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♥ Kate

Angel Food Cake

I know it's been a while since I last blogged. After TJ and I got back home from my sister's house the last time I just wanted to play some video games. So other than practicing harp and things around the house, it's what I've been primarily up to. I hadn't been in World of Warcraft recently, and well... I missed all of my online friends and just needed to veg/be a nerd! It felt pretty good. :)

Let's see, what all has happened since my last blog post? Oh! Easter of course, and I went down to San Diego with TJ because he was taking the test for the San Diego PD, then he had his 25th birthday, and my brother-in-law graduated with his Master's degree from USD!

Since I didn't put up a blog for Easter, I'm going to share some of our pics from it here. Enjoy! 

My super cute nephews! They looked so dashing, and are so ready to be models! :P 

Me, daddy, and my sister Carrie.

Myself and Carrie.

TJ and I. It might not look like we completely matched, but the turquoise bows I had in my hair totally went with his turquoise shirt!

Me giving my best America's Next Top Model look (I'm smizing!) while sporting the latest Easter fashion. In case you haven't heard what that is, it's wearing the ham netting on your head! What can I say, I'm a ham. XD

We also made sure we visited momma. Her Easter bouquet was gorgeous. I miss you momma. <3

Our Easter dinner was so yummy! Carrie hosted it at her house this year. Momma usually had it, but well... yeah... But Carrie did a fabulous job. We had a great ham, scalloped potatoes, and a bunch of other yummy things that I can't remember right now because it's been a month since Easter lol We needed dessert though, so I made two Angel Food Cakes. I'll get to posting how I did them in a little bit. I want to get caught up to today, so bear with me! But please enjoy these pictures of my family enjoying my cakes! :D

Even though I'm not a huge fan of cool whip or strawberries on my Angel Food Cake, my family loves it! So of course we had to have fresh cut strawberries and cool whip. Yum yum!

My brother-in-law Jeff, his mom, my sister Carrie, and my nephew Jackson enjoying cake!

My brother Chris and his fiance Shelley. Chris really only likes chocolate cake... and people say I'm picky! LOL That's okay though, Shelley got to enjoy his share hehe

Poppa definitely enjoyed the cake. He even got to enjoy a slice at home. He's lucky he even got one though because Angel Food is my absolute favorite! Mom would always make 2 for my birthday. One for me, and one for everyone else :P

Last weekend, Jeff graduated from USD with his masters degree. So for his party we all got to a cooking class that was hosted by M4U (please check them out here because they are awesome!!). Chef Marty really did a fabulous job and I learned so much. We got to watch him make 4 different entrees, and eat them! And let me tell you, they were all just fabulous. My absolute favorite was the Shrimp Capri over Fresh Angel Hair. It was seriously to die for. I scribbled all over the recipe page (we each got a packet of the recipes he made that evening) for the meal so I know have a recipe for homemade pasta! I just need a pasta machine... I definitely need to check out Ebay for that lol So hopefully sometime soon you'll be seeing me attempt that recipe!

Carrie and Jeff at his graduation. Congrats on your Masters!! I am so proud of you!!

So, that's pretty much everything that's happened since my last post. Which brings me to today. Today was kinda sucky to be honest. I know sucky isn't a word, but it expresses how I felt today. TJ and I went to see Thor in 3D which was really fun. I really liked it, and let me tell you, even if you're not into the whole comic-book thing, the guy who played Thor totally makes the movie worth it. He is so hot. I'm just saying. After that though is when the day got sucky. We had gotten a free small popcorn which was nice, but unfortunately it leaked butter all over the crotch of my pants. And I had no idea. At all. I didn't even notice until I was in the bathroom. I just about died because it looked like I had an accident. Talk about embarrassing!

