Thursday, June 25, 2015

Celebration Raspberry Angel Food Cake @LucyBurdette #recipe #giveaway






LUCY BURDETTE: What do you do if two of your old standby cookbooks give different instructions for the same recipe? I wondered this when I decided to bake a celebratory angel food cake in anticipation of the July 7 release of FATAL RESERVATIONS. 


These cakes bring back good memories for me, as my mother made one to celebrate my birthday for many years. (Covered in colored whipped cream, minus the raspberries.)

This recipe is mostly taken from the Silver Palate's The New Basics cookbook, with an assist from the Joy of Cooking. When the two disagreed, I admit I went with what seemed easiest:).

 

Ingredients

11 large egg whites
1 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 cup cake flour
1 cup fresh raspberries

 


Separate the egg whites into a clean bowl. Add the cream of tartar and the salt, and beat on high speed until soft peaks form. Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts. 

Egg whites are like black cats, hard to get a good picture!
After sifting the sugar once, begin to beat it into the egg white mixture about 1/4 cup at a time. The egg whites should look glossy and make soft peaks when beaters are removed, without appearing stiff. 








Sift the cake flour over the top of the bowl. Then place the raspberries on top of the flour. Fold in gently without stirring or beating. Egg whites can turn out like expectations if you add too much weight--occasionally deflated! 

Spoon the mixture into a clean angel food cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Check with a toothpick to be sure the batter is done.

Rube Goldberg was here...
Cool the cake for one and a half hours. My mother used to invert these cakes onto a bottle, which seemed precarious to me. So I tried the Joy of Cooking method, inverting onto four glasses. 








Panic! Panic! The cake began to fall out of the pan, so we managed to slide a fifth glass under the pan's stem.  (I couldn't take a photo of that, because two of us were too busy trying to save it, but you can see the bulge that resulted here:).

 










In spite of all that excitement, the cake turned out light and lovely enough to stand on its own, but we served it with a dollop of mango purée and mango and raspberry sorbet. 

Because like a lot of things in life, a new book is worth celebrating! 

Let's continue our excitement with a giveaway of FATAL RESERVATIONS, which is coming to bookstores everywhere on July 7. Leave a comment describing a cooking disaster and your email, and you'll be entered in the drawing. And don't forget to preorder!

68 comments:

  1. Burnt cookies, more than once, would be my cooking disaster.
    jslbrown2009 at aol dot com

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  2. Great recipe and story, thanks! My "disaster" happened the first time my gourmand brother came to visit my fiancé and me, and I made my never-fail chocolate cake. But the mine-and-his kitchen still had some things not well labeled, and all the sugar in the recipe turned out to have been salt. The look on my brother's face after the first mouthful of the elegant-appearing cake won't ever be forgotten ... he makes sure to remind me often!!

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    1. LOL, your gourmand brother--that's the worst:). at least you got a good story out of it...

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  3. Raspberries have been so good right now--what a great summery dessert! Thankfully, I haven't had too many true kitchen disasters. However, our oven is starting to go and one side doesn't seem to heat up as well as the other. Now, I know I need to turn baked goods for better baking and rising, but not long ago, had a rather funny looking angel food cake.

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  4. Right now I can't think of any real cooking disasters but I bet if you asked my husband he could tell you about a few! The cake looks very good!

    ElaineE246 at msn dot com

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  5. When I grabbed cinnamon instead of white pepper for fresh peas and potatoes.
    doward1952@yahoo.com

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    1. Oh that must have been a shock! did you know before you tasted them?

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  6. A cake that crumbled to bits and still was edible. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com

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    1. The good thing about that is you can apply a lot of whipped cream and pretend it's a trifle--that you had in mind all along!

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  7. Recipe looks great! Can't wait for this book! One time my great grandmother was coming over to my parents house for her birthday. My sister decided she wanted to make the cake. She used a boxed cake mix,the kind that you just add oil, milk, and eggs. Well she fogot to use the eggs, but only realized this after the cake was finished. So she went out got another box of cake mix, put it in the oven, and...... forgot the eggs.... AGAIN!!!!!!!! So I just decided to make the cake myself, from scratch. And Grandma never new what happened.
    Thanks for the giveaway!!!!
    magicgirl2357@yahoo.com

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  8. I remember using my Betty Crocker Boys and Girls Cookbook to make a cake. (Why do the boys get top billing, I wonder?) I only wanted one layer, so I cut the recipe in half.
    Except I didn't. I halved the dry ingredients but left the liquids the full amount.
    It was a very moist cake!

