Scrumptious Cranberry Angel Food Cake - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 cup cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided use
12 large egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup cranberries, picked over (or more, if you are really into cranberries)
1 tablespoon orange zest (from 1 orange, I use a microplaner)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Clean and dry tube or bundt pan (trace amounts of oil may cause whipped egg whites to deflate).
Stir together flour and 3/4 cup sugar, and set aside.
In a large bowl, whip egg whites with vanilla, cream of tartar, and salt until medium stiff peaks form.
Gradually add remaining 3/4 cup sugar, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Batter will fill mixer's bowl and appear very shiny (see note in step 7 also).
Carefully fold in flour mixture, 1/3 of it at a time.
Carefully fold in cranberries and orange zest (batter should be very thick - when I made it it was thick enough to keep the cranberries in suspension and they did not sink to the bottom during baking - see photos).
Pour batter evenly into pan.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until cake is light golden brown and springs back when lightly touched.
Invert pan over the top of a thin necked bottle and allow to cool completely (this prevents decompression while it is cooling).
Loosen cake by running a knife around the edges and center of the pan. Invert onto a serving plate.