For someone who claims that she doesn’t care for desserts very much, I  have been spending a lot of time baking. Angel food cake is definitely one that has been on my list for a long time, but I must admit that I had been a tad bit intimidated. Since I recently bought mini angel food cake pans, I thought this may be a good time to try them.

I decided to use the recipe for a regular size angel food cake, but only made 3/4 of the recipe to be used in (4) 2×4-inch size pans and the batter came up to about 3/4 of the mini pans. This recipe below actually had measurements that was flexible enough for me scale down. I skipped the lemon juice and opted to use vanilla extract instead.  I reduced the  baking time to approximately 27 min and they were cooked just perfect.  (I set my timer at 30 min, but I started checking around 20 min).

These mini pans don’t have the “legs” like the larger-size pans  do; so I was surprised at how well they came out from the pans. I just let the mini pans to sit on the cooling rack for about an hour before I tried to remove the cakes from the pans. The flavor itself was very good, maybe a tad bit too sweet for me, so I may just reduce the sugar in the future by a couple of tablespoons. But they were light, spongy, and were perfect with fresh sliced strawberries (and whipped cream!). I hope you’ll try this recipe for one of your summer entertaining!

Note: the ingredients and directions below have been modified from the original measurement to fit my cake pans.

Adapted from Martha Stewart Baking Handbook

Ingredients
3/4 cup of cake flour sifted
3/4 cups, plus 2 tbsp of sugar
8 egg whites (equivalent to 1 cups)
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
A pinch of salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, with rack in lower third. Sift flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.

Beat egg whites on medium-low speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk until foamy, about 2 minutes. Mix in cream of tartar and vanilla. Raise speed to medium-high; beat until medium- stiff peaks form. Reduce speed to medium-low; add remaining 1 cup sugar in a steady stream. Beat until stiff (but not dry) peaks form; transfer to a large bowl.

Sift one-third flour mixture over egg-white mixture; gently fold in with a rubber spatula. Repeat to incorporate remaining flour mixture. Gently spoon batter into  angel food cake molds so each is 2/3 full.

Bake until cakes are pale golden and tops spring back when lightly pressed, approximately 25-30 minutes, start checking at 20 min. Let cool in molds on wire racks for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Invert molds, and sharply rap them on a towel-covered work surface; gently release cakes from molds.

Yield: 4 mini cakes