Description

Swirls of fresh orange citrus and smooth vanilla accent this gorgeous, pillowy soft angel food cake.

Ingredients

Scale

12 large egg whites*, room temperature
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups superfine sugar**, divided
1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp fresh orange zest
2 tsp fresh orange juice
6 drops red food coloring
6 drops yellow food coloring

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Instructions

Position an oven rack on the lowest position and preheat oven to 375F. Make sure that the egg whites are room temperature and place them in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. In a second bowl, whisk together the flour and 3/4 cup of the sugar and set aside.
To the egg whites, add cream of tartar, salt, almond extract, and vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Start adding the remaining sugar a little at a time while beating on high until glossy stiff peaks form.
Very gently fold in the flour/sugar mixture, adding a bit at a time and making sure not to deflate the egg whites.
Spoon half of the batter into a 10-inch ungreased tube pan. To the remaining batter, add the orange zest, orange juice, and food colorings. Fold gently to combine. Transfer the orange batter to the pan and use a butter knife to cut through the batter, moving the knife through both layers, to slightly swirl the colors.
Bake on the lowest rack of oven for about 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden. Remove the cake and carefully invert the whole pan onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool upside down for at least an hour.
Take your time and run a knife between the cake and the pan - including the tube - to gently loosen the cake. Remove the cake from the pan by pushing gently on the removable bottom. Serve slices plain or with fresh fruit, yogurt, or whipped cream.

Notes

*Save those egg yolks! Use them in homemade ice cream, custards/yogurts, carbonaras, etc!
**Superfine sugar is often sold as caster sugar. It has a texture somewhere between granulated sugar and powdered sugar. I don't buy superfine sugar, I just use regular sugar and run it through my food processor until it's finer in texture.

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins