Baking Bad: Breaking Bad Cake

I don't know about you but I was super bummed that Breaking Bad ended this weekend. And don't worry, this post won't contain any spoilers! Anyway, I always invite a small group of good friends over to watch the show, and I wanted to do something special for the last episode and "bake bad." I decided to do a variation on an Angel Food Cake, because Walt is anything but an angel (juxtaposition, y'all). This is a variation on the Martha Stewart Angel Food Cake Recipe found here. If you don't watch Breaking Bad, 1- you should! and 2- the blue coloring has to do with the show, you'll just have to watch it to find out why. 

• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon cake flour (not self-rising)
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 12 egg whites
• 1 tablespoon warm water
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• blue food coloring

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees, with rack in lower third of the oven. Sift together flour and 3/4 cup sugar. Martha recommends sifting 4 times, and I agree. Sifting is really important for angel food cakes, as the finer your ingredients are the lighter your cake will be.
2. Beat egg whites and the warm water with a mixer on low speed until foamy. Add salt, cream of tartar, and almond extract, and beat on medium speed until soft peaks form; about 3 minutes. With mixer running, gradually add remaining 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Raise speed to high, and beat until peaks are stiff and glossy. If you want, you can add a bit of the blue food dye at this point.
3. Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Sift flour mixture over egg whites. Once again, sifting is VERY important. Take your time doing this and fold in after each 1/4 cup of the flour mixture with a rubber spatula. 
4. Once everything is all mixed in, add any additional blue food coloring you want. I added A LOT.
5. Gently pour batter into a 10-inch tube pan. Run a knife through the batter to release any air bubbles, and smooth with an offset spatula. Bake until cake is golden brown and springs back when touched; 40 to 45 minutes. I had to cook my cake about 10 minutes longer than Martha recommended- about 55 minutes for me. It's best to keep checking. Remember that the cake is supposed to come out soft, so don't bake it until it's rock hard.
6. Invert pan on a wire rack, and let cake cool about 1 hour or more.  As the cake cools it will naturally separate from the pan. Use this separation as a guide for your knife. Carefully run a paring knife around side of cake to loosen, then unmold onto the wire rack.

But I wasn't done. Cake isn't officially finished until you add some fresh whipped cream! This is my traditional go-to recipe for fresh easy whipped cream. (Minus the blue food coloring.)

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• blue food coloring

1. Using a cold mixing bowl and cold whipping cream, add all your ingredients together. Add blue food coloring to your taste. I chose to dye the whipped cream a lighter blue than the cake. 
2. Beat until stiff peaks form, but no more. Don't over-beat or it will be buttery and gross. 

Serve a slice of cake with a dollop of whipped cream. I even found some blue sugar crystals in the baking aisle to add for that "authentic" meth look. Serve and Enjoy!