What if I told you that angel food cake can come in a chocolate flavor? What if I told you that you could make it from scratch, without a box mix and that it's an easy dessert, too? Topped with strawberries and whipped cream or chocolate sauce or even chocolate whipped cream, this amazing cake with be your new addiction!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- This is a bakery style sponge cake is easy!
- Can be drizzled with icing, chocolate glaze or even frosted with Chocolate Frosting!
- Could be used to make a trifle instead layered with chocolate pudding or mousse!
- Make into cupcakes instead!
Ingredient Notes
- Flour - all purpose flour, not cake flour, never self rising flour.
- Egg Whites - Fresh eggs work best because the proteins in the fresh whites are tighter and stronger. It takes a little longer to get the fresh egg whites to stiff peaks but the foam is thicker, stronger and more stable. Older whites whip up faster but can easily deflate and is much less stable.
- Cocoa - Most brands of unsweetened cocoa powder are fine however, I DO NOT recommend using Hershey's brand cocoa because to me it has a bitter, throw up taste. Some experts believe that's because some companies such as Hershey's puts its milk through a process called controlled lipolysis. This breaks down the fatty acids in the milk and produces butyric acid - the chemical that gives vomit its very distinctive smell and acrid taste. So ya...that's a pass for me.
- Cream of Tartar - many are looking for this recipe without cream of tartar. The primary function of cream of tartar is too stabilize the egg white and keep the whipped whites from collapsing. Whether you've run out or you don't want to use cream or tartar for another reason, you could substitute ½ tsp lemon juice or ½ tsp white vinegar in it's place.
- Sugar - Please note you will be using both granulated sugar and powdered sugar aka confectioners' sugar in this recipe.
- Mexican - sift 1-2 tsp Ground Cinnamon with the cocoa.
- Dark Chocolate - Sub equal amount of black cocoa for regular cocoa.
Couple Things You'll Need
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Step by Step Instructions
- Adjust the rack in your oven so that your cake will be baking right in the center of the oven.
- Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Get out a 2 piece 10 inch tube pan like the one below. The pictures below show me using one piece tube pan but after testing this recipe a few times I found that this cake is much much easier to remove from a 2 piece pan with a removable bottom rather than a one piece. You can still use a 1 piece tube pan but you may have a hard time getting the cake out in one piece.
- Give your pan and all other equipment a quick wash with a good dish soap.
- Any grease, even the tiniest bit can cause your egg whites to break.
- In a medium bowl, measure the flour, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder into a sifter. If you don't have a sifter check out these tips here.
- Sift these ingredients 3 times!!! This is important!
- Set flour mixture aside.
- Separate your egg whites and egg yolks being careful not to get any yolks in the whites.
- You need 1 ½ cups of egg whites which is roughly 12 eggs worth of eggs.
- Pour the egg whites into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
- Add the vanilla extract, salt and cream of tartar.
- Begin to beat egg whites at a high speed.
- When the egg whites start to get foamy, just before soft peaks form, pour the cup of granulated sugar in a slow stream and continue beating.
- Beat at a high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Spoon about a ½ cupful of the sifted dry ingredients over the beaten egg whites.
- FOLD, don't stir, the sifted ingredients into the egg white mixture.
- As one addition of sifted ingredients is halfway folded in spoon in another ½ cupful and continue folding.
- Repeat until all the sifted ingredients have been folded in.
- Gently spoon the chocolate batter into your UNGREASED tube pan.
- Run a butter knife through the batter in a circle to release any large air bubbles or air pockets and to smooth out the batter.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
- Immediately invert pan over a wire rack and DO NOT remove the outer piece of the tube pan yet.
- Don't worry, the baked cake will not fall out.
- Let the cake cool completely while upside down at room temperature.
- After cool run a sharp thin knife around the sides of the pan, both the outer rim and the center tube.
- Remove the cake from the outer piece.
- Run the sharp knife under the bottom of the inner tube pan piece.
