Grenadine Angel Food Cake

When you hear the ingredient "grenadine", what's the first thing you think of? A Shirley Temple? Roy Rogers? Pink Lemonade? Or a Tequila Sunrise? Grenadine is generally associated with a sweet flavored syrup that is added to a cocktail or a drink. It originated in France where it was made from pomegranate juice or cherry juice and sugar. Now it tends to be a combination of primarily blackcurrant juice with some raspberry, redcurrant, blackberry flavors mixed in. In any case, grenadine is associated with drinks. Have you ever heard of it in food? Not me.

I picked up a bottle of grenadine initially with the intention of flavoring a bubbly drink - I thought of mixing it in with some 7-Up or champagne [yes, I realize they're completely different]. But this afternoon, when I was thinking of what to bake, I remembered my hubby wanting an angel food cake. As I stared at the bottle of grenadine sitting on my countertop I thought, grenadine.. angel food cake.. grenadine angel food cake?

The thing about angel food cake is, there is 0% cholesterol [aka, 0% guilt ;)]. Zip, zilch, nada. The reason being angel food cake uses stiffly beaten egg whites for its leavening, thus producing a lighter-than-air cake. It soaks in glazes and sauces very well. A sponge cake, on the other hand, uses the egg yolks as well, thus providing a slightly denser cake. That is the primary difference.

If you haven't made angel cake before, it requires a lot of beating at high speeds. I don't recommend using your arm [unless you have super powers]. I suggest first letting the egg whites sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before you begin. This will help your cake fluff up better since the egg whites will be more relaxed and able to hold air better. You will first need to beat the egg whites until soft peaks almost form. What that means is, when you lift a spatula, you'll see the frothy egg whites able to hold their shape for a second or so. They no longer appear like a "liquid". Next you'll add the sugar, syrups, and extracts, and continue beating until soft peaks form. This means, it will be appear to be a whipped cream texture. You should be able to lift the spatula and the shape should hold for several seconds. The volume should be substantially larger than before. Lastly, you fold in some flour, and voila! You're ready to bake.

Surprisingly, my grenadine angel food cake turned out quite well. The cake was heavenly - light, fluffy, with a hint of grenadine. If you are hoping for a strong jab of flavor, you may want to top it off with a grenadine glaze. This angel food cake goes really well with some fresh berries and a dollop of whipped cream [that's how I enjoyed it]. Or, you can have it with some yogurt or ice cream :).

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Grenadine Angel Food Cake
Adapted from Epicurious
Yield: 8 servings

1 cup less 2 Tbsp AP flour
2 Tbsp cornstarch
3/4 cups sugar
12 large egg whites
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 1/4 tsp grenadine
1/2 tsp vanilla extract


1. Preheat oven to 300°F.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg whites until they are frothy. Add salt and cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks almost form.

3. Beat in sugar, a little at a time, the grenadine, vanilla tract, and continue beating until the mixture can hold soft peaks, roughly 10 minutes.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and cornstarch until they are thoroughly combined.

5. Sprinkle a quarter of the flour mixture over the egg whites, fold it in gently. Do the same with the remaining flour mixture. Be sure it is completely mixed in, but be careful not to flatten the egg whites.

6. Pour batter into an ungreased tube pan. Try to even out the top with a spatula so your cake doesn't have a dome on top. Tap a few times on the counter to remove air bubbles.

7. Bake for 1 hour at 300°F, or until top if springy to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cake cool in pan, inverted, on a wire rack, for 2 hours or so. Run a thin knife in a sawing motion around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake, and invert onto a plate.

8. Serve with anything you like :) Enjoy!

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Notes: Instead of using AP flour and cornstarch, you can use 1 cup of cake flour. I usually don't have cake flour on hand, so I used AP flour and lightened it with cornstarch. Also, if you like your cakes on the sweeter side of things, you can add an additional 1/4 cup of sugar. I like it sweet but not overpoweringly sweet. This way, I can enjoy it for breakfast as well :).