Name: Fluffy white angel cake
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 6-8
Ingredients: 1 cup plain flour; 1¼ cups caster sugar; 10 eggwhites; 1 tsp cream of tartar; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 600ml thickened cream; ¼ cup pure icing sugar; 125g punnet blueberries

This sponge cake is known as the food of the angels for it’s airy-light taste and texture. You’ll definitely be sneaking this as a midnight snack!

Note: in addition to the 35 minutes preparation time listed above, you will also need to set aside time for cooling.

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour

1¼ cups caster sugar

10 eggwhites

1 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp vanilla extract

600ml thickened cream

¼ cup pure icing sugar

125g punnet blueberries

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. Sift flour and ½ cup of the caster sugar twice into a medium bowl. Set aside.

Put eggwhites and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk on high, using whisk attachment, until soft peaks form. Add remaining caster sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and beat until thick and glossy.

Sift over reserved flour mixture and gently fold through until well combined; do not over-mix or eggs will deflate. Spoon meringue into a 16-cup angel food cake tin (see Cook’s Tips). Run a knife through meringue to release air bubbles. Smooth top with the back of a wet spoon. Bake for 30 minutes or until cake is golden and springs back when touched.

Invert cake tin onto its feet and cool completely. (If the tin does not have feet, invert pan over the neck of a bottle to cool.) When cake is cool, loosen the edge of the cake and twist middle funnel to remove from pan.

Put cream and 2 Tbsp of the icing sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk on high, using whisk attachment, until soft peaks form. Cut cake horizontally through the centre to make 2 layers. Put base layer on a cake stand. Spread with ½ cup of the cream. Top with remaining cake layer and spread remaining cream over top and around the side. Top with blueberries and dust with remaining icing sugar to serve.

Cook’s tip

Angel food cake tins are tall, round funnel tins with little feet for inverting. They are available from kitchen stores for about $25-$30, but once you’ve made this cake, you can also use the tin for chiffon cake recipes.
Do not grease or flour the angel food cake tin. When the tin is inverted and sits on its feet or over a bottle, gravity causes the cake to ease away slowly from the side of the tin. If the cake does stick, just gently run a knife around the edge and the cake will fall away easily.