    Yours looks lovely and delicious. Especially nice with the extra fruit goodness on the side.
    libbydodd at comcast dot net

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  9. "Disaster", or not, I sure would love to have a piece of that cake! I'm out of practice baking but have had my share of dry/burnt disasters, especially cookies. patucker54 (at aol dot com)

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    1. it's too easy to make a mistake with cookies, isn't it? they go from undone to burnt in a flash!

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  10. I've had so many "disasters" in the kitchen, but my latest was having cupcakes I was making for a party (using a new recipe) completely collapse in the middle. Plan B: whip up a super scrumptious frosting and piled it high to cover up the hole! Your cake looks delicious and I'm looking forward to reading your new book! kimdavishb@gmail.com

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  11. Most of my cooking ends up with some kind of a problem. That's why my son does the cooking now. Well, that and he's a good cook (OCD and he loves cooking shows).

    Burnt cookies, underdone turkey, over dry chicken, a dropped birthday cake...is that enough?

    I used to put my angel food cakes over a soda bottle after I made them. That was when I could cook.

    lkish77123 at gmail dot com

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    1. that's what my mother did too Linda! so glad you have a good cook in the house to take the reins...

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  12. You can't really tweak recipes in bread machines to make them your own; you have to follow the recipe EXACTLY--I still can't live down my banana bread disaster (overflowed the machine, burned--incredible mess)

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  13. My first turkey - 1963 - was a frozen, stuffed one. Opened instructions and it was blank! Got hold of a deli and he said butter baist it and put into a 250 oven. When my folks arrived and we looked at it, it was still frozen. Mom took charge, we played bridge all day and ate about midnight. So much for a new bride impressing her hubby and parents.

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    1. that's a story you and your family must have enjoyed many times over:)

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  14. Angel food cake -- usually strawberry -- was always my childhood choice of birthday cake, too! Congratulations on the new book!

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  15. I made some pie crust that was so hard and tough that when I put it out for the birds, the crows picked it up and dropped it a few yards away----too awful even for them. I've never tried to make pie crust again.
    suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com

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  16. My granddaughter and I tried to make homemade cookies ... used an all time favorite cookie recipe, so can't explain what happened but they seemed to melt and run. Not to worry ... we put the rest of the batter in a cake pan. The edges were burnt, the middle soupy but they tasted great :)
    peggyhyndman ( at ) att ( dot ) net

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  17. Tried to make gravy using a hand held blender. Big disaster...gravy flew everywhere!

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  18. Pat (patdupuy@yahoo.com)June 25, 2015 at 12:48 PM

    Cooking disasters? Which one to pick. . .when my boyfriend was in the army and off in Vietnam, must have been 1969, I decided to bake him a birthday cake and mail it to him. I decided a pound cake would work well. When it was done it was so heavy and dense I could not imagine sending it. God knows what I did wrong. I instantly started another one. This one turned out the way it was supposed to. I wrapped it up, packed it in popped corn, threw in a can of icing, and several packets of kool-aid.
    I ran to the post office; it was Saturday and would be closing at noon and managed to get it mailed. He told me later the box was waiting for him when they returned from the field. They ate everything in it including the popcorn. I don't remember what I did with the 10 pound pound cake reject. Probably ate it.

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    1. Pat I sent a homemade loaf of bread to a boyfriend once, all packaged in popcorn. He told me after the romance had ended that it had the texture of a cement block:)

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  19. There have been many disasters in my kitchen, but the one that sticks out the most is the first time I ever had my parents over to dinner after I was married, I completely (and I mean totally!) overcooked the pasta. It was mushy paste, but they ate it---lol! Your recipe for the raspberry angel food cake looks so yummy that I've printed it out and plan on baking it this Sunday - thanks for sharing! Also, congratulations on your newest book---I've finished the first 3 in the series, and will be picking up book 4 this weekend. :-)

    nicolev.girldetective (at) gmail (dot) com

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    1. thanks Nicole, weren't your parents good sports to eat it anyway? Gosh it goes to show, most people have to LEARN to cook!

