ANGEL FOOD CAKE

12 egg whites, room temperature
1 1/2 cups caster sugar, divided in half
1 cup sifted cake flour (see note)
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tsp vanilla

preheat oven to 160 c.

in a small bowl, sift together 3/4 cup sugar and the cake flour. Set aside.

beat egg whites until just frothy, then add cream of tartar and salt.
beat until till just combined then add the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar in 4 additions.

once all the sugar has been added, beat egg whites to soft peaks.

once you have soft peaks, add the vanilla and beat for a few seconds.

fold in the flour/sugar mix in 6 additions, sifting it over the egg mix each addition.

spoon batter into an UNGREASED 9 inch tube tin with a removeable bottom. level the top with a spatula and tap the pan on a bench once or twice to remove air bubbles.

cook for 40 - 50 minutes, until the top springs back when lightly pressed.

remove from oven and turn tin upside down on a wire rack. leave UPSIDE DOWN to cool completely.

to remove cake, gently run a thin knife around the sides and centre of tin. push the bottom up to remove cake. place upside down on a plate and use the knife to remove rest of tin.

decorate as desired. I used whipped cream, sliced banana and fresh passionfruit.

NOTE: to make cake flour...measure one cup plain flour, take out 2 tablespoons and put in 2 tablespoons of cornflour. sift together.