Chocolate Delights!

We're off to find the best chocolate we can discover for you. Who is your favorite chocolatier?
Here is one of my most requested recipes that's all chocolate all the time!
Savor. Linger. Enjoy!
-Cynthia

Chocolate Angel Food Cake

Angel Food Cake is the ultimate in (almost) guilt free delight. Airy and light it will melt in your mouth. This chocolate version is lovely with a warm, dark, fudgy sauce, or fresh fruit and whipped cream. Cut the cake in half and fill it with custard and top it with chocolate for a boston cream version.

Serves 12-14

14  large egg whites- about 1 1/2 cups- at room temperature

3/4 cup sifted cake flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1 1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoons fine sea salt

1 teaspoon cream of tartar- or Bakewell Cream

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place all of the dry ingredients in a bowl. Sift the flour before measuring. If you don't have a sifter, use a wire strainer and a whisk to fluff the flour before measuring. Add about half the sugar to the flour and the cocoa and sift again. Sift the flour, cocoa and half the sugar together once more.

Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl, adding the salt and the cream of tartar to the whites as soon as they become foamy. Continue beating. As soft peaks begin to form, add the remaining sugar and vanilla. Beat until stiff peaks form.

Using a flexible spatula, gently fold the flour, cocoa, and sugar mixture into the egg white mixture with an under, over, cut straight down through the mixture and up motions. Be sure to go all the way to the bottom of the bowl with each folding motion.  Mix only until the dry ingredients are combined.

Gently place the batter into a ten-inch tube pan and bake immediately. Bake for 45 minutes or until the cake is done.

When the cake is removed from the oven, immediately invert the tube pan on the counter. If the tube pan does not have legs, invert the pan over a glass wine type bottle-inserted into the center tube. Cool.

Chocolate Whipped Cream

1 pint heavy cream

1/2 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate bits

3 Tablespoons sugar or to taste

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 Tablespoons chocolate covered cocoa nibs

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (or in the microwave for one minute at high heat) Stir gently. Continue heating until smooth and melted. Let the chocolate cool for five minutes. peaks form. Sprinkle the sugar over the cream and whip another minute. The chocolate should be slightly warm and still liquid but not hot.

Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Stir 1/3 of the whipped cream into the chocolate. Very gently, fold the chocolate mixture and the extract into the remaining whipped cream.

Make sure the cake has cooled completely, at least two hours. Run a sharp knife around the edge of the pan to separate the cake from the sides. Invert the cake onto a plate and remove the pan. Brush any loose crumbs off of the cake. Turn right side up and place on a serving plate.  Use a spatula to spread the chocolate whipped cream evenly over the cake. Place the cake in the freezer for an hour to set the whipped cream. Serve either frozen or chilled.