Mocha Chip Angel Food Cake

Saturday, April 04, 2015

The title of this post should ideally be 'The ice cream maker conundrum', as this airy angel food cake was borne out of that very dilemma. 

After Belle's Vanilla Bean ice cream and Monique's Mexican Chocolate ice cream, we were left with 10 egg yolks. And the search was on for recipes, dessert recipes, that is, that would require all those whites.

It boiled down to: egg white omelette—or egg white 'insert choice of favorite egg style'—or macarons, which was too tedious and beyond my level of instant gratification) or an angel food cake. Hmmm... Did you come to the same choice? Well, I'm hardly surprised.

From now on this will be the yang to the ice cream yin.


Cake Ingredients:
2 tbsp instant espresso powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp warm water
12 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
1 cup cake flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup dark chopped chocolate pieces

Ganache Ingredients:
1/2 cup hot milk (not boiling)
1 cup dark chopped chocolate
2 tbsp instant espresso powder

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, whisk together espresso powder, vanilla and water until dissolved.
2. In a bowl of a stand mixer, on medium high, whisk egg whites until frothy.
3. Add the cream of tartar. Keep whisking until soft peaks form.
4. Slowly add the sugar to the egg whites in increments, beating until it turns into stiff and glossy peaks. Remove the bowl from the stand.

5. Preheat oven to 350 F.
6. Sift a third of the cake flour and salt over the egg whites and fold gently to incorporate.
7. Repeat until all the flour has been added, taking extreme care not to deflate the egg whites.
8. Fold in the espresso mixture and the chocolate pieces until combined.

9. Pour the batter into an un-greased tube or angel food pan. Tap on the counter to release the air bubbles. 
10. Bake for 30 minutes or until it passes the skewer test.

11. If the middle of the pan is higher than the sides, simply invert the pan to cool the cake. 
If it isn't, invert over the neck of a bottle

12. While cooling, make the ganache: In a small bowl, place the chopped chocolate and espresso powder, then pour the hot milk, whisking until it fully dissolves.
13. Set aside to cool and thicken to drizzling consistency.

14. To remove cake, run a thin bladed knife around the sides of the pan, releasing it from the bottom. Then carefully run the blade along the bottom and place on a pretty pedestal.
15. Drizzle the ganache over the moist and airy delight you just produced. 
16. Ideally, serve the very same day.


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