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Making a Great Angel Food Cake

Angel Food cake, or Angel cake, is a type of sponge cake originating in the United States that first became popular in the late 19th century. It is so named because of its airy lightness that was said to be the "food of the angels."

Here are rules for making a great angel food cake from scratch:

• Make sure you allow enough time for your egg whites to reach room temperature.
• Use cake flour, not all-purpose flour.
• Sift flour repeatedly (many old recipes say to sift four times).
• Fold batter gently, but make sure flour is completely incorporated.
• Make sure all utensils and containers are free of grease.
• Use a Bundt or angel food pan.
• When you remove cake from oven, the pan must hang upside down while cake cools (otherwise it may collapse). Put four glasses on your counter, and rest the cake pan upside down on them. You can also balance the tube part of the pan on a wine bottle or a funnel. Or, turn the entire pan upside down and let it rest inside a clean, dry colander. If your cake pan has little feet, do not rely on them to hang the cake properly. The cake will sag.
• To slice the cake, use a serrated knife and saw gently. Don't push down on the knife. Or, you can use two forks and pull the cake into pieces if you are making a trifle or using the cake for dunking.