Anna Belle's Angel Food Cake

This might be the most important recipe I share with you. I’ve already written about both of my grandmothers (here and here), but this recipe is the one truly at the heart of my Dad's family. My grandma McGraw would always have an angel food cake around--I think I even remember her keeping them on-hand in her freezer. Cooking is something I enjoy, but it really was her gift. We have her on old family videos measuring with eggshells. Crazy! Everything in the kitchen was so intuitive to her.

So, to master this somewhat tedious recipe is really to see what wealth of knowledge she had that was so second nature to her.

Notice all of my notes I've had to add--it's a science!

Is it a little intimidating? Yes, but do it anyway! Just imagine how tasty that cake will be--heavenly, some would say. Ha! I couldn't resist.

So, let’s get started . . . Here's what you need to know before baking. It’s imperative that you set your eggs out the night before you plan on making your cake. They need to reach room temperature. If you forget to do this, then bake some cookies instead and save the cake for another day. Speaking from experience . . . just don’t even.

So how many eggs will you need? I buy a pack of 18 jumbo eggs to use; this gives me an extra or two if I mess one up (again, speaking from experience). Also, invest in one of these doo-dads. Using that thing was seriously the highlight of my morning.

Can I use a hand-mixer? Only if you plan on getting ripped at the same time. I let my kitchen aid whip the egg whites for 10-15 minutes.

Now, with all that said, these are the tips I’ve gathered from my family and my own experience. I’d love to know if you have any secrets for the perfect angel food cake!

 Anna Belle's Angel Food Cake

Verbatim from recipe card. My notes in italics.

Sift cake flour and measure: 1 1/3 cup + 3 tbl. cake flour and 1 1/3 cup + 3 tbl. granulated sugar. Sift together 7 times. 

Yes, you will be wearing some of this by the time you're done.

Have eggs at room temperature (leave out at least 6 hours, preferably overnight) and measure 2 1/3 cups egg whites (about 16 jumbo eggs). 

Beat with 2 tsp. cream of tartar, 2 tsp. vanilla, and 1/2 tsp. salt (until foamy). (Foamy means a solid, white foam, not egg froth.)

Beginning to beat the egg whites, 6-8 speed.

This is what foamy looks like, when you add the sugar.

Slowly add 3/4 cup sugar (about 4 speed). Should stand at high peak once thoroughly whipped. (Total whipping time is about 10-15 minutes.)

Folding in sifted mixture; pull from sides and bottom of the bowl.

All combined.

Don't skip this step! Run a knife through it to get rid of air bubbles.

Fold in sifted flour mixture little at a time and put in angel pan. Run dinner knife through mixture and bake at 350, 45 minutes or a little more. (Never take out early! Bake full time even if it looks browned.) I put a ring of foil around pan before baking. It should keep it from running over. (I don't do this.) If it's a little moist on top, bake until it's firm to the touch. Put over funnel to cool (or a beer bottle or soda bottle; cool inverted for about 30-45 minutes; dislodge from pan by running a dinner knife around the edge; scrape the crumbs on the side of the pan into a bowl for the best treat ever).

At 45 minutes, nice and fluffy, but I gave it 10 more to make sure it was done.

Mr. Adams is cooling bottle of choice today. Ignore the messy kitchen!

It's so tall! Egg whites, you did your job! 

The moment I flip this cake over to cool is always the most terrifying moment of my life, but by some miracle (all those egg whites), it works! Now it's time to relive my childhood and scrape the pan. 

Happy Easter weekend to everyone. Enjoy!

-Madison

Grandma's Recipes: Apple Dumplings

I like apple pie as much as the next red-blooded American, but oh boy, these apple dumplings are good. It’s like the perfect individual pie. I don’t need to tell you how fall this recipe is. It’s legit. My Grandma McCaskey penned this recipe, and believe me, it’s a treat for her to make these for you, because she’s typically very health conscious. (Her favorite joke to make, at my Grandpa’s expense, is to tell you he has Dunlap’s disease, because his belly ‘done lapped’ over his belt. She’s hysterical.)

