We had a wonderful Fourth of July. We celebrated in our traditional way by enjoying our town parade and fireworks at the lake.
Aliya got to walk in the parade this year as she is volunteering at the library this summer. She had a blast passing out candy to all the kids gathered on the street.
We went to the lake to watch the fireworks but to be quite honest the sunset was even more gorgeous.
It was a nice relaxing fourth with just the right amount of celebration and fun mixed in.
Every year, to go along with all our grilled food, I make strawberry and blueberry "shortcake" to enjoy as we celebrate. I was very hesitant about making angel food cake gluten-free as it has not turned out well in the past but it is our favorite cake to have strawberries on, so I had to give it another go. It actually turned out really well this time and I was pleasantly surprised.
Gluten Free Angel Food Cake
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups egg whites, from 10-11 large eggs
3/4 cup gluten-free all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Angel Food Cake
1. In the bowl mix the flour and powdered sugar together.
2. Place the egg whites (they should sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes) in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the salt and cream of tartar and beat until starting to foam.
3. Add the vanilla and almond extract and continue whipping on high speed.
4. Add the granulated sugar slowly, about 2 tablespoon at a time to the egg whites while they are whipping.
5. Continue whipping until stiff peaks form.
6. Slowly fold in the dry ingredients 1/4 a cup at a time with a spatula. Do this carefully and slowly so you don’t deflate the egg whites. The fluffier it is the better the cake will turn out.
7. Scoop batter in a ungreased, 10-inch round tube pan or 13x9. It absolutely must be ungreased in order for the eggs to stick to the pan which gives the cake its structure. It feels wrong but it will make it turn out right.
8. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes until lightly golden. Immediately invert pan onto a cooling rack when you remove it from the oven. Cool completely then run a knife along the edges of the pan and carefully plate the cake. Enjoy!
