easter completely caught me by surprise this year. i swear it was just new years eve yet somehow the easter bunny has already come and gone. this past saturday, in a last ditch effort to stock up on peeps and cadbury creme eggs, i headed to target only to have my initial thoughts reinforced. i was definetly too late. now, i try to explain this to my mom but she doesn't understand because to her (and me) target is and always has been a safe haven. a wonderful place to casually stroll the aisles, browsing and buying things that you don't really need but love to have. well, my target at atlantic terminal in brooklyn is not that. i shouldn't complain because its great to even be near a target, but this one is a mad house. it is like grand central terminal during the morning rush hour, but its like that all the time. at any given moment, it seems like every person in brooklyn is shopping at target.
to get to the point, when i finally made it past the throngs of people and back to the easter aisles my mouth literally dropped in shock. there was nothing left. not one single peep. not a cadbury creme egg in sight. candy wrappers and a few scattered jelly beans were all that was left of the target easter display. in the end i made it out of there with one bag of easter reese's peanut butter cups and a generic bag of jelly beans. thanks goodness that i had saved our easter baskets from last year!
the next morning when we woke up and found our baskets hidden from the easter bunny (i.e. me in my pajamas, sneaking around my snoring boyfriend and placing jelly beans on his nightstand) it didn't really matter because they looked great and its the thought that counts... but i still felt a little guilty so planned to make a very delicious angel food cake to really make it feel like easter. my dad, whose birthday is next week, loves angel food cake and so it feels like tradition to eat angel food cake in april. and this is one angel food cake that he would have loved.
angel food cake (especially with a hint of almond extract) is perfect on its own, but angel food cake with strawberries and sweet, silky whipped cream is better. even my boyfriend, who as it turns out doesn't like angel food cake, became a convert because he wolfed down two big slices in about ten seconds flat. so in the end, with the sun shining, the birds chirping, and a delicious angel food cake on the table, it ended up being a pretty wonderful easter sunday.
Angel Food Cake
Alton Brown
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cake flour, sifted
12 egg whites (the closer to room temperature the better)
1/3 cup warm water
1 teaspoon almond extract (or extract of your choice)
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tarter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor spin sugar for about 2 minutes until it is superfine. Sift half of the sugar with the salt and the cake flour. Set the remaining sugar aside.
In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment on low, combine the egg whites, water, almond extract, and cream of tarter. After 2 minutes slowly sift in the reserved sugar, beating continuously at medium speed. Once you have achieved medium peaks, turn off the mixer. Gently sift the flour mixture in to dust the top of the foam. Using a spatula fold in gently. Continue in batches until all of the flour is incorporated.
Carefully spoon the mixture into an ungreased tube pan. Bake for 35 minutes before checking for doneness with a wooden skewer. (When inserted halfway between inner and outer wall, the skewer should come out dry.) Cook upside down on cooling rack for at least an hour before removing from pan.
Whipped Cream
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
to get to the point, when i finally made it past the throngs of people and back to the easter aisles my mouth literally dropped in shock. there was nothing left. not one single peep. not a cadbury creme egg in sight. candy wrappers and a few scattered jelly beans were all that was left of the target easter display. in the end i made it out of there with one bag of easter reese's peanut butter cups and a generic bag of jelly beans. thanks goodness that i had saved our easter baskets from last year!
the next morning when we woke up and found our baskets hidden from the easter bunny (i.e. me in my pajamas, sneaking around my snoring boyfriend and placing jelly beans on his nightstand) it didn't really matter because they looked great and its the thought that counts... but i still felt a little guilty so planned to make a very delicious angel food cake to really make it feel like easter. my dad, whose birthday is next week, loves angel food cake and so it feels like tradition to eat angel food cake in april. and this is one angel food cake that he would have loved.
angel food cake (especially with a hint of almond extract) is perfect on its own, but angel food cake with strawberries and sweet, silky whipped cream is better. even my boyfriend, who as it turns out doesn't like angel food cake, became a convert because he wolfed down two big slices in about ten seconds flat. so in the end, with the sun shining, the birds chirping, and a delicious angel food cake on the table, it ended up being a pretty wonderful easter sunday.
Angel Food Cake
Alton Brown
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cake flour, sifted
12 egg whites (the closer to room temperature the better)
1/3 cup warm water
1 teaspoon almond extract (or extract of your choice)
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tarter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor spin sugar for about 2 minutes until it is superfine. Sift half of the sugar with the salt and the cake flour. Set the remaining sugar aside.
In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment on low, combine the egg whites, water, almond extract, and cream of tarter. After 2 minutes slowly sift in the reserved sugar, beating continuously at medium speed. Once you have achieved medium peaks, turn off the mixer. Gently sift the flour mixture in to dust the top of the foam. Using a spatula fold in gently. Continue in batches until all of the flour is incorporated.
Carefully spoon the mixture into an ungreased tube pan. Bake for 35 minutes before checking for doneness with a wooden skewer. (When inserted halfway between inner and outer wall, the skewer should come out dry.) Cook upside down on cooling rack for at least an hour before removing from pan.
Whipped Cream
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Whip the cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. When it starts to thicken, add the sugar and vanilla. Continue whisking until it creates stiff peaks. Serve immediately.
nothing better than a lighter than air angel food cake with strawberries.
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