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Angel Food Cake with Berry Syrup

Recipe for light, delicate, almost angelic sponge cake. It's often called "Angel Food Cake," "Chiffon Sponge Cake," or "Food of the Angels"... This snowy, airy sponge cake with a delicate crust will come in handy if you need to use up leftover egg whites from making ice cream, egg liqueur, and more. This sponge cake pairs perfectly with whipped cream and berries. To ensure the cake rises well and doesn't collapse during cooling, it is baked in a pan that is not greased or sprinkled with anything - the batter should cling to the sides of the pan (so a silicone pan won't work). The main issue arises when using a pan with a large diameter. In this case, the center of the cake may sink slightly under its own weight during baking. Using a ring-shaped pan or a rectangular one prevents this from happening. And to prevent the center from collapsing during cooling, the pan is flipped upside down. I used a detachable pan with a 9.5-inch diameter.

For the cake:

Eggs

7 egg whites

Lemon Juice

1 tbsp

Powdered Sugar

1 ½ cups

Vanilla Sugar

2 tsp

Salt

pinch

Flour

2/3 cup

For the berry syrup:

Sugar

2/3 cup

Water

5/8 cup

Liqueur

1 tbsp (berry, optional)

Currants

10 oz (fresh or frozen, or any other berries of your choice)

For the angel food cake, sift flour (80 g) into a bowl, add half of the powdered sugar (95 g), vanilla sugar, and salt. Mix the dry mixture with a whisk to aerate it.

Add lemon juice to the egg whites and beat until soft peaks form.

While continuing to beat, gradually add the remaining powdered sugar and beat the egg whites until they form medium peaks.

Egg whites beaten to medium peaks do not drip as much from the whisk. A trace of the dropping egg white mass stays on the surface of the beaten mixture for some time. However, the egg white mass is still quite liquid and spills out of the bowl when tilted.

Fold the flour, salt, and sugar mixture into the beaten egg whites. Gently and quickly fold from top to bottom using a spatula.

Take a ring-shaped pan slightly sprayed with water and pour the batter into it, smoothing the surface.

Place the pan in a preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-30 minutes. The finished sponge cake will increase in size by about 1.5 times and will be covered with a golden crust.

Remove the pan with the sponge cake from the oven, flip it onto a rack or an inverted pan placed on a bottle with a tall neck, and let it cool completely. Use a knife along the edges to release the cake from the pan.

If the pan is not detachable, you can invert it and tap it gently so the cake comes out.

Prepare the syrup by boiling sugar and water. Place berries (I used fresh or frozen red currants) in a deep bowl. Pour the syrup over the berries. Add the liqueur and let it infuse.