over hole; pipe crėme fraîche around it. Serve remaining crėme fraîche on the side.
Makes 10 servings.