Remember that classic angel food cake your grandmother used to make? This recipe is a modern take on that using 21st century ingredients—a combination of a premium cocoa drinking chocolate and pure raspberry or strawberry extract. This angel food cake doesn’t need the traditional icing and ice cream. Instead, drizzle fruit sauce on individual servings with a dollop of whipped cream and fresh fruit.
You will produce a perfectly moist cake every time by following these tips:
- Buy the best ingredients.
- Use a fine mesh sifter. (I use a strainer).
- Measure the ingredients before starting as moving quickly is a must to keep the egg whites airy.
- Use a whisk attachment with an electric mixer if possible, and use at the lowest whip setting. Turn the mixer off in between each step.
- Make sure the pan has no oil or grease residue otherwise the cake will stick to the pan
This cake can be made ahead of time and frozen by wrapping it in plastic wrap and foil. My aunt’s angel food cakes were always beautifully moist—she said it was due to freezing. Her cakes were my favourite.
Save the egg yolks as they make tasty breakfast pies.
Dreamy Chocolate Angel Food Cake
1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C (325°F).
2. Sift the flour to get the right measurement. Sift remaining ingredients at least three times.
175 ml (3/4 cup) cake flour
75 ml (1/4 cup) sugar
65 ml (5 tbsp) Dagoba** Organic unsweetened drinking chocolate, with bits of
unsweetened dark chocolate. Keep the bits of chocolate in the mixture.
3. Whisk or beat at low speed in a medium bowl until foamy.
375 ml (1 1/2 cup) egg whites (12 eggs), room temperature
4. Whisk into eggs until moist slight peaks form (volume will increase fourfold):
1 ml (1/4 tsp) salt
5 ml (1 tsp) cream of tartar
5. Whisk in small amounts at a time:
175 ml (3/4 cup) sugar, sifted
5 ml (1 tsp) pure vanilla extract
5 ml (1 tsp) pure raspberry or strawberry extract
6. Using a spatula, quickly and gently fold in small amounts of the sifted flour mixture until well combined.
7. Quickly and gently spoon the batter into a 25 x 10 cm (10-inch x 4 tube pan) with removable bottom; smooth out the surface.
8. Bake for 1 hour, until the top springs back to the touch.
9. If the pan has legs, turn it upside down to cool. If there are no legs, place it upside down on a glass jar.
10. To remove the cake from the pan after it is completely cool, run a knife around the edges. Use a serrated knife to cut the cake.
**Dagoba Organic Chocolate can be found in the health food sections of grocery stores or online at http://www.dagobachocolate.com
This recipe is a variation on one from my grandmother Ida’s collection, circa 1939. She got it from Red’s Café, Kansas City, Missouri.
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