Angel Food Cake

                    
       I have a lot on my mind right now. Many thoughts and questions are jostling around. Sometimes words can be like knives right? Even worse is when people expect you to move on just like that. Especially when those people claim to ‘love’ you. It is one of the hardest things in the world. Being a victim and forgetting all the pains. However what hurts even more is when your faith is ridiculed. Yes I’m asking Allah for help just to ‘impress’ others. I have asked Allah many times that why does He try my patience, why is He testing my strength? I haven’t done anything to deserve this pain, these scars that are deep in my heart. Too much of criticism at my weakness.

                 When the world closes a door upon you, God opens a million other doors for you.  If you get some pain, it is to make you stronger. It was never between you and people anyway. It was always between you and God. Only God. So if anyone expects me to give them a rank higher than Him, I won’t bear it.

   Abu Hurairah narrates that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "When Allah wants to be good to someone, He tries him with some hardship."
    
    Abu Hurairah also reports that Allah's Messenger, peace be upon him, said: "For every misfortune, illness, anxiety, grief, or hurt that afflicts a Muslim -even the hurt caused by the pricking of a thorn - Allah removes some of his sins."
    
      I’m not specifically talking about Islam. But this can be applicable to any religion. Till the day we can leave everything behind, we just need patience and God’s love. In the deepest oceans, in the most dangerous circumstances, God is everywhere.


       
     I once read that these are the hardest times that bring you closer to  God. I am thankful to Him for blessing me with the people I love. For my friends who are like a shoulder for me. For this opportunity, to share my thoughts out loud with the world. And, for keeping me strong.
    
     Now I’ll move on to the cake. I baked this on a Sunday and since it was left over, photographed it the next day after college. It had the most exquisite texture. Light and feathery. I haven’t seen a tube pan in Pakistan so a round cake pan had to make do. The hardest thing about this cake was separating the EIGHT egg whites. Halfway through, I messed up and had to start all over again. Such a waste of eggs. No wonder everyone had to eat omelettes  the next day. (Lol)


      
      However I succeeded in whipping egg whites for the first time. Does this mean I should muster up the courage to bake french macaroons again after the super flop batch last summer? No way.
 
 Happy New Year 2013! Let’s work together to make this year greater and better (:

Angel Food Cake-

Adapted from Cake.
Ingredients-
125g/9 tbsp flour
1/8 tsp salt
175g/12 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
8 egg whites
2 tsp vanilla

Instructions-
1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Grease and flour the cake pan well.
2. Sift the flour and salt in a bowl and add in 10 tbsp of the sugar. In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining sugar with cream of tartar.
3. Tip the egg whites into a large spotlessly clean bowl. Beat them for 20 seconds or so until the mixture turns cloudy. Now add the sugar mixed with cream of tartar and beat for several minutes until stiff peaks form and the mixture is glossy.
4. Carefully fold in the vanilla extract and dry ingredients so as not to knock any air out of the mixture.
5. Pour the mixture into the cake pan and bake for 20-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
6. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Top off with whipped cream and berries (which I didn’t have).