Angel Food Cake... and custard pudding!

Okay, here is a two-part recipe. Have you ever made angel food cake? Well, I did for the first time, and it turned out beautifully, as you can see in the photo on the right. But if you have ever made angel food cake, you will know that it uses only egg whites. What to do with the left over yolks? I have a simple solution, and added the recipe at the bottom.

Ingredients:

10-12 egg whites (save the yolks!!) at room temperature
1 1/2 cups of castor sugar
1 cup of sifted cake flour
1 tsp Cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract

Directions:

1) Mix together 3/4 cup of sugar and all the flour.
2) In another bowl, beat the egg whites until they become as frothy.
3) Add cream of tartar and salt, and beat until fully mixed.
4) Add sugar very gradually, beating the whole time. You want your mixture to be thick enough to peak gently, but not thick enough to stand peaked on its own.
5) Once it is softly peaking, add the vanilla and almond extract and beat gently once more to mix in.
6) Gently mix in the flour and sugar. Take your time - you need it evenly mixed but still fluffy.
7) Gently spoon the batter into an un-greased angel-food tube pan. Smooth it gently with a spatula and tap it a few times on the counter to release bubbles.
8) Bake for 50-60 minutes at 160 degrees celcius. The top of the cake should spring back when lightly pressed.

Cooking and serving tips:

* Do not grease your pan. I repeat: DO NOT GREASE YOUR PAN. If you do, the cake will not rise to its full fluffy potential.
* Be sure to cool the cake inside the pan. This is because the cake will set as it cools, so keeping it inverted will prevent it from collapsing.
* Turn your pan upside-down to cool for best results.
* Cakes like this are best cut with a serrated knife to avoid squishing it.
* Cake flour is much lighter than regular flour. Best not to substitute with this recipe.
* If you can't find castor sugar, you can make superfine sugar by running regular sugar in a blender or a couple minutes until it thins out.
* Ideally you should use a real tube pan for easy loading. Technically you can also use a bundt pan, but it is more difficult to remove the cake after it has cooled.


WHAT TO DO WITH THE LEFTOVER EGG YOLKS?

Oh those poor egg yolks, set aside with no hope of joining their brothers in the angel food! But not to fear - the perfect use is here. One thing that you must prepare in advance, though, are ramequins. For those of you living in Japan, you can get these cheap at 100-yen kitchen stores like Kitchen Kitchen.

Baked Egg Custard

Ingredients:

1 cup of canned evaporated milk (ideally) or whole milk
5 egg yolks (per batch, so make this twice to use them all - 4 servings per batch)
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
a pinch of ground nutmeg for decoration

Directions:

1) Combine milk and 1 cup of water in a saucepan. Heat at medium until scalding. (Just before boiling point.)
2) Beat the yolks in a bowl, add sugar and vanilla.
3) Slowly pour into the hot milk, stirring constantly.
4) Pour mixture into four 1/2 cup ramequins (per batch) and place in a baking pan.
5) Fill the pan with hot water to come halfway up the sides of the ramequins.
6) Sprinkle with nutmeg and bake for 40-45 minutes at 160 degrees celcius.

Cooking tips:

* You can serve them hot or cold.
* If you don't add the water in the pan while baking, the custard will come out dry and burnt. Imagine you are steaming them.
* Use whole milk instead of low-fat: the custard will set much better.