When we got home I ended up having the starts of a migraine, which has decided it still wants to hang around, and I really wish that it wouldn't. If anyone is interested in a migraine, just let me know. I'll send it your way in no time flat! I don't mind sharing, promise! TJ put my jeans in the wash to try to get the butter stain out, and I changed into some pj shorts, only to find out I even got butter on the top of my brand new white shirt. It's not huge, just 3 small drops. But still, how did I manage that? *sigh* Oh, and I forgot to mention that I'm a little stressed about summer school. I can sign up for classes starting June 9th @ 6pm, but I'm worried that everything I want will be filled by then... like the baking class I want to take! It only has 7 spots left, and it's only May 27th! Needless to day, I decided I needed something sweet, and something I loved that I could eat and eat and eat and be very happy. So what did I make? Yup, you guessed it. Angel Food Cake. So now it's time for pictures!!

I will admit it, I used cake mixes. But they are so easy and quick, and taste great! I remember my mom and gram telling me how scratch Angel Food Cakes weren't worth it for them because they almost always collapsed. I haven't personally tried making one yet, but it is on my to-do list! But for quick and yummy cake, this box mix tastes just fine.

I know the box tells you what to do, but I personally like seeing pictures so I know I'm doing it right. First step, add the mix to your bowl.

Second step, add the water to the mix.

Third step, beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then on medium speed for 1 minute. Done.

Pour into ungreased Angel Food Cake pans and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes. Be sure that you take out the extra rack from your oven and that the remaining rack is in the lowest position.

When the cake is done, immediately turn upside down onto a glass bottle of some kind and cool completely.

 

Don't they look great? And they were so easy!

After they're doing cooling take a knife to all the edges to loosen the cake from the pan. When I say all edges, I do mean all! Don't forget about the middle like I did :P I was wondering why the cake wasn't coming out of the pan until my dad asked me if I had cut around the center... yeah. I seriously /facepalmed right there.

They look kind of naked don't they? That's why we're going to make some frosting for them! Unfortunately for me I forgot to ask mom how she made her frosting before she passed away. I was really heartbroken when I realized that I never asked. I mean, for me, Angel Food Cake isn't Angel Food Cake without frosting! The frosting is what makes it so delicious! But thankfully my grandma in Nebraska (my dad's mom) still makes frosting for Angel Food Cake, so I used her recipe. I think it came pretty close to what I remember.

Here's everything you need for the frosting. Powdered Sugar, butter, salt, vanilla, milk, and crumbs leftover in the pans from the cakes. The food coloring is optional. Mom never used  it for my birthday cakes, but I thought it'd make the cakes look really pretty for Easter.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the process because I was short on time, but it's really easy. The only difficulty I had with it is that my grandma doesn't use set measurements. It's a little of this, a little of that type of stuff. So you'll just have to play with it.

You start off with shaking roughly 1/2 a box of powdered sugar into your mixing bowl, add a pinch of salt, then add anywhere from 1/4 cup to a 1/3 of a cup of softened butter to the sugar and combine it. Next you add 1 tsp of vanilla and combine. Then start adding your milk. I started off with about 1/4 cup of milk, but as I said, you'll just have to play with it a little. You don't want it to be too thick, but you don't want it to be too runny. Basically, you're looking for something like a glaze. You want it runny enough to easily cover the cake when you ice it though. So if it looks like it's getting to thick, add some more milk. If it looks too runny, add some more powdered sugar. Once it's at the correct consistency, add in your cake crumbs and then ice the cake!

Here's how they turned out. Just like I remember, but... more colorful!

Don't forget to serve with fresh cut strawberries and cool whip.

I can't wait to enjoy my Angel Food cake. It's sitting downstairs on my Worchestire sauce bottle cooling. I'll make the frosting for it tomorrow after my raid in World of Warcraft tomorrow morning. I know I can't wait to eat it!

<3 Kate

Angel Food Cake Frosting                     [click to print]

Frosts 1 Cake

Ingredients

powdered sugar

1/4 cup - 1/3 cup butter, softened

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla

milk

cake crumbs from cake pan

Method

Add about 1 cup of powdered sugar to your mixer bowl, then add your pinch of salt, and softened butter. Combine. Add the vanilla and combine again. Then add milk until you gain the desired consistency. If the frosting becomes too runny, add more powdered sugar. If it becomes too thick, add more milk. You want the frosting to be runny enough so that it's easy to frost with and will sort of run down the sides of the cake when frosting.

Once the frosting reaches the desired consistency, stir in the cake crumbs and frost your cake. Enjoy!