- Remove cake and place on a serving plate or store in an airtight container until you're ready to serve it.
- Slice in wedges and serve with fresh berries and whipped cream!
Recipe FAQs and Expert Tips
Folding is really easy, but some things are better explained visually than with words, so check out this video on How to Fold in Ingredients for more instruction.
I can understand not wanting to throw away all those yolks. I hate wasting food too! I will often use up my yolks for the vanilla sauce that goes with these Sweet Berry Crepes or this Berries and Cream Croissant French Toast!
Strawberries and fresh whipped cream are the norm, but you can use a chocolate filling like pudding or mousse instead of whipped cream. Then drizzle the wedges with chocolate sauce or glaze. You can even pipe chocolate ganache on the pieces as well!
Related Dessert Recipes
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Indulgent Chocolate Angel Food Cake Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 16 Pieces 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
What if I told you that angel food cake can come in a chocolate flavor? What if I told you that you could make it from scratch, without a box mix and that it's an easy dessert, too? Topped with strawberries and whipped cream or chocolate sauce or even chocolate whipped cream, this amazing cake with be your new addiction!
Ingredients
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar
- ¾ cup Flour
- ½ cup Cocoa
- 1 ½ cups Egg Whites (this is about 12 large eggs)
- ½ tsp Cream of Tartar
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 cup Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and adjust oven racks if necessary for the cake to be right in the center of the oven.
- Be sure that all kitchen equipment you will be using are completely free of any grease. Even though already clean, I usually give mine and extra hand scrub to be sure there is not any grease as even the tiniest bit will ruin the cake.
- Sift the powdered sugar, flour and cocoa together 3 times. Set aside.
- Pour the eggs whites, cream of tartar, vanilla, and salt into a mixing bowl.
- Begin to beat at a high speed.
- Once the egg whites start to foam up add the sugar in a slow and steady stream with the beaters still running.
- Continue to beat on high until stiff peaks form.
- FOLD, not stir, the flour/powdered sugar/cocoa into the egg whites a ½ cup at a time.
- Once the previous ½ cup has been folded in halfway, add the next ½ cup.
- Repeat until all the flour/powdered sugar has been added and is completely folded in.
- Gently spoon the batter into an UNGREASED 2 piece 10 inch tube pan.
- Run a sharp knife in a clockwise (or counter clockwise) circle around the tube pan to even out the batter and pop large air bubbles, but not deflate the batter.
- Bake at 350 degrees in the center of the oven for 35 minutes.
- IMMEDIATELY, invert the hot cake and set the tube pan upside down on a wire rack to cool after removing it from the oven.
- Do not remove outside piece of the tube yet. Allow the angel food cake to cool completely while upside down.
- Once cool, flip back over and run a sharp knife around the outside edge and inside tube.
- Remove the outside piece of the pan if using a 2 piece tube pan and then remove the cake from the inside piece.
- Slice with a serrated knife and serve with fresh fruit and whipped cream.
Notes
- Be sure to clean your equipment well. Any grease will break your egg whites.
- A 2 piece 10 inch tube pan is preferred for this recipe. This cake is fairly difficult to remove from a 1 piece tube pan in 1 piece.
- Out of cream of tartar? Sub ½ tsp Lemon Juice or ½ tsp White Vinegar instead.
- Mexican - sift 1-2 tsp Ground Cinnamon with the cocoa.
- Dark Chocolate - Sub equal amount of black cocoa for regular cocoa.
Keywords: chocolate angel food cake, mexican angel food cake, chocolate angel food cake from scratch
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Any nutritional analysis on this Site is based on an estimate, calculated by Nurtifox plugin (or other third-party source) from the individual ingredients in each recipe. Variations may occur for various reasons, including product availability and food preparation. We make no representation or warranty of the accuracy of this information.
Mindee
So easy!!!
★★★★★
Greg
Five freaking stars is the appropriate number of stars for this twist on an already great desert. Delicious. Thanks Mindee!!!
★★★★★