When I got married back in the dark ages it was a well kept secret (by me) that I could not cook. I could make bread, brownies, and spagetti. My mom was of the school that felt the less time I spent in the kitchen the less mess she had to deal with. My 6′6″ husband came with no operating instructions but a HUGE appetite. I was amazed at the amount of food he could put down…He ate more in a meal than I ate in several days and I am not exaggerating. As you can see this was not a promising combination. I would wait for him to go to the base (we were military) and I would begin supper. Sometimes I had to cook a recipe several times (and throw out the result) before the finished product was edible and I became adept at turning a failure into something edible by calling it something else. It turns out that this was one of the best cooking lessons I would ever learn. I put it to good use the other day when I made an angel food cake and got distracted (who me? ) as I was folding the flour into the beaten egg whites. The angelfood cake was edible but a little tough and not at all like what I wanted. I tore it into pieces and sprinkled them with left over coffee while I quickly created an almond custard in my microwave. I poured the custard over the cake and then with a flash of inspiration made a praline sauce to swirl on top. I finished it by sprinkling with almonds. Voila! Angel food Pudding. You can substitute a bought angel food cake for the homemade but since the texture of hte cake doesn’t matter much in this why not use this as an excuse to practice making the perfect angel food cake?

Basic Angel Food Cake

1 c sifted cake flour
1 1/4 c sugar
1 c egg whites
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp mexican vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1. sift the flour and 1/4 c of the sugar together.
2. beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt until frothy.
3. Add remaining sugar a little at a time until stiff peaks are formed but the egg white is not dry.
4.Add flavorings
5. Sift 1/4 of the flour at a time over the mixture and fold in gently.
6 Pour in a large ungreased tube pan and bake at 350 45-60 minuntes.
7 invert pan and let cake hang until cool (if cake rises over the top you can invert the pan over a glass bottle.

When cake is cool, cut or tear into bite sized pieces and sprinkle with 1 c coffee.or enough to moisten cake. set aside

Custard:
2 egg yolks
1/4 c flour
1 c sugar
3 c milk, half and half or cream
pinch salt
1/4 c unsalted butter
1 tsp mexican vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
1. whisk together until frothy
2.microwave for 6-8 minutes, or until thickened, whisking smooth every minute.
3.remove from microwave and add butter and extracts.
4. stir until butter melts and is incorporated into custard
5. Pour over cake pieces.

Praline Sauce
1/4 c unsalted butter
1/4 c dark brown sugar
melt together in nonstick sauce pan over medium heat, whisking until there is no more graininess. Pour in a swirl over the custard. Top with 1/2 cup almonds. Chill. Serves 8..

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