Angel food cake is such an amazing and underrated dessert that is perfect for showcasing any seasonal fruit. However, a major barrier to making this classic recipe is that it is baked in a non-non-stick (in other words a stick) tube pan. These take up a lot of space in the pantry considering that there are a rare handful of recipes that use these clunky pans. Making angel food cake in a loaf pan is a little bit trickier but if you take a few extra simple steps, the loaf pan works beautifully.

I have used the angel food loaf to prepare a raspberry shortcake, but it is an ideal medium for presenting any fruit that you might have lying around your house. Maybe even make some custard or lemon curd to go on top (and I’m not just saying that because you will have half a dozen yolks lying around after making this recipe). 

Prep time: 45 minutes

Bake time: 25 minutes

Makes 6 Modest Servings

Angel Food Cake

1 Cup of Egg Whites (6-8 Large Eggs)

1 Tablespoon of Lemon or Lime Juice

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

⅓ Cup Granulated Sugar

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

½ Cup of All-Purpose Flour

1 Tablespoon Cornstarch

Whipped Cream

1 cup Heavy Cream

½ Teaspoon Vanilla

Fruit Sauce

1 Cup of Fruit (any non-watery fruits should work; I used raspberries and strawberries)

2 Tablespoons Water

2 Tablespoons Sugar (Depending on the sweetness of the fruits; I used honey instead)

Have additional fresh fruit to put on top

1. Whisk together the egg whites, citrus juice, and salt until soft foamy peaks form.
2. While the eggs are whisking (or perhaps before they are mixing if you do not have a stand mixer), sift together the flour, powdered sugar, and cornstarch into a bowl. 
3. Once the egg whites are at soft peaks slowly add in the granulated sugar while whisking and continue to mix until the mixture holds a firm peak when the whisk or beaters are pulled up. You should be able to turn the bowl of meringue over without anything falling out. Add in the vanilla at this point and beat it in until just combined.
4. Sift the half of the dry ingredients (again) over the egg whites and give this mixture a few light folds. Be gentle and mix minimally; the goal is to combine the dry ingredients while mixing as little as possible so that the air in the egg whites does not deflate. 
5. Sift the rest of the dry ingredients on top and fold once more until there are no streaks or clumps of flour.
6. Transfer the batter into an ungreased loaf tin (not nonstick) and spread it evenly into the tin. Use a skewer (or another long narrow object) and run it through the batter in the pan to eliminate any large pockets of air that are hidden within the batter. Make sure that the skewer is touching the bottom of the pan and that you are getting into the corners. If this step is skipped, the final cake will have big holes which make it look like swiss cheese.
7. Bake in the preheated 325-degree oven for 20-25 minutes. A stick inserted into the center should come out clean.
8. Once it is pulled out of the oven, immediately invert the whole tray upside down. I put two ramekins at the ends of the loaf tin so that the cake was raised about the tabletop. Let the cake cool in this position for an hour. If the cake is not cooled like this, it will deflate while it is cooling.
9. While the cake is cooling whip the cream and vanilla to soft peaks.
10. Make the fruit sauce by stirring all of the ingredients together in a pan over medium heat and boil the mixture for 5 minutes. Mash the fruit with a fork at the end of the process if needed.
11. Serve the angel food cake by cutting a slice, smothering a generous amount of whipped cream on top, spooning some fruit sauce on top of that, and finally topping with some fresh fruit.