Black and White Angel Food Cake

This wonderful cake from Ina's new book, Barefoot Contessa At Home, is delicious! I wish I had a better picture of the cake itself, but you see the 2 year old can't get enough- so it must be good! I wanted to make a dessert that was on the light side for a New Year's dinner, but that had a lot of flavor, and felt like dessert- not some fruit thing disguised as dessert. Just fantastic. I saw Martha Stewart make some angel food cakes today in mini angelfood pans- like muffin tins. This would be great for that. Maybe bake for only 25-30 minutes. I covered the entire cake like frosting with the glaze, and used my food processor to grate the chocolate.


Black and White Angel Food Cake

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 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. 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


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.