My original recipe from Grandma calls for “easy flaky pastry” which, my Mom has penciled in, is code for store-bought refrigerated pie crust. Again, it’s not about what’s fancy; it’s about what’s good.

Apple Dumplings

Makes 6

Dumplings:

6 medium tart apples (McIntosh or Jonigold) 

*I used Granny Smith for 3 dumplings and Honeycrisp for 3 dumplings, just to experiment a bit. My pick is Honeycrisp.

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

several tablespoons of butter (I used 6-8)

1 recipe of easy flaky pastry (i.e. two store-bought pie crusts) 

*I used 3 pie crusts, because the crust is my favorite part, and it was easier for me to roll out the dumplings if I had a little extra pastry to work with. 

Syrup:

Apple peelings

1 1/2 cups boiling water 

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup butter

1/4 tsp cinnamon

about 1 tbsp lemon juice

Roll pastry into 6-7 in. circles about 1/8 in. thick. 

Peel and core apples, saving the peelings. I use a potato peeler and apple corer to do this. 

Place each apple in the center of a circle of dough. Fill the apples with the cinnamon sugar mixture (the 1/2 cup and 1 tsp mixture). Dot with butter (about 1 tbsp per apple). 

Moisten the edges of pastry with cold water. Wrap the apples up, pressing the edges of the pastry together. 

Place in a greased baking dish and chill. For the syrup, pour boiling water over the peelings. Simmer covered for 20 minutes. Drain off the syrup (I usually just fish out the apple peels with a slotted spoon), and add the rest of the ingredients to the apple liquid. Stir until combined. Pour over dumplings. You really can't skip the syrup; it's what makes the dumplings. 

Sprinkle with a little sugar and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes (a bit longer if you used more pastry like I did). 

Now, as for how to eat an apple dumpling--a hot debate in my family. Do you serve them hot, cold, or at room temperature? I personally like them at room temperature. I served mine up with whipped cream--so good--but my favorite way to eat apple dumplings is with milk poured over them. My grandpa and my mom do this--bizarre but delicious. 

So much pie crust . . . I'm in heaven!

Enjoy!

-Madison

  

Grandma's Recipes: Peanut Butter Cornflake Cookies

Welcome to a short two-post series! This recipe and the one I’ll share next time are from my grandmothers. At some point I realized I hadn’t shared any of their recipes, and that just seemed silly since they are the best cooks I know.

The other hallmark of these recipes is that they are very fall-like. Admittedly, peanut butter might not be your typical fall flavor, but for whatever reason, to me it is. Bonus: this fall has been awesome to Kansas City, and while you revel in the Chief's win from this afternoon, I suggest you go make these cookies for your friends you're about to watch the Sporting and/or Royals game with (for us it will be both--with so many overlapping sports seasons, this family has mastered the art of watching two TVs at once).

On to the food! Today it's peanut butter cornflake cookies—a relative of rice crispy treats. These come from my Grandma McGraw and are like crack (though she would never put it that way). PBCF cookies are one of my dad’s favorite treats, so of course my mom had to learn to make them, and so have I. This is one of the least complicated recipes from my Grandma McGraw, and if you knew her, you might have expected me to share a recipe like homemade noodles, chess pie, or angel food cake (her specialty), but I think this recipe shows that for her it wasn’t about making food pretentious or complicated, but it’s about what’s good.

Get ready for your new addiction (not talking about the Royals).

Peanut Butter Cornflake Cookies

The Major Players

Heat ½ cup sugar and ½ cup corn syrup just to a boil on the stove (in a fix, this can be done in the microwave). 

Stir in 1 cup peanut butter and 1 tsp of vanilla. 

(A note from my dad, the PBCF connoisseur: don’t skimp on your PB, buy the good brand!)

This is what it looks like--it doesn't take long to heat up.

Then remove from heat and stir in 3-4 cups of cornflakes. I like a high cornflake to PB ratio, so I add 4 cups. 

Dump it all into an 8 or 9 in. square pan, press down, and let cool.

Don't worry--it won't take long to cool either.

Yes, you have to let it cool.

Enjoy!

-Madison