Gluten Free Chocolate-Espresso Angel Food Cake (A Complete Tutorial)

Ingredients

• 12 Egg Whites (DO not use a boxed egg white variaion- only real eggs will do the job)
• 1/4 Tsp Salt
• 1 1/4 Tsp Cream of Tarter
• 1 Cup White Sugar
• 1 1/4 Cup Confectioners Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Sweet Rice Flour
• 1/2 Cup Tapioca
• 1/4 Cup Potato Starch Flour
• 1/4 Cup unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 1 TBS Expresso Coffee Grinds (Finely ground)
• 1 Tsp Xanthan Gum (or Guar Gum for Corn Free)

Directions

Ahh Angel Food Cake- one of life’s greatest pleasures. A dessert fluffy and totally fat free. And for the Allergy Free Community this Cake further is a gift as it naturally contains no Milk Product- and what else..

Angel Food Cake is one of the rare recipes that actually NEED to have less Gluten In order it to do its beautiful thing in the oven. You will notice that typically Angel Food Cake recipes call for Cake Flour- and this is due to the fact that Cake Flour contains less Gluten than all purpose.

Chocolate and Espresso. A combination loved by many. My favorite thing in the world is putting a new spin on a traditional recipe- when the fun idea came to mind for this cake a few night ago as I was taking the dogs out for their evening walk – I knew it needed to happen (and soon!)

If you would like to omit the expresso- feel free! The chocolate alone will be fun! And also- feel free to experiment with other flavors by using different extracts in place of the Vanilla. I bet that the use of almond extract would compliment the chocolate beautifully.

Before I share the recipe- there are a 10 guidelines that I want to share that are essential in making a successful Angel Food Cake. They are easy to do – BUT extremely important. Breaking any one of these guidelines could equate to your cake losing its fluffy height and we wouldn’t want that.

1. You cake must be baked in a GREASE FREE pan. Make sure also that you are not using a pan that has a non-stick surface. The cake needs to stick to the pan!
2. An undercooked cake will flop. Give it the full time that I suggest.
3. Make sure to incorporate the flour well into the egg foam- not doing so could create issues when baking. The fact that this recipe calls for cocoa powder will make it easy for you to see that everything has blended properly.
4. Sifting the flours together makes a BIG difference. You want the flours perfectly blended- and with gluten free as you know we use more than 1 flour- Sift and blend your flours before you start the egg whites.
5. The Eggs need to be at room temp before you whip them. Cold eggs will not function as well as those that are room temp.
6. DO NOT open the oven during the cooking time. Not even once- this most likely will make your cake fall.
7. Bake the cake on the lowest rack in your oven.
8. Gently remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool FULLY before removing it from the pan.
9. Use a bread serated knife when it comes time to cut and serve the cake- this will allow it to remain fluffy and beautiful!
10. Whipping the eggs to the perfect stiffness is important- watch the following Video to get a visual understanding of what the Eggs should look like.

 

 

Also Check out this Instructional Write up from the Gluten Free Cooking School. on Angel Food Cake- it includes some great pictures to help guide you .

I Selected the flours I’m using for this recipe very carefully. Sweet Rice Flour has become my go to Cake Flour- NOTHING compares in the beautiful texture it creates. You could try using regular rice flour here- but honestly I would just stick to the recipe I have provided . (Unless of course you are an experienced gf baker and have faith in your ideas.) In the future I plan to experiment using Coconut Flour as it also results in a silky texture .Another thing that I will be working on- is a Reduced Sugar recipe.  Thats a project for another day.. stay tuned for updates .

OK- Lets make a cake! Follow these directions in their exact order.

1. Remove your eggs from the fridge and allow them to sit on the counter until they have come to room temp.
2. Sift together the Confectioners Sugar, Sweet Rice Flour, Tapioca Potato Starch Flour , Unsweetened Cocoa Powder Coffee Grinds and Xanthan Gum. Set aside.
3. Seperate the egg whites from the yolks. Place the Egg Whites in a Stainless Steel Bowl (this could be the bowl of a stand mixer)  Discard the yolks (or save them in the fridge for another use)
4. Preheat the oven to 325 Degrees and make sure that your oven rack is at its lowest point.
5. Double Check to see if the yolks are at room temp. If they are- add to them Salt. Begin whipping. Once the egg whites are foamy add the cream of tarter. Whip more (On high)
6. Once soft peaks begin to form you may start adding the white sugar- do this a little at a time. (add, mix, add mix until you have added all of the sugar)
7. Beat until Stiff Peaks Form  (watch video to see a visual of this)  Add in the Vanilla Extract and beat another second more and then turn off the mixer.
8. Using a spatula gently fold in the flour mixture- little by little. The key here is GENTLE movements so that you do not destroy the peaks- but also understand that it is crucial that the flour is mixted in thouroughly. Your peaks are going to lose a little bit of their volume while you do this- that is ok!
9. Place the fully incorporated mixture into your UNGREASED Angel Food Cake Pan. Using your spatula smooth out the top.
10. Place the Cake into the oven and Bake for 1 Hour and 10 minutes. Remember- DO NOT open the oven even once to check on it until that full period of time has passed.
11. Gently remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool before you even think about removing it.
12. To Remove the cake- run a sharp knife around the edge of the cake and flip it on to a serving platter. As I mentioned above- don’t cut the cake unless its cool- and use a serated knife to keep it light and fluffy.

This cake taste’s OUT OF THIS WORLD with some chocolate sauce and fresh Strawberries. To make chocolate sauce- try melting Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips- Or for a quick glaze mix together some Cocoa Powder, Melted Coconut Oil and a little Agave. (Thats what I did)

If you make this cake- please let me know how it turns out for you!!

xoxoxo

Brittany