Ratio Rally – Angel Food Cake – Gluten & Dairy Free

UPDATED with the stupendous third cake photos below!!

Welcome to another Gluten Free Ratio Rally!  This month’s gastronomic delight is… Angel Food Cake.  Our rally hostess this month is Caleigh over at Gluten Free[k].

The ratio rally is a group of gluten free bloggers who work out the ratios of specific baked goods each month.  A baking ratio is keeping to a specific proportion of ingredients to turn out consistently great results even if you have to substitute flours from those used in the stated recipe.

Rhulman’s Angel Food cake ratio: 3 parts egg white | 3 parts sugar | 1 part flour.  I also checked out my trusty 1963 Joy of Cooking AND my Cook’s Illustrated book to read what they had to say about Angel Food cakes.  They each had a LOT to say that was NOT in Rhulman’s book.
I love the science behind the recipes in the Cook’s Illustrated book “The NEW Best Recipe”.  They do lots of experimenting with small changes and relay what effect each change has on the final product.  So some of the science has already been done for me and I am not going to reinvent the wheel!

first cake, unglazed

For me, this is the perfect month for this particular baked item rally.  This is The Patriarch’s favorite cake AND July (testing month) was his birthday month.  The poor dear had to taste test three sample cakes… and he loved every bite!

I am so thankful the Lord arranged our Ratio Rally schedule so I could bless my dear husband this way!

But… I have never before baked an Angel Food cake from scratch.  Not even in my gluten-filled days.  I think it is all those egg whites and what do to will all those egg yolks is part of it.  I think some egg noodles and custards are in our very near future!

My first two cakes started to fall while they were upside down!  More accurately, the structure of the cake was too weak to hold up. The second cake I beat the eggs whites even further, but it still started to fall.  Only slightly, but it did fall.

The third cake I just turned upside down and it has raised the highest and it still “attached to the sides of the pan” up near the top of the cake!!  The first two cakes were starting to pull away from the cake pan edge up near the top of the cake… even while in the oven baking.  THAT is the “fallen” nature of my first two Angel Food cakes.

Despite the cakes not holding their structure very well, the taste was so much better than any store bought cake I had even had.  There was a slight moistness to the cake as well.

So without further ado… here is my recipe!

second cake, with glaze

Angel Food Cake with Lemon Glaze

For the cake:

12 ounces egg whites (9 – 11 large, 12 medium) I get my eggs fresh from the farm.  They are ungraded… so a single carton will be a mix of sizes.  Another really good reason to weigh your ingredients!

12 ounces granulated, evaporated cane juice

2 ounces brown rice flour

2 ounces sweet rice flour

1/2 – 1 teaspoon guar gum

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 & 1/4 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 & 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice, organic

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1. Have all your ingredients at room temperature.  This is especially critical for the egg whites to be able to increase the the maximum volume possible.  To quickly bring cold eggs to room temperature, place uncracked eggs in a bowl and cover them with warm water for about 10 minutes.

2. Adjust your oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Have your large, ungreased tube pan (16 cup capacity) ready.  If your pan does not have a removable bottom, line it with unbleached parchment paper.

3. Weigh out the two flours, 1/2 the sugar and the guar gum into a bowl.  Whisk so it is light and completely mixed.  Weight out the remaining sugar into a small bowl and place next to your stand mixer.

4. Measure out the cream of tartar and salt into a small dish.  Measure out the flavorings into another small dish.  Set aside.

third cake, here the egg whites are finally whipped enough to develop the structure needed to stand tall and proud

5. Weigh out the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Using the whisk, start beating the egg whites on low until they begin to get frothy.  This helps to break them up and will create a more stable foam.   Add the cream of tartar & salt and turn your stand mixer to medium.  Continue to beat until they form soft billowy mounds. If it is whipped too hard and becomes stiff, it won’t rise properly.  When large air bubbles stop appearing around the edges, and with the mixer still on medium, add the 6 oz of sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until all the sugar has been added and the whites are shiny and form soft peaks.  It is not quite pourable but neither is it so stiff that it holds a stiff peak.  Add the flavorings and beat just until blended.

6. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the  whites in 3 tablespoon increments.  Folding carefully with each addition using a large rubber spatula.

7. Gently scrape the batter into your pan, smooth the top with a spatula, and give the pan a couple of raps on the counter to release any large air bubbles.

8. Bake for 40 – 55 minutes.  The cake will be golden brown and the top will spring back when pressed firmly.

9. If your pan has prongs around the rim to elevate the cake, invert the pan onto them.  If the pan does not have prongs, invert the pan on the neck of a bottle or funnel.  Let the cake cool completely, 2 to 3 hours.

10. To unmold, run a non-serrated thin knife around the edge of the pan, being careful not to separate the golden crust from the cake.  Slide the cake out of the pan and cut the same way around the removable bottom to release, or peel off the parchment paper.

11.  Place the cake bottom-side up on a platter.  Cut slices by sawing gently with a long serrated knife.

For the Lemon Glaze:

1/2 cup granulated evaporated cane juice

organic lemon juice to make a thick mixture… barely pourable

Place the granulated sugar into the dry container of your Vitamix.  Turn on, then to 9 then high to make powdered sugar.  Mix the powdered sugar and lemon juice in a bowl until thick and slightly pourable.  Spread over the top of the Angel Food Cake so it flows slightly down the edges.  Sprinkle the very top with a bit more of the granulated sugar.

Add birthday candles, sing, cut and eat!

Blessings, ~Aunt Mae (aka ~Mrs. R)

This post also linked here: The Better Mom, What Joy is Mine, Raising Arrows, Homestead Revival, Musings of a Housewife, A Mama’s Story, Above Rubies, Time Warp Wife, Growing Home, A Pause on the Path, Thankful Homemaker, Heavenly Homemakers, Like a Mustard Seed, Raising Homemakers, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, We Are THAT Family, Deep Roots at Home, Women Living Well, Intentional Me, Our Simple Country Life, Little Natural Cottage, GNOWFGLINS, At the Picket Fence, Best Post of the Week, Serenity Now, Comfy in the Kitchen, Finding Beauty, Your Thriving Family,

Tagged as: baking, dairy free, gluten free, homemaking, photographs, ratio rally, recipes