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  20. If I make a cake that's just for my husband and daughters, it turns out beautifully. But if I make a cake to take to church, family reunion, etc., it always falls apart! Thanks for the recipe!
    sharonbabyme@yahoo.com

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  21. My worst disaster was when I was making peanut brittle. I had it all poured in pan and set it on top of pot holders on my kitchen table to cool. (glass top table). It cracked the table. You can see that I wasn't thinking to clearly to set it there. the table was ruined but it was the best tasting batch I had made lol darholley1 (at) aol (dot) com

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  22. I try to block out my cooking disasters.... but one I had more than once was zucchini bread. If I made it in a bundt pan, as the recipe says, it sticks or burns on the outside and is raw on the inside. But, if I put it in a loaf pan, no problem.

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  23. My first cooking disaster: had been married about a week, we were both in college and working full time, got home late. I decided to make chop suey. Simple, right? Remember that Chung King in two cans? Opened both cans, mixed as directed...check. Make some rice...check. Put those little Chinese noodles in the oven to warm...OOPS! Forgot they were in there and they caught fire. I pitched the cookie sheet out the back door. No damage, but super embarrassed. Never cooked those noodles again!

    My Dad always made our Angel Food cakes. He was a great cook. Definitely going to try this recipe.

    Can't wait to read the new book.

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  24. The last disaster I had was trying to make turtle chocolate chip cookies. I don't know if the recipe was wrong or I did something wrong. They spread all over the pan and stuck. They had to be chipped off. I've never had that happen in all the cookies I've made. suefoster109@netzero.net

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  25. Not really a disaster, but definitely a mistake. I was making Curry Chicken and broccoli casserole, and I always half the recipe. Well I halved everything except the curry. Oops. Boy was it spicy. LOL
    Dnrocker@yahoo.com

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  26. Would love to win this Giveaways, thanks for the chance. Linda May

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  27. Probably the worst cooking disaster I have had is when I was baking my homemade applesauce cakes that I make around the holidays. A couple of years ago I was making them and I am not sure why but I could not get them to rise for me. They were flat as a pancake. I was horrified. They tasted just as good but they looked horrible. Lol.

    I would love to win this book. I love this series and can't wait for the new book to come out. I have had it pre-ordered for months.

    Frauenb@aol.com

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  28. I have two cooking disasters that stick in my mind. They were both during my first Thanksgiving as a wife. I wanted to make my husband and son a wonderful turkey dinner. So, I did everything the cookbook told me to do. Except it failed to tell me that there was a bag inside the turkey holding the insides. As I was checking it I looked and asked my husband what the weird white thing was poking out of the turkey. He laughed so hard I thought he was going to hurt himself as he pulled the turkey out and used tongs to pull the baggie with the innards out of the cavity. That same year, I tried to make my Granny's Fudge Brownie Pie but, I didn't stir it well enough and the Karo syrup separated from the chocolate mix. It's funny now but, it was heartbreaking at the time hehe!
    Thanks for the chance at the giveaway!! ford0368@comcast.net

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  29. My problem is not paying attention. Things get too "well done"! :P I want a regular oven that turns off when the timer goes like a microwave. ;)
    pmettert@yahoo.com

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  30. Our biggest cooking disaster was actually my nephew's. When he was accepted to university he moved in with me and he wanted to learn to cook, so I started him out with something easy: Mac and Cheese. I said read the instructions and off he went. What we sat down to eat was Mac and Cheese soup. He neglected to drain the water after boiling the noodles. He added the milk, butter, and cheese mixture and couldn't figure out what went wrong. I showed him a colander and we drained the pot. It was the blandest Mac and Cheese you have ever eaten! Lesson learned :-)

    roswita.hildebrandt@gmail(dot)com

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  31. Pie crust is something I have not mastered. I do try every now and again. ISo what I do is bake cakes instead! I will be sure to try your Angel Food Cake!
    angelhwk68@yahoo.com

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  32. I'm laughing so hard, I've had to stop answering ever single comment, but I love these! thanks so much for sharing:)

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  33. The one that stands out in my mind is the first Valentine's day dinner I made after we got married. I was making chicken limone. Well lets just say we call it the pucker chicken incident now. Had to throw out the chicken no way it was going to be fixed. We ate mashed potatoes and peas for our first married Valentine's day dinner. Oh well at least we can laugh about it and have since made the meal and it has turned out OK,.

