Our Little Angel Tradition

On birthdays, and sometimes for special nights — but mostly on birthdays, an Angel Food Cake always graces our table.

I think the tradition started, or evolved, because I have never liked cake — preferring pie instead. But my mom always insisted that I have cake. So, the Angel Food cake, sweeter than pie, but still cake, evolved from my own birthday. The boys began to look forward to my birthday cake, as my husband would always embellish the cake with home made whipping cream, and whatever fresh berries we could find at the grocery store. Now, this is the cake the boys always requests for their family birthdays.

I’d  like to make the Angel Food cake from scratch — ‘but the recipe calls for an outrageous number of eggs — 18 I think. And every Angel Food cake I have attempted to make has just fallen flat on its face. Literally. So, I settle for the box, that says, “just add water.” Really. That’s it. And it rises perfectly every time. Don’t ask me what’s in the box… nothing healthy, I’m sure of that.

I’ve made the boxed Angel Food cake so many times that I am ready with the perfect sized bottle of balsamic vinegar, ready by the oven, so that when I pull out the cake, I just flip the cake pan upside down on the lid, and let it hang there while it cools. I have no idea why the cake requires that, or why the entire thing just doesn’t fall out of the pan, pulled by gravity. Just one of those mysteries I’d like to remain a mystery. So, don’t explain that to me.

In a pinch, we can always pick an ready-made angel food cake up at the deli. Those, are just as nice too.