Angel Food Cake with Fall Fruit Compote

We liked the compote with whole dried fruit, but you can chop the fruit, if you'd like.

Yield
12 servings (serving size: 1 cake slice, 1/3 cup compote, and 1 tablespoon crème fraîche)

Ingredients
Cake:
* 1 cup cake flour
* 1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
* 12 large egg whites
* 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Compote:
* 3 cups water
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
* 1/2 cup dried cranberries
* 8 dried figs, halved (about 4 ounces)
* 2 (7-ounce) packages dried mixed fruit

Remaining ingredient:
* 3/4 cup crème fraîche


Preparation
Preheat oven to 325°.

To prepare cake, lightly spoon the flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife.

Sift together flour and 3/4 cup sugar. Beat egg whites with a mixer at high speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar and salt; beat until soft peaks form. Add 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Fold in vanilla. Sift flour mixture over egg white mixture, 3 tablespoons at a time; fold in.

Spoon batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan, spreading evenly. Break air pockets by cutting through batter with a knife. Bake at 325° for 50 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Invert pan, and cool completely. Loosen cake from sides of pan using a narrow metal spatula. Invert the cake onto plate. Cut cake into 12 slices.

To prepare compote, combine water, 1/4 cup sugar, and vanilla bean in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Add dried fruits; cover and simmer 25 minutes or until fruit is tender, stirring once. Remove from heat. Remove vanilla bean. Let bean stand 5 minutes. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean; stir seeds into the fruit mixture. Discard bean. Cool to room temperature. Spoon compote over cake slices, and top with crème fraîche.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 346 (15% from fat)
Fat: 5.9g (sat 3.5g,mono 1.7g,poly 0.3g)
Protein: 5.9g
Carbohydrate: 70g
Fiber: 4.3g
Cholesterol: 20mg
Iron: 2mg
Sodium: 117mg
Calcium: 41mg

source by:myrecipes.com
recipes by:Barbara Chernetz, Cooking Light
Photography: Randy Mayor; Styling: Lydia DeGaris-Pursell