Angel Food Cake with Brown Butter and Berry Soup

Spring is in full bloom. Finally! Rows of arugula, kale, cilantro, Italian parsley, and marigolds are sprouting in my little green house. 

The compost that aged for a whole year is black like devil's food cake and smells fragrantly like the earth. I spent the beautiful Spring days tilling the potager soil and redefining the flower beds. The chickens are clucking out of spring happiness and scratching for worms. 

Spring is a happy time. The trees explode with flowers; life sprouts everywhere. 

I love the Spring fruits and vegetables. One of my favorite desserts in the Spring is a piece of wonderfully light angel food cake with brown butter served with cold berry soup. Sometimes I finish the soup with a splash of Prosecco. Delicious! 

Angel Food Cake with Brown Butter

For a 10" pan

Ingredients:

½ tsp Salt

140g All-purpose flour, sifted

½ tsp Baking powder

300 g Egg whites

2 tsp Cream of tartar

200 g Sugar

142 gm (10TBSP) Beurre noisette (browned butter)

1 Vanilla bean

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Make the Beurre noisette: In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue cooking the butter until it boils. After about 5 - 10 minutes the butter will start to brown. It is best when it is darker brown and has tiny dark specks. The specks give the browned butter its flavor. Once you reach this phase, remove from heat and let cool.

3. Make French meringue: In a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip egg whites and cream of tartar until medium to stiff peaks.

4. Carefully fold the sifted dry ingredients in the French meringue in thirds. Folding it in all at once will deflate the batter.

5. Mix (sacrifice) a large spoonful of batter with cooled beurre noisette. Add this to the rest of the batter and fold in to fully incorporate.

6. Pour batter into an ungreased 10” angel food cake pan and bake for 15 minutes. The cake is done when it springs back when touched and skewer comes out clean. It will not pull away from the sides of the pan. Invert angel food cake over a baking rack until cool.

Variations:

●You may pipe batter on greased small 4oz pans or ramekins. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

Berry Soup

Serves 8

455g Strawberries, cleaned and hulled 
295g Blueberries, cleaned
365g Raspberries
170g Blackberries
1 Mint sprig
125mL Red wine, dry (I prefer cabernet)
90g Sugar

1. In a large pot, combine the strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, mint, wine, and sugar. 

2. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

3. Lower heat and simmer for 30 min.

4. Chill in refrigerator overnight.

5. The next day, strain the mixture through a cheese cloth. Be careful not to disturb the fruits to ensure a clear soup. It's a slow process but worth it. Discard fruits when finished straining.

Note: You can use whatever berries you can find according to the seasons. If you choose to add rhubarb, use the following amounts:
428g Rhubarb
304g Strawberries
197g Blueberries
244g Raspberries
113g Blackberries

You may wish to increase the sugar by 30g to offset the tartness of the rhubarb.