Springform says, kiss my bundt.

For Curley’s birthday last week I offered to make any cake her little heart desired. I had emailed through a few suggestions and while her general response was one of ‘surprise me’, she suggested a few delights that were some of her favourites, one in particular, Angel Food Cake (AFC).

Now a few preliminary comments regarding AFC:

1. AFC doesn’t exist in the UK, a few folks have heard of it; likely from being mentioned on an episode of 90210 or the Hills, but it’s not something you can pick up in the store or in a bakery
2. AFC (for those that don’t know) is a fat-free cake make with an exorbitant amount of eggs whites, which should ideally result in a light and airy type cake. Sometimes it’s then garnished with frosting or whipped cream
3. AFC was the one thing my mom always bought in a store. When I gave her a call to find out if she’d ever made AFC before she said: “Honey, I made one about 30 years ago – it stuck to the pan and I couldn’t get it out. Never again. It wasn’t worth it when the store ones were pretty good.”

Always up for a culinary challenge, I decided to go for it. I found a recipe with decent reviews that called for 9 egg whites (many others listing up to a dozen). I figured if nothing else it would be a bit of an adventure to make.

So with not much to go on I did a bit of research. Apparently AFC requires a special AFC pan. It looks somewhat like a Bundt pan but it has 'feet' for it to rest on. Some have removable bottoms like Springform pans. It’s critical (apparently) that you don't use a non-stick pan so the batter can grip the sides and pull itself up.

I was surprised and had a few chuckles over how many discussion boards there are on this topic. Shuffling through all of the research and opinions I felt like I was embarking on a science experiment.

So with no AFC pan in sight I basically had two choices – a silicone Bundt pan or a Springform pan (not non-stick). Many opinions I'd read said that you needed the hole in the middle of the pan for the cake to ‘rise up’. However, if a non-stick or silicone pan was used it would be flat and listless. Having to buckle down and make a choice, I went the Springform pan route thinking that avoiding a non-stick pan trumped using one with a hole in the middle.

And I'm happy to report that for whatever reason, it did actually work. Contrary to many naysayers who'd posted messages that said, without a AFC pan your AFC "will be a disaster."

Who knows, maybe they just didn't have the special 'touch' required?

All of that said, was it remarkably better than the store bought ones of my youth? Will I make it again anytime soon? Probably not. But once slathered in chocolate frosting, was a super crowd pleaser for Curley and her friends.

Ready Freddie?

January’s Guilty Pleasure’s theme was the fantasmical “Night of One Thousand Freddies," marking the 40^th anniversary of Queen. Ah-mazing.

To give a bit of background into falling in love with this theme; when I was a wee one I got a massive Sony 5-disc CD changer for my 12th birthday. With my shiny new present unwrapped, clearly the next step was to head down to Caldor’s to buy a few CDs and give it a test drive.

Contrary to my cheesy taste in music back then, it wasn't the Bangles, NKOTB, or Salt ‘n Pepa that I headed straight for. Yes people, heavily influenced by 3 older siblings and growing up on a diet of Classic Rock and Entenmann's - it was Queen’s Greatest Hits I.

Considering the homage that was due, I was posed with a basic (but difficult) question. What on earth type of cupcake might represent Freddie? Could I dress it up in drag ala I Want to Break Free? Frost them in black and white in honour of Freddie's magnificent outfit in We Are the Champions…

Thinking about it long and hard (about 10 minutes whereby I made the question my facebook status and waited for suggestions), I decided really – was there anything more iconic than Freddie’s beautiful moustache?

With that I prepped some Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes (a nice staple, erring slightly on the dense side) from the Martha Stewart Cupcake cookbook, used some Vanilla Buttercream which was leftover and had been in my freezer for about 6 weeks (still tasting...parfait), and whipped up some Chocolate, Sour Cream, & Cream Cheese frosting (also from Miss Stewart but with reduced fat SC and CC instead) for the perfect 'stache.

The chocolate frosting ended up a little thinner than normal, making the consistency similar to that of a thick pudding (which then became a self-fufilling prophecy as couldn't stop shovelling it into my mouth like it WAS pudding). I bordered on disgusting. I was feeling a little Chunk-like from Goonies. Particularly because I'd forgotten to reduce the recipe by 3/4 (as originally planned) and had a massive bowl that could have frosted about 4 dozen cupcakes let alone decorate 2 dozen with mini-moustaches. Good thing using up the Vanilla Buttercream freed up that space in the freezer, eh?