lemony goodness

Since we got a KitchenAid for Christmas this year (Thanks Auntie Teri!!) I have been way more motivated to bake. The work is already done for me when whipping egg whites, making frosting, and especially when making the angel food cake batter and frosting for this recipe.I get the Martha Stewart Everyday Food emails well...everyday. And yesterday as I was cruising the website I noticed Martha had a whole feature on lemons.I came across an angel food cake recipe that looked so beautiful and delicious in the picture. I love angel food cake: it's light, fluffy, melts in your mouth. Tasty. Of course I've only ever made the boxed ones, so here was my hand at trying to make my first angel food cake.Now, let me tell you about my angel food adventure. Martha says..." Transfer batter to a 10-inch angel food cake pan with legs."Translation in my mind: Isn't a tube pan a less fancy bundt pan?So I begin my adventure after work to find a cheap tube pan. Surely any thrift store in the Chicagoland area with a pretty wide variety of kitchenware should have at least ONE.I went to 3 different thrift stores. Of course everyone has a plethora of bundt pans to donate to the Salvation Army...probably because they once tried to make an angelfood cake that stuck to it and thought "What is the point of owning this."After 90 minutes of driving to my favorite thrift stores: nada. I finally drag myself to Target before Andrew needs the car to go to a meeting: they have ONE tube pan. PRAISE the Lord.Whats the point of jabbering on about bundt pans vs. tube variety?The cake will simply not come out of your fancy schmanzy bundt pan.Oh, and the cake was a tasty snack today at work!Also in other news, my new memory card came! My C. Rebel is back in business!Onward to the recipe!

Lemony Angel Food Cake recipe by Martha Stewart

Ingredients

Makes one 10-inch cake; Serves 10 to 12for the cake

• 1 cup sifted cake flour (not self-rising)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 12 large egg whites
• 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

for the lemon cream 'frosting'

• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (if you don't want it really lemony, you could use refrigerated lemons since their taste isn't as forceful as freshly squeezed..but don't you want fresh!?)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cake flour (not self-rising)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

Directions

1. Make the cake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees, with rack in lower third of oven. Sift flour and 1/2 cup sugar into a bowl.
2. Whisk whites with a mixer on medium speed until frothy, about 1 minute. Add lemon zest and juice, cream of tartar, vanilla, and salt; continue whisking until soft peaks form, about 2 1/2 minutes. With mixer running, gradually add remaining cup sugar.
3. Increase speed to medium-high; continue whisking until firm, not stiff, peaks form, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle whites with 1/3 of the flour-sugar mixture. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold to combine. Sprinkle remaining flour-sugar mixture over whites in 2 additions; gently fold to combine.
4. Transfer batter to a 10-inch angel food cake pan with legs. Gently run a knife through the center of the batter to remove any air bubbles. Bake until a tester inserted into center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.
5. Remove pan from oven, and invert onto its cooling legs (if your tube pan doesn't have legs, invert it over the neck of a wine, or similarly shaped, bottle to cool)**; let cool, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Run a knife around the inner and outer edges of cake to remove. Invert onto a serving platter. (Use a knife to separate cake from bottom of pan.) Let cool on a wire rack. Unfrosted cake can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
6. Make the lemon cream: Prepare an ice-water bath. Whisk lemon juice, sugar, flour, and salt in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil; whisk constantly for 1 minute, until it thickens. Transfer to a heatproof bowl set in ice-water bath to cool completely, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, whisk cream and lemon zest with a mixer on medium speed until medium peaks form, about 3 minutes. Gently fold whipped cream into juice mixture in thirds. Refrigerate lemon cream, up to overnight.

**Turning the cake upside-down on a bottle of wine, or on it's legs is important: don't skip this. If the pan is resting right-side-up, gravity will do it's work and collapse the cake on top of itself.Don't worry: like I said before, the cake will not fall out of the pan if you have done everything right. Gravity will work in the right direction to keep the cake tall when resting on the bottle...just pop the middle hole through the bottleneck.