Light and heavenly angel food cake is a surprisingly easy recipe to make at home.

It does take a lot of egg whites, but is quite worth it.

The light and airy texture and mild sweetness make this one of the best cake recipes to use with sauces or fresh fruit.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Sift the sugar twice. Sift the flour, salt and 1/2 cup of sugar together 3 times. (This will ensure that the flour and sugar have absolutely no lumps and that they are all well mixed together.)

Whip the egg whites and water until foamy. Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites and continue to whip until they are stiff, but not dry. Whip in 1 tablespoon of the remaining sugar at a time. Fold in the vanilla and almond extract. Sift 1/4 cup of the flour and sugar mixture over the batter. Fold it in gently and briefly with a rubber spatula. Continue until all the flour mixture is used.

Pour the batter into an ungreased tube pan. Bake about 45 minutes in the preheated 350°F oven. Invert the pan and rest it on an inverted funnel or some other object that allows it to remain upside down. Let the cake hang for 90 minutes before removing it from the pan.

Makes one large angel food cake.

Topping and Filling Suggestions:

• This is my personal favorite, the one my mother used to make quite frequently:

Whip fresh cream. Drain a can of crushed pineapple very thoroughly. Mix the pineapple into the whipped cream. Use the mixture to "ice" the cake. Slice the cake through the middle to create two or three layers. Ice it with the whipped cream/pineapple mixture on each layer and all around the cake. Simple but amazing!

• This is my second favorite way to eat angel food cake. Use whipped cream to ice the layered cake as above. Instead of mixing the cream with pineapple, use it plain then spread the inside layer and the top of the cake with a layer of cherry or blueberry pie filling. Absolutely yummy!

• Angel cake really is a low fat cake so you can use it as a sweet treat on a low fat diet. Just slice the plain cake and serve it topped with fresh berries, sweetened or plain.

• Use the cake as the basis for strawberry shortcake. Either make individual cakes or simply slice the larger one. Top each slice with sweetened strawberries and whipped cream.