American celebration dessert (cake served to celebrate)
Angel food cake to celebrate the crossing
FestiveEvocation🍯moyen1 h
An airy cake like a cloud, made from beaten egg whites, without a trace of butter, flavored with vanilla and topped with a light glaze. Its whiteness and height made it the highlight of homecoming parties and receptions.
Why this dish? To celebrate an achievement—her Atlantic crossing in 1928, her records—the American table brought out the grand cake. Angel food cake, a white cloud, light and immaculate, was THE cake for big occasions and receptions in the 1920s-30s, perfect for a heroine celebrated upon her return.
Every time I came back, there was the crowd, the reporters, and always this white cake as tall as a tower! They call it 'angel food cake' because it's so light it weighs nothing—nothing but egg whites beaten stiff, not a speck of butter. I'll admit I preferred the sky to the kitchen, but faced with a slice of that cloud, even an aviatrix stops for a minute. It's the sweetness of festive days, when you've landed the plane and can finally breathe.
Ingredients
- •Egg whites — a dozen (airy structure)
- •Fine sugar — a bowl (sweetness)
- •Cake flour — a bowl (structure)
- •Cream of tartar — a pinch (stabilizer for whites)
- •Vanilla — a few drops (flavor)
- •Salt — a pinch (balance)
How it was made : Born in the 19th century in America, angel food cake became a prestige dessert once whisks and home ovens became common: beating a dozen egg whites by hand was a feat. It was baked in a tin tube pan, inverted on a bottle neck to cool without collapsing.