Healthy Angel Food Cake with Orange Essence and Agave Nectar

I was so happy when I saw this recipe! Just because I am watching my waistline doesn't mean that I should have to give up dessert! This cake was out of this world delicious and was completely guilt free!

Angel Food Cake with Orange Essence and Agave Nectar

• 3/4 cup cake flour
• 10 egg whites
• grated rind of one orange
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup light agave syrup (I used regular agave nectar instead of light and shaved off a little of the 1/2 cup..you can do it either way)
  

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees

You can use either a fluted or tube cake pan for this recipe. Spray with cooking spray made for baking (it contains flour so the cake won't stick to the pan).

Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks and reserve the egg whites in a bowl. Discard the egg yolks.


Use a zester and remove the rind from the orange. You'll want to use a knife to break it down into small pieces so it isn't big strips of zest. You want little specs of it throughout the cake.


Sift the cake flour three times. Yes, you read that correctly...three times! This will make sure you have a nice fluffy and airy cake! Once the flour is sifted add the orange zest and set aside.

I always measure out all of my ingredients ahead of time, so this is where I measure the cream of tartar and vanilla so they are ready to add when I need it! This makes a big difference for me!

Add the egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer and begin beating at high speed.

Once the egg whites start looking frothy add the cream of tartar. It should only take a few minutes to get to the frothy stage.

Once you have added the cream of tartar, continue to beat on high speed until soft peaks form. They will look like this...

Once you have reached the soft peak stage, with the motor running, add the agave nectar in a steady stream. Continue beating until it begins to look glossy.

Now add the vanilla extract and beat a little more to incorporate.

On low speed add the flour and mix only long enough for it to mix in. Do not over beat or you will deflate your batter.

Spoon the batter into your prepared cake pan and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until it is just slightly golden brown and springs back when pressed with your finger tip.

***Very important******

IMMEDIATELY remove the cake from the cake pan, like AS SOON as you take it out of the oven. Have your plate waiting to flip it on. If you do not take the cake out quickly it will stick to your pan AND it will completely deflate. Even just the amount of time it took for me to photograph my cake slightly deflated mine, but it wasn't too bad.


This cake was so good! I wanted to make a strawberry syrup to go with it, so I took a shortcut. I had reduced sugar strawberry preserves in the fridge. I put about 1/2 a tablespoon in the microwave for about 10 seconds and that made a really good syrup base for my piece of cake! Topped that off with a little fat free cool whip and a fresh strawberry. All for only 147 calories per serving!


Source: Kitchen Daily