Sunday, October 29, 2006

Chocolate Angel



Despite my previous failure with the pandan kaya cake the other time round, I'm proud to announce that I have boldly and sucessfully baked my first ever Angel food cake! And what better to top it with a good dose of chocolate ganache?



Phew, I was so nervous making this cake esp while whipping the egg whites, hoping that they would rise well. And rose well they did! Thanks to Gracio for providing the helpful link, I meticulously followed the instructions on whipping egg whites from baking911 and it all went well. Hohoho Gracio, Angie and Evan sis, I've done you girls proud haven't I? *winkz*



I also followed the Angel food cake and Chocolate ganache recipes from baking911 but I reduced the sugar in the Angel cake and chose a lower fat heavy cream for the chocolate ganache. The Angel cake was good, but still a tad too sweet, so I'm gonna reduce more sugar and add more flour the next time round. I'll also use 4% light whipping cream for the ganache next time round making it a really low fat dessert. The cake was a hit with Qin and her brothers tho, they totally loved it and it was quickly gobbled up.

Recipe:

Angel Food Cake

Ingredients:

7 egg whites
60 grams confectioners' sugar
50 grams sifted cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons cream of tartar
80 grams granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Steps:

1. About 1 hour before baking the batter, place fresh, cold egg whites in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer.

2. Pour the sifted confectioners' sugar, sifted cake flour, and salt into a triple sifter and sift onto a sheet of wax paper.

3. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 175°C.

4. In the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on low speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and increase the speed to medium. Beat until soft peaks form. Continue whipping and gradually add the granulated sugar, until the whites thicken and form soft, droopy white peaks. Add the vanilla in the final moments of whipping.

5. Sprinkle one-quarter of the flour mixture over the whites, and with a rubber spatula, fold into the whites. Repeat this process with the remaining flour mixture, folding in only one-quarter at a time. Gently pour the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan.

6. Bake until the top is golden and springs back when gently pressed with your fingers, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes.

7. Invert the cake pan onto the neck of a bottle or funnel. Cool completely in the pan, 2 to 3 hours.

Chocolate Ganache:

Ingredients:

150 grams 53% cocoa chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream 32%

Steps:

1. Boil whipping cream at low heat till it starts to boil.

2. Remove and pour over chocolate chips and let it sit for 1 minute.

3. Stir with a spoon till thoroughly mixed

4. Place bowl in ice to cool the mixture and whip at medium speed when the mixture cools and stiffens.

13 comments:

D said...

Yeah show them girls whatever they can do we can do er.. almost as good haha.
You go guy!!! Haha

Gracio said...

YD, Good job on this cake! :) Well done! more to come ya?! :)

Unknown said...

Hey YD, great job! Have never doubted you cannot do what girls can do. Thumbs up!

And Angel cakes are 'famous' for being sweet, but sugar is the main tenderizer in this type of cakes(coz there's no fats), so don't go too far at reducing the sugar ya.

Sammy said...

Haha, thanks guys! ;) Definately more to come!

Angie, do you think if I reduce the sugar another 20 grams and substitute it with flour instead it will be okay?

Anonymous said...

got self-proclaimed experts to give u advice, what am i here for? LOL i'm not a good baker compared to the rest of the girls here =)

great job!

Unknown said...

Hello YD, 20g sounds fine, but better not substitute with flour, too much flour may turn it into a tough cake.

Also, YD, I am NO expert in baking, just trying to help in things which I've done before. If at any point you think it's over-board, please let me know so that I don't piss you or other people off. Thanks ya and looking forward to more of your bakes :)

Gracio said...

Hey YD, keep more pics of ur bakings coming ya? I know u can do a good job on baking.

And yes, I agree with Angie that we're all trying to help tho i'm new to baking, I don't think we're self proclaiming that we're experts in baking, we're all still learning to bake and become better bakers because of our passion & love for baking.

Evan,Pls be careful in your words the next time as I don't think we did offended you in any way at all.

Anonymous said...

actually i'm not referring to any of you, at least not in this post. didnt mean to cause any ill-intentions, my apologies!

Sammy said...

Thanks guys :)

Aiyoh, please don't quarrel. All of your advices have been very very helpful n no one is accusing anyone of anything. If no one adviced me, I'll still be at square one right?!

We're all one big happy foodie family. The flogging society in SG is small enough as it is, lets all cook (and eat) in peace and harmony okay! :)

Sammy said...

btw, you guys have been very helpful and in no way going overboard. Let's just help each other on the way to better cooking/baking :)

bossacafez said...

sorry sorry, i used the wrong word. but indeed they're all experts in baking (and cooking) mah. grace whips up mean chinese dishes whereas angie is indeed an expert (at least in bread lah). her rustic loaves always look so good and authentic. like that not expert meh? :p

D said...

meow

Sammy said...

Okay okay, group hug!!! :)