Maple Angel Food Cake w/ Maple Icing

My mother-in-law loves anything and everything maple. Her favorite line from Elf is, “Is there sugar in syrup?” “Then, YES!”

We just had a birthday dinner over at our house for her and so I thought I would make her a maple dessert.  I made a maple angel food cake a number of years ago for her that she loved.  I thought it was good, but I thought it could have been better.  So, I did a little research on icing and frosting with maple flavoring and set out to bake the perfect angel food cake.

Along the way, my husband and I made a run to World Market and picked up some maple flavored snacks.  We discovered that the latest trend in maple flavored goodies is to add bacon (of course!).

Informed by my research, I thought it would be fun to make my maple angel food cake with a side of bacon.  I call it Maple Angel (with a Devil on it’s shoulder) Food Cake.  And let’s just say it was a hit with the entire family.  Each family member got the choice to add the bacon or have the cake as is, so everybody was happy.

Making an angel food cake is so visually rewarding!  It is one of my favorite cakes to make because each step is so beautiful.  The change from off-white egg whites to frothy egg whites to perfectly whipped bright white egg whites is amazing  – it feels magical!

Here’s my mixer, Nellie, with the egg whites all ready to be whipped. Nellie did all the work for this cake, so I just got to sit back and watch.

Nellie quickly got the egg whites all frothy so I could add the cream of tartar and the salt and then set her working again.

This is the transformation that happens after a couple of minutes of whipping egg whites with tartar and salt.

And here is the beautiful white, stiff peaks you get after adding sugar while the mixer is whipping away!

Folding in the syrup and extract followed by the flour is kind of therapeutic – just make sure you don’t over mix!

And then your mixture is ready for the oven.  Just make sure you don’t lift the pan from the center (yes, I did it! but it all worked out okay!).

So here’s what you need and how to do it.

Maple Angel Food Cake

Ingredients/Materials

• 1 & 1/2 c. egg whites
• 1 & 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 & 1/4 c. granulated sugar – separated
• 1 tsp. maple extract
• 3 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
• A mixer with a whisk attachment (affiliate link)
• an angel food cake pan (affiliate link)

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 375 F
2.  Attach the whisk to the mixer and whip the egg whites until foamy.
3. Add cream of tartar and salt and continue whipping until soft peaks form.
4. With the mixer running, gradually add 1 cup of granulated sugar.  Continue whipping until the mixture is stiff and the sugar is dissolved.
5. Fold in maple extract and maple syrup.
6. Sift remaining 1/4 c. granulated sugar with the cake flour.  Fold into the egg white mixture.
7. Spoon batter into the angel food pan (un-greased) and smooth the top with the back of the spoon.
8. Bake until golden brown, about 30-35 minutes.
9. Cool the cake by hanging the cake in the pan upside down around the neck of a bottle until it is fully cooled.
10. Run a long sharp knife around the cake to loosen and drop it onto a cake plate.

Maple Icing (modified from The Novice Chef)

• whole milk (less than 1/4 cup)
• 3 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp. maple extract
• 1 and 1/4 cup powdered sugar

1. Start with a half tsp. of whole milk and stir in wet ingredients in a small bowl.
2. Add powdered sugar and stir with a whisk.
3. If the icing is too thick (or not pourable) add more milk by 1/2 tsp. increments until desired consistency.

If you are so inclined you can add crumbled bacon to the top of your angel food cake.   If you and your guests tend to be less adventurous, you can serve the cake on a cake plate with bacon crumbles on the side.  But it is always worth a try, right?