Edna Lewiss Angel Food Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Take a large bowl, sift into it the measured flour, salt, soda and baking powder. Add the lard, and blend together with a pastry blender or your fingertips until the mixture has the texture of cornmeal.
• Add the milk all at once by scattering it over the dough. Stir vigorously with a stout wooden spoon. The dough will be very soft in the beginning but will stiffen in 2 or 3 minutes. Continue to stir a few minutes longer.
• After the dough has stiffened, scrape from sides of bowl into a ball, and spoon onto a lightly floured surface for rolling. Dust over lightly with about a tablespoon of flour as the dough will be a bit sticky. Flatten the dough out gently with your hands into a thick, round cake, and knead for a minute by folding the outer edge of the dough into the center of the circle, giving a light knead as you fold the sides in overlapping each other.
• Turn the folded side face down and dust lightly if needed, being careful not to use too much flour and cause the dough to become too stiff. Dust the rolling pin and the rolling surface well. Roll the dough out evenly to a 1/2-inch thickness or a bit less. Pierce the surface of the dough with a table fork. (It was said piercing the dough released the air while baking.)
• Dust the biscuit cutter in flour first; this will prevent the dough sticking to the cutter and ruining the shape of the biscuit. Dust the cutter as often as needed. An added feature to your light, tender biscuits will be their straight sides. This can be achieved by not wiggling the cutter. Press the cutter into the dough and lift up with a sharp quickness without a wiggle. Cut the biscuits very close together to avoid having big pieces of dough left in between each biscuit. Trying to piece together and rerolling leftover dough will change the texture of the biscuits.
• Place the biscuits 1/2 inch or more apart on a heavy cookie sheet or baking pan, preferably one with a bright surface. The biscuits brown more beautifully on a bright, shining pan than on a dull one, and a thick bottom helps to keep them from browning too much on the bottom. Set to bake in a preheated 450-degree oven for 13 minutes. Remove from the oven, and let them rest for 3 to 4 minutes. Serve hot.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour and 3/4 cups sugar and sift twice onto wax paper or a plate. Set aside.
• Put egg whites into a large mixing bowl and beat on low speed until frothy. Add cream of tartar, salt, vanilla and 1 tablespoon water. Continue beating, gradually increasing speed until egg whites begin to increase in volume. Sprinkle remaining 3/4 cup sugar over whites 1/4 cup at a time, and beat until incorporated. Do not overbeat. Egg whites should be just firm enough to form soft peaks.
• Sift 1/4 of the reserved flour and sugar mixture over beaten whites and fold in. Repeat until entire mixture has been added, making sure each addition is fully incorporated into whites before adding more.
• Spoon batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan. Use a long spatula or butter knife to draw a deep line through center of batter following circumference of pan; this will release any large pockets of air.
• Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until cake is golden brown and springs back to the touch. Remove from oven and invert onto a plate; cool completely in pan. When cooled, use a long straight-edged spatula to loosen cake from sides of pan. Store tightly covered.