The Crazy Kitchen: The Great Bloggers Bake Off - Week 1 - Angel Food Cake

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Wednesday 21 August 2013

The Great Bloggers Bake Off - Week 1 - Angel Food Cake

So now we've all seen how to do it, or rather  how not to do it (make sure you know your salt from your sugar), it's time to grab your pinny and get baking.

You have 3 options this week :

  • Sandwich Cake
  • Angel Food Cake
  • Chocolate Show Stopper
There are plenty of cakes that will fit into these categories and we're hoping to see some fabulous creations. If you're not used to baking I would suggest starting with a simple Victoria Sponge - I have a recipe here, and Jenny has a slightly different one here.

You can add different flavours to either the cake or the filling. You can go with the traditional jam and cream or try a buttercream. Whichever way you choose to make it remember that this challenge is all about having a bit of fun as well as maybe picking up a few tips along the way - and possibly learning from our mistakes.

We can't all be perfect on our first attempt, or even 2nd, third or fourth, and I know I've had plenty of sunken cakes in my time - one of my best sunken cakes was this Triple Layer Chocolate Fudge Caramel Cake. I never cried and collapsed into a heap when it sank, I used it as an opportunity to fill the cavity with extra caramel sauce and Rolos. I can assure you that nobody noticed the dip in the cake once they were tucking in.  I believe that if you can follow instructions and you have the right equipment you can bake a cake - although there are some of you that would beg to differ (you know who you are!).

The Great Bloggers Bake Off can also be used to challenge ourselves and try out something that we've never tried before. We are all here to help each other and share our tips of what worked and what didn't.

I was going to make another Victoria Sandwich with different flavours but at the last minute decided that I would attempt an Angel Food Cake as I've never made one before. After watching the show I was a little apprehensive to say the least but I don't think having full instructions helped the contestants in any way, and actually it's a lot easier than it looked. I used a recipe found on the goodtoknow website & adjusted quantities slightly. It takes time and a little patience so make sure you have plenty of both.

Angel Food Cake

So why not challenge yourself and bake something new. You don't need to join in every week, but if you join in a minimum of 6 of the challenges you will be in with a chance of winning some great prizes at the end in our draw - more details on that to come soon. 

Although it's all for a bit of fun we do have to have a few rules which you can find at the bottom of this post along with the linky to link up your own recipes. The linky can also be found on my co-host's blog - the lovely Jenny Berry (I'm Helen Hollywood due to the blue eyes and because I'm the younger one *cough*).

Angel Food Cake

Angel Food Cake

115g Plain flour
75g Icing sugar
6 Egg whites
pinch of cream of tartar
185g Caster sugar

Frosting

335g granulated sugar
pinch of cream of tartar
2 egg whites

Tin : I used a 9" springform pan with a ring insert - you could use a bundt tin or a ring tin


  • Sift the flour and icing sugar together & make sure they are well mixed.
  • Whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff
  • Whisk in the caster sugar gradually, a spoonful at a time.
  • Gradually sift in the flour & sugar mixture, folding in between each addition using a large metal spoon.
  • Spoon the mixture into the tin (I greased the tin very lightly on the bottom, not the sides)
  • Bake in a 180 C oven for 30 minutes (if you increase the quantities you will need to increase the cooking time) until the cake is firm to the touch
  • Remove the cake from the oven and invert the tin onto a wire rack & leave to cool completely
  • Once cool slide a knife around the sides of the tin & ease the cake out
  • To make the frosting pour 200ml of water into a saucepan
  • Add the sugar & cream of tartar
  • Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved & then increase the heat & boil rapidly for around 10 minutes, until the temperature reaches 114 C (I used a meat thermometer!)
  • Whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff
  • Pour the syrup slowly into the egg whites with the motor of the mixer still running until it has all been added and the frosting forms stiff peaks
  • Decorate the cake as desired - I added fresh strawberries and lemon curd thinned with a little water
    Angel Food Cake Angel Food Cake

Now for the boring part....

Rules
  • all recipes must be a new post and not an old one linked up
  • all recipes must fit the themes set by that week’s Great British Bake Off episode
  • all entries must carry the GBBO badge (designed by Annie – thank you)
  • all entries must also carry these links to Jenny and myself please  http://www.thecrazykitchen.co.uk/p/the-great-bloggers-bake-off.html  and http://www.mummymishaps.co.uk/category/gbbo
  • all entries must be linked up on either mine or Jenny Berry’s blog by 8pm each Sunday night (click on our GBBO badges to find the linky posts)
  • please tweet myself @jessies_kitchen and/or @JennyPaulin using the hashtag #GreatBloggersBakeOff and we will RT all entries that we see
GreatBloggersBakeOff
Grab our button
and join in

We can't wait to see what you've baked!

13 comments:

  1. Wow that looks amazing!!! It's beautiful. I always feel inspired to bake (and a bit hungry) after reading your blog x x

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  2. I'm one of those cant bake a cake people. My sponge cakes are more like biscuits, but I'm definitely going to join in next week.

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  3. Wow, this is stunning. I so want to try to make one after watching GBBO.

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  4. Yours looks amazing! I'm really glad this has given me a reason to bake something I've never tried before.

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  5. I'd never heard of Angel Food Cake until this episode of GBBO. I wasn't brave enough to give it a go without the fancy tin with legs. Yours looks amazing!

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  6. So impressed! We're not nearly brave enough to attempt this - and I'm not sure gluten free flour would work anyway!

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  7. It looks divine - wouldn't that make a gorgeous wedding cake!? =)

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  8. Love it. Will try to join in. Eldest's birthday next week xxx

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  9. Love it. Will try to join in. Eldest's birthday next week xxx

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  10. That looks beautiful and I have never heard of Italian meringue before, so I shall go and investigate how to make it

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  11. You have my word that before your linky is out I promise I will try and bake something and blog about it! You are very special as you know I don't bake. I will dust off the Kenwood. ;)

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  12. That's amazing, your decorating skills are brilliant!

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  13. It looks gorgeous. I am definitely going to try it once I have some sort of tin.

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