After making a lot of yellow cake, I had quite a few extra egg whites on hand. Since I was already consulting Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Cake Bible, I looked through the cookbook for recipes that use egg whites only. I decided to try Beranbaum's recipe for "Chocolate Lover's Angel Food Cake." It calls for 2 liquid cups of egg whites (from approximately 16 eggs), so I used up all of the whites I had saved and actually had to supplement with a couple more.
To make the cake batter, you beat egg whites with cream of tartar and sugar until they form stiff peaks. You take a cup of the beaten whites and fold them into a mixture of vanilla and cocoa that has been dissolved in boiling water. Then you gradually fold the sifted dry ingredients (cake flour, sugar, and salt) into the remaining egg whites and incorporate the lightened cocoa mixture. I used a large balloon whisk for the mixing, which worked well to preserve the the volume of the whites. I transferred the batter to an ungreased tube pan with a removable bottom.
I baked the cake and then cooled it in the pan, hanging upside down from the neck of an empty wine bottle. The cooled cake came out of the pan without much of a problem after I ran a plastic spatula around the outside edge. I sliced the cake with a sharp serrated bread knife to reveal irregular-sized air holes inside.
This was an excellent angel food cake. It was not too sweet and had a light chocolate flavor. However, I thought it could have benefited from some miniature chocolate chips, or maybe a little instant espresso powder, to enhance the chocolate flavor. The texture was wonderful. It was springy, but very light and delicate -- it reminded me more of chiffon cake as opposed to what I would have expected for an angel food cake. While this cake was good eaten plain, I think it would be best with some sort of sauce, or perhaps some fruit compote or ice cream. Still, if you're looking for a light dessert, this is a great option.
Recipe: "Chocolate Lover's Angel Food Cake" from The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum.
Previous Post: "Got Egg Whites? Lime Angel Food Cake with Lime Glaze and Pistachios," February 25, 2012.
To make the cake batter, you beat egg whites with cream of tartar and sugar until they form stiff peaks. You take a cup of the beaten whites and fold them into a mixture of vanilla and cocoa that has been dissolved in boiling water. Then you gradually fold the sifted dry ingredients (cake flour, sugar, and salt) into the remaining egg whites and incorporate the lightened cocoa mixture. I used a large balloon whisk for the mixing, which worked well to preserve the the volume of the whites. I transferred the batter to an ungreased tube pan with a removable bottom.
This was an excellent angel food cake. It was not too sweet and had a light chocolate flavor. However, I thought it could have benefited from some miniature chocolate chips, or maybe a little instant espresso powder, to enhance the chocolate flavor. The texture was wonderful. It was springy, but very light and delicate -- it reminded me more of chiffon cake as opposed to what I would have expected for an angel food cake. While this cake was good eaten plain, I think it would be best with some sort of sauce, or perhaps some fruit compote or ice cream. Still, if you're looking for a light dessert, this is a great option.
Recipe: "Chocolate Lover's Angel Food Cake" from The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum.
Previous Post: "Got Egg Whites? Lime Angel Food Cake with Lime Glaze and Pistachios," February 25, 2012.
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