Delicious Angel Food Cake

Delicious Angel Food Cake

Printable Recipe

 

 

I can't tell you why I've never tried to make an angel food cake. I guess  making it was a challenge since I'm not the best at "folding" ingredients together, especially when egg whites are involved. Nonetheless, I went on towards reaching a goal and success! The first two angel food cakes I made were amazing. I also made some down right delicious gluten free cakes and they were also great. The GF ones fell a little but they tasted great regardless of the way they looked.

Today's recipe is for a regular wheat-based cake but I will be providing a GF cake recipe one day when I have enough time. This blogging thing really is a lot of work. It usually takes an hour or more for one blog post. (In case you didn't know.)

 

Any who, let's get to the recipe, shall we?

 

Ingredients:

2cups superfine sugar (granulated, fine sugar)

1 1/3cups sifted cake flour

1 1/2cups egg whites at room temperature (I used liquid egg whites)

3/4tsp salt

1 1/2tsp cream of tartar

3/4tsp vanilla extract

 

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Make sure your oven is ready to go or your cake will fall flat.
Combine 1/2cup sugar with the flour and sift together 4 times. This really does make for a light and airy cake so I highly recommend doing this.
Place the eggs whites, salt and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat with the whisk attachment on high speed until stiff peaks form, approximately 1 minute. With the mixer on medium speed, add the remaining 1 1/2cups of sugar by sprinkling it over the egg whites. Whisk until thick and shiny then add the vanilla extract and whisk until thick, about another minute. Sift the flour mixture into the liquid mixture 1/4 at a time and fold into the batter with a rubber spatula.
Pour the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan, smooth the top and bake 35-40 minutes until it springs back to the touch. I baked mine 45-50 minutes so please watch your time carefully.
Remove the cake from the oven and invert on a cooling rack until completely cool.

 

 

Notes: The top of the cake is slightly crunchy while the remainder of the cake is light and airy. Cut any remaining pieces and wrap individually in plastic wrap and freeze up to 6 months. Remove from freezer and thaw on counter or microwave a few seconds until warm.

Eat this delicious treat and enjoy!

Paleo and Holistic Cold Remedy

Paleo and Holistic Cold Remedy

 

"Let food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be food." - Hippocrates

 

My kids have been sick a lot this year with colds and ear infections. I'm not a fan of sickness (but who is?) and hate it when my kids get sick. I hate it even more when two of them are sick.. and I hate it even more if they get sick and then heal and then I get sick. HATE IT!

I was on a quest for finding a holistic and paleo cold remedy and luckily, I had the mixture right inside my pantry. Fresh, local honey and ground cinnamon. I usually find anything I want to make on pinterest. Everyone said it worked so I tried it early this year when the kids got sick. My throat started feeling scratchy and my lower back started to ache - which for me is the ultimate sign of sickness coming on.

I took the specified concoction and I was surprised that it worked. It warded off the cold and I only had a few aches the first day and I was more tired than usual on the second day and by the third day, I felt normal again. No cold! 

 

So, how does honey and cinnamon work to heal you? Well, let's take a look at the two elements.

First, honey is the only food in the world that will not spoil. Did you know that? I didn't until recently and thought, "wow.. those bees sure do know what they're doing!"
Second, honey is an antimicrobial, which means that it kills microorganisms that carry disease. In other words, it will feast on the germs and kill them before they spread into your body.

And how about the cinnamon? What does that do internally?

Cinnamon treats antiviral infections. Research has shown that it is an antiviral remedy which will kill the cold and flu virus internally.

We put the antiviral (cold fighter) and the antimicrobial (germ fighter) together and the most precious sickness fighter you can imagine has been created.

 

I've tried this twice this year and the benefits are amazing. I am proof that this does work and will continue reaching into my pantry instead of a medicine cabinet from now on. If you look for naturally safe solutions, you will find it. Just keep looking and digging and experimenting.

Cold Remedy Ingredients:

Makes 3 servings (take 3 times a day)
1Tbsp local, raw honey
3/4tsp ground cinnamon

 

Directions:

Stir the honey and cinnamon together in a small container and take 1tsp 3x's daily until all cold/flu symptoms are gone.

 

I mixed up several days worth of this mixture and gladly ate all of it.

I am not a medical professional. This is my own assessment and I will not be held for any misuse of this remedy.
 

Please let me know if you try this and how you like the results!

~Angela

 

Homemade Gourmet Marshmallow's

Homemade Gourmet Marshmallow's

Printable Recipe

 

 

During my visits at being a vendor at my local market, I thought I'd give marshmallow making a try. The first recipe was a flop ... do not use pectin!
The second, third, fourth etc.. were awesome and spot on every time. This recipe is so simple but I must warn you, you need to have a stand up mixer. This will need to mix 15 minutes and I honestly don't know if you could do it with a hand-held. That's all you have? Give it a try and come back and let me know how it worked!

 

These pictures were from the marshmallow's I made for a beach-themed baby shower and the lucky lady was having a girl. Apparently when I left, the last few were fought over because they were so good.. and yes, they're so much better than store bought and taste amazing roasted! MMM!

 

 

Ingredients:

1.5cups water (3/4cup in sugar mixture, 3/4cup in gelatin mixture)

4 envelopes of unflavored gelatin

3cups granulated sugar

1 1/4cups light corn syrup

1/4tsp salt

2tsp vanilla extract

1cup (more or less) powdered sugar

 

Directions:Lightly spray a large jelly roll pan or 9x13 pan with any oil and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixter, combine 3/4cup water and the 4 gelatin packets.
Over medium-high heat, combine 3/4cup remaining water, granulated sugar, light corn syrup and salt and bring to a boil until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F on a candy thermometer.
With the whisk attachment on the mixter, carefully pour the hot mixture into the gelatin/water mixture on high speed for 15 minutes. The mixture will be light and fluffy and very stiff. After 15 minutes, add the 2tsp vanilla until completely incorporated.
 

 

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a lightly oiled spatula. Let rest 10-15 hours.

Sprinkle powdered sugar on top of marshmallow's and then flip out onto a cutting board (powdered sugar side down). Then sprinkle again on top. Cut into desired shapes and roll into remaining powdered sugar to prevent sticking.

 

I added about 10 drops red food coloring and swirled it in for a pink baby shower marshmallow.

I went a step further and dipped these halfway into chocolate and toasted coconut. I made some for the kids with mini chocolate chips on top of the dipped chocolate and also did a chocolate/white chocolate swirl.
*Note: If you dip these in chocolate, dust the excess powdered sugar off first or the chocolate won't stick.
These can be stored 2-3 weeks in an airtight container in the pantry or about 6 months in the freezer if tighly wrapped.

 

 

These also make excellet rice crispy treats as well as smores and can be placed on top of your coffee or hot chocolate. So good!

Eat and enjoy!