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  34. Wanting to impress my then new boyfriend (now husband of 38 years) with my cooking skills, I invited him for dinner. I cook a wonderful pot roast. He like biscuits so I decided to make from scratch biscuits. When he went to open one, the we're hard as bricks. He joked that they would make good hockey pucs. The next date he took me to the grocery store and introduced me to a box of Bisquick.

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  35. Wanting to impress my then new boyfriend (now husband of 38 years) with my cooking skills, I invited him for dinner. I cook a wonderful pot roast. He like biscuits so I decided to make from scratch biscuits. When he went to open one, the we're hard as bricks. He joked that they would make good hockey pucs. The next date he took me to the grocery store and introduced me to a box of Bisquick.

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  36. Wanting to impress my then new boyfriend (now husband of 38 years) with my cooking skills, I invited him for dinner. I cook a wonderful pot roast. He like biscuits so I decided to make from scratch biscuits. When he went to open one, the we're hard as bricks. He joked that they would make good hockey pucs. The next date he took me to the grocery store and introduced me to a box of Bisquick.

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  37. Love Angel Food Cake!! My mom would make them and put jello and fruit cocktail in the center and then ice with whipped cream. Oh, sooo good!!

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  38. The wife and I were in the process of making Snickerdoodles for a Christmas cookie exchange at our church and the first batch of cookies we misjudged the time and they were burnt beyond keeping. The next tray went in the oven and we tried adjusting the time and they were undercooked. We tried the third tray and they came out perfect, well they looked perfect until we did the taste test. Needless to say, all went in the garbage can. We started over again but with a different cookie.
    frankiej47@yahoo.com

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  39. My cooking disaster happened when I was in 4th grade and my mom gave me a box mix and told me to make an angel food cake. I have since learned that there are many things that affect the outcome of an angel food cake. Well, it looked OK, but when my mom tried to cut it, it just pushed down and sprang back up. My brother swears that mom dribbled it out to the back yard (like a basketball) to give it to the dog. The dog sniffed and walked away. I spent many years listening to my brother give me a bad time about that angel food cake. After many years something came over me and I tried to make an angel food cake from scratch. It was beautiful. I took a slice to my brother's house, shoved it in his face and said, "Eat it!". He asked me where I bought it. I was so proud when I told him that I had made it and he could just shut up about the first angel food cake. It has since become a family favorite.

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  40. I love to bake but the older I get the harder it is for me to not get impatient while mixing, baking, etc. I usually wait for my daughter to be home so she can help me if i need something. robeader53@yahoo.com

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  41. Great story! I have never made an angel food cake, looks really good! Thank you for the opportunity to win. crossxjo@Hotmail.com

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  42. Great story! I have never made an angel food cake. Thanks for the opportunity. crossxjo@hotmail.com

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  43. I was baking a cake when my dad came through the kitchen, saw the oven was "left on" and helpfully turned it off. When the timer went off and I checked on it, I concluded that helpful people are the worst kind.

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  44. I tried making chocolate chip bread in the bread machine. All I got was raw dough that seeped under ever nook and cranny of the machine. It was a major nightmare and everything got ruined. Thank you for the recipe and this opportunity. I love this series! areewekidding@yahoo.com

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  45. Forgetting to turn the timer...... That was a very dry cake... ;)

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    1. Oops.... email afarage (at) earthlink. net

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  46. No real disasters but I often wander away while cooking. This looks like a great summer cake.

    gibsonbk at hiwaay dot net

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  47. Smoke detector has gone off so many times that our parrot imitates the sound. Husband says, dinner's ready.

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  48. Cooking disaster...ha you are talking to the expert here. Yesterday I had a recipe for scrambled eggs and tomatoes in the microwave and I had a friend over for dinner. Kaboom and the whole thing blew up. I was wiping it up for an hour. I am still not sure how that happened. Thanks for the contest.
    Marilyn ewatvess@yahoo.com

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  49. thank you all so much for the stories! I'm beginning to think we should all just go out to dinner LOL.

    The winner this week was Doward Wilson. But there will be another chance next Thursday! xoxox

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