Red White and Blue

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th! Mine was a little more low key than past years.

Even though it's quite inconvenient to have the holiday fall in the middle of the week, it was nice to be able to sleep in on a Wednesday. I woke up (around noon hehe) to a voicemail from Peter telling me he was on his way up to me!! We chatted about it and decided to take it easy and not deal with the craziness of downtown celebrations. I would make dinner and we would simply relax and spend time together.

I was thinking I was going to be alone for the day since both my roommates are out town, but now I had a project to occupy my hours until Peter arrived. I decided to be adventurous (and simultaneously patriotic) and make angel food cake from scratch. Angel food cake is hands down my favorite dessert! My mom always made it for me on birthdays, and it's so light and sweet and perfect for the 4th! I used a version of Pioneer Woman's recipe and was pretty darn pleased with my first go at it.

Angel Food Cake:

• 12 whole Egg Whites, At Room Temperature
• 1 teaspoon Cream Of Tartar
• 1-1/2 cup Plus 2 Tablespoons Sugar, Sifted Three Times
• 1 cup Cake Flour (Sifted)
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sift sugar 3 times and set aside.
3. Sift cake flour and salt together and set aside
4. Beat egg whites until frothy (bubbly but still liquidy.) Add cream of tartar and beat on high until stiff.
5. With mixer on medium-low, slowly sprinkle in sifted sugar as it mixes in.
6. Remove bowl from mixer and fold in sifted flour gently until it's all combined.
7. Sprinkle vanilla into the bowl and fold gently.
8. Spoon batter into tube pan-make sure there's no grease or butter in there! Smooth the top and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a wooden skewer stuck all the way to the bottom comes out clean. (Don't open the oven while it's baking!)
9. Carefully remove the cake from the oven and immediately invert it on a wine bottle. Let it cool completely while hanging upside down. Once totally cool, remove it from the pan.
10. Serve with whipped cream and berries. Indulge.


Another treat that I made for us was Red White and Blue Sangria:

(the blueberries sink and the strawberries float so it really has red, white and blue layers)

2 bottles of dry white wine (I used Cupcake Vineyard's Sauvignon Blanc)
1/2 cup of simple syrup
strawberries and blueberries (as many as you want)
*mix and refrigerate for 4 hours*
add 1/2 liter of diet ginger ale before serving

(technically you're supposed to add brandy or triple sec or something like that but I didn't have any and it tasted fine without it!)

I'll share what I actually made for dinner anther time as this post is long enough and, except for the plates I served it on, it didn't fit with my red white and blue theme.