Angel Food Cake with Strawberry Fondue Sauce
1 cup cake flour
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup warm water
Zest of 2 oranges
2-2 1/2 cups strawberries, finely chopped
1 1/4 cups plus 3 tablespoons half and half
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons vanilla
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1. With an electric mixer, whip egg whites, water, zest and cream of tartar until you have soft peaks.
2. As egg whites stiffen, whisk flour with half of sugar and salt. Sift into a bowl and set aside.
3. When eggs are ready, sift 1/4 of flour on top of eggs and fold in carefully with a spatula. Add remaining flour in 3 more batches.
4. Pour into an ungreased tube pan or angel food cake pan and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, or until cake is done (comes out dry when you poke a utensil inside).
5. Cool upside down for at least 1-2 hours before cutting. (Place on a cooling rack or on top of a glass–anything to keep cake elevated. It won’t fall out!)
6. Put strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a heavy sauce pan. Cook on medium low heat for 13-15 minutes, continuously breaking up berries as they heat.
7. Measure out 1 1/4 cups half and half into a separate bowl and plop a ladle of strawberries in the bowl. Whisk well.
8. Pour milky strawberries back into the original pot and stir well until incorporated. Turn heat down to low.
9. Stir cornstarch and vanilla into remaining half and half. Add to strawberries and continue mixing on the heat for another 3-5 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
10. Serve immediately in a fondue pot and get to dippin’! (The sauce also tastes great cold.)