The Ingredient You Should Never Use In Angel Food Cake
If you're looking for a sweet dessert that is as light as air, look no further than angel food cake. According to What's Cooking America, angel food cake is also known as ice cream cake, though there is no ice cream present in the cake. What makes the cake unique from other cakes is that it only contains egg whites, and no oil or butter, resulting in a fluffy, angelic, white-colored cake (per Martha Stewart). Along with it's light and airy texture, angel food cake is regarded as one of the healthiest cakes, due to the lack of oils and butter, though it's still cake, and contains plenty of sugar.
Angel food cake is not a frosted cake, but is typically topped with sweet berries like strawberries or homemade whipped cream. If you're not up for making a cake from scratch, you can make angel food cake with only two ingredients. For this semi-homemade recipe, a box of angel food cake mix is combined with a can of crushed pineapple and baked. The crushed pineapple gives the cake added moisture and sweetness, as well as a nice pineapple flavor (per Eating on a Dime). While it seems simple enough, there is one standard baking ingredient that should stay far away from angel food cake.
It needs to stick
According to Taste of Home, there are several faux pas that can be made when cooking angel food cake. One of the less obvious ones is using cooking or non-stick spray in the pan. Unlike most cakes that rely on a greased pan, angel food cake needs to stick to the side of the pan in order to rise properly. When cooking an angel food cake, you'll get the best result when baking it in an angel food cake pan. An angel food cake pan is a round pan with high sides that looks similar to a bundt pan (via The Stay at Home Chef).
If you want to ensure fluffy angel food cake each time, there are a few more tricks aside from using an ungreased pan. Since the cake relies on whipped egg white for the fluffiness, the eggs must be at room temperature. If you use eggs right from the fridge, the whites will be too cold and won't whip well. Taste of Home reminds us to keep the oven closed when baking the cake. As much as you may be tempted to peek, opening the oven and letting cool air in, may cause the cake to collapse.