Chocolate Angel Food Cake with Biscoff Frosting
I must admit I have never stared so hard at egg whites in motion as I did when I was making this recipe. This month I decided to participate in #Baketogether, which is a monthly baking event hosted by Abby Dodge. Participants are tasked with making a recipe created by Abby. This month’s assignment was Angel Food Cake.
With words in the recipe like “peaks” and “tracks” I knew I had to keep my eyes glued to the mixing bowl to make sure I was doing it correctly. I made just a few changes to Abby’s recipe. I added some cocoa powder to transform it into a chocolate cake. More importantly, I substituted traditional cake flour with a gluten-free cake flour recipe. Finally, I topped my cake with some Biscoff Frosting. I didn’t intend to put any frosting on the cake but a little fumble in the kitchen led to the need for some cosmetic touches to the cake. Woe is me, I ended up needing the assistance of some Biscoff Frosting. I know you feel for me. I can tell. As you may know, Biscoff spread is not gluten-free. If you need to eliminate gluten completely, substitute this frosting with your favorite gluten-free frosting recipe.
Don’t skip any steps in Abby’s recipe. It is imperative to sift the flour. It is also necessary to keep a close eye on the egg whites to make sure you do not overbeat them.
I decided to get a little fancy and top the cake with some chocolate shavings. The little hint of chocolate on top of the icing was a great contrast to the frosting. Next time I make this recipe I’m going to throw in some chocolate chips or additional shavings into the frosting.
As you may note if you take a peak at the calendar, it is too late to participate in this month’s #Baketogether but keep an eye out for next month’s assignment.
You can find the recipe for the gluten-free cake flour here: Gluten-Free Bay
You can find the recipe for the Biscoff Icing here: Kitchen Misfit. Please note that the Biscoff spread is not gluten-free. I can tolerate small amounts of gluten which is why this recipe worked for me.
Ingredients
1 cup (4 ounces) gluten-free cake flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cup (5 ounces) confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
11 large (1 1/3 cups) egg whites, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 cup (7 ounces) superfine sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Directions
Heat oven to 350°. Have ready a 10 x 4–inch angel food cake pan. If the pan doesn’t have feet to support it while cooling the cake, have ready a bottle or funnel to hold the pan in a level, upside-down position. If using a non-stick pan, there is no need to invert it.
Sift (just a regular old sieve will work here) together the flour, cocoa powder, confectioners’ sugar and salt three times (no joke – THREE times) onto a sheet of parchment, waxed paper or foil and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on medium-low speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar, increasing speed to medium, and beat until whites are opaque and climbing about half way up the bowl (the tracks from the whisk will be beginning to hold their shape) forming very soft peaks. Continue beating while slowly and continuously adding the superfine sugar. Beat on medium high until the whites are thick, shiny and form medium-firm, fluffy peaks. (The peaks should droop over gently.) Do not over beat. You want to leave some room for those whites to expand in the oven.
Sift 1/4 of the flour mixture over the beaten whites. Using a large rubber spatula, gently fold the dry ingredients into the whites. Repeat with remaining flour mixture, one quarter at a time.
Using the spatula to gently coax the batter, pour evenly into the prepared pan. Smooth the top. Bake until the cake is light golden brown and the cake is springy when touched, about 40 minutes. If using a regular pan, immediately invert the pan onto the counter if the pan has feet or if it doesn’t, invert the pan sliding the center tube onto the neck of the bottle. If using a non-stick pan, allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes then invert cake onto cooling rack and let cool completely.
To remove the cake from a regular pan, rotate the pan, gently tapping the bottom edge of the cake pan on the counter as you turn it until the cake loosens from the pan. If necessary, run a long, thin knife between the cake and the pan and around the inside of the tube to loosen the cake. Slip the cake from the pan and gently lift it up from the center of the pan and arrange on a flat serving plate.
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Barbara | Creative Culinary — April 30, 2012 @ 7:45 PM
This is gorgeous Wendy…considering I know for a fact a fix was involved and frosting wasn’t planned; it seems to have been a perfect match. The moral of this story is that GF wins big over high altitude.
Nancy@acommunaltable — April 30, 2012 @ 8:57 PM
I cannot begin to tell you how good that cake sounds! I make an angel food cake every year on Christmas for my husband’s birthday and it is always frosted with his grandma’s chocolate frosting! I definitely think it’s time to expand my angel food cake repertoire!!
Susie — April 30, 2012 @ 9:53 PM
THis cake looks wonderful. I love the biscoff frosting YUM!
Jenn — April 30, 2012 @ 10:39 PM
Beautiful cake!! I have yet to try a gluten free angel food cake, and this looks like it came out great!! I would just caution against using Biscoff spread in anything meant to be GF. One of the first ingredients in both the spread and the cookies is wheat flour, meaning that any icing made with the spread is then NOT gluten free. I just want to add that so that someone doesn’t assume it’s ok to eat when following a GF diet, I would hate for anyone to make themselves sick by injecting gluten when they shouldn’t be. While the icing sounds great, it really means that the cake isn’t GF anymore and could be a little misleading for someone who doesn’t know to check the ingredients on Biscoff spread and that it might be off limits to them. But I really applaud your angel food cake, it came out wonderfully!!
Wendy replied: — April 30th, 2012 @ 10:58 PM
Jenn you are absolutely correct. I should’ve noted that in the recipe. Just went back and made a note about the Biscoff spread. I can have small amounts of gluten so it’s not a problem for me but definitely a danger to someone who needs to eliminate it completely. Thanks for catching that important detail.
Jenn — April 30, 2012 @ 10:59 PM
oops sorry for the typo, I meant ingesting!! stupid autocorrect…
Wendy replied: — April 30th, 2012 @ 11:02 PM
No worries. I knew what you meant:)
Terra — April 30, 2012 @ 11:06 PM
Oh it looks so light and airy, I love it! I still have never made a homemade angel food cake, but would love to. This flavor combination sounds wonderful:-) Hugs, Terra
Chefjen — May 1, 2012 @ 12:14 AM
Looks so good, like oyu I can do small amounts of gluten. I do the food styling and some recipe development for Biscoff but I have never seen this frosting, I am very excited!!
Vanessa @FrenchFoodieMom — May 1, 2012 @ 11:55 PM
I love, love, love Biscoff spread. What a great idea! Will definitely try this recipe. Thanks!
The Chocolate Priestess — May 8, 2012 @ 9:09 AM
I’ve never heard of biscoff frosting before but one of my readers just mentioned “biscoff” this week in a comment so I wonder if this is what she meant?
phyllis — August 30, 2012 @ 2:19 PM
What a beautiful cake!!!!I have never been brave enough to try an angel food cake….You just gave me the confidence to try…Thanks for the mouth watering pictures,you are truly a prize winning mom and baker!!!!
Wendy replied: — August 30th, 2012 @ 2:27 PM
I hope you do make it. It’s easy! The egg whites are the key. As long as you make sure not to over beat them you will be fine. Stop back and let me know how it turns out. Btw, not a mom but have to admit I kick butt at baking:)
Mardi — August 31, 2012 @ 9:21 PM
How would you make this for diabetics? The cake looks fantastic.
Wendy replied: — August 31st, 2012 @ 9:41 PM
Mardi I am not sure how to adapt it but I can look into it and get back to you.
Kate — August 31, 2012 @ 11:16 PM
What would you suggest instead of Biscoff?
Wendy replied: — August 31st, 2012 @ 11:32 PM
I think a chocolate frosting would work great with this cake.