Black and White Angel Food Cake
As you may have read in my previous post, I'm baking a lot of recipes from Ina Garten's book Barefoot Contessa at Home. This angel food cake is tad different from most. The 'black & white'-effect in the cake is created by adding chocolate flakes to the batter. I discovered an easy way to grate chocolate; with a cheese grater! Then, the angel food cake is topped with a creamy chocolate ganache icing, balancing the white cotton-like cake - hence 'black & white'.
Ina Garten writes: "Angel food cake usually tastes like cotton, so I love to infuse it with lots of flavor." I've tasted quite a few bland, yucky angel food cakes (stay away from the store-bought ones!) in my life, but I'm recently discovering that they can be actually really delicious! I've made this Angel Food Cake with cream and strawberries last Summer, and then a recipe called Mama's Angel Food Cake with rum crème anglaise. Both really good! I'm officialy an AFC-lover!! Rating: 5 out of 5.
Black & White Angel Food Cake:
Ingredients:
2 cups sifted superfine sugar (about 1 pound)
1 1/3 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising)
1 1/2 cups egg whites at room temperature (10 to 12 eggs)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup coarsely grated semisweet chocolate
For the glaze:
1/2 pound semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine 1/2 cup of the sugar with the flour and sift them together 4 times. Set aside.
- Place the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on high speed until the eggs form medium-firm peaks, about 1 minute. With the mixer on medium speed, add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of sugar by sprinkling it over the beaten egg whites. Beat on high speed for a few minutes until thick and shiny. Add the vanilla and continue to whisk until very thick, about 1 more minute. Scrape the beaten egg whites into a large bowl. Sift 1/4 of the flour mixture over the egg whites and fold it very carefully into the batter with a rubber spatula. Continue adding the flour in 3 equal additions, sifting and folding until it's all incorporated. Fold in the grated chocolate.
- Pour the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan, smooth the top, and bake it for 35 to 45 minutes, until it springs back to the touch. Remove the cake from the oven and invert the pan on a cooling rack. When cool, run a thin, flexible knife around the cake to remove it from the pan.
- For the chocolate glaze, place the chocolate chips and the heavy cream in a heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir until the chocolate melts. Pour the chocolate over the top of the cooled cake to cover the top completely and allow it to drizzle down the sides. If you have chocolate glaze left over, you can serve it on the side with the cake.
]Naturally, after I took this photo I added an extra bowl of chocolate ganache on top. Sinful!
Comments
This looks awesome!