Green Beans & Cake

Marcia's Chocolate Angel Food Cake

Last week my mother and I prepared my Grandmother Marcia's Chocolate Angel Food Cake. This light and airy yet subtly decadent Southern dessert is sure to impress anyone who might be fortunate enough to try a bite.  The recipe involves many steps. But don't worry. I'll take you through each step cake crumb by cake crumb.

Let's get started.

Step 1: Measure and sift together 3 times.

-    3/4 cup sifted cake flour

-    7/8 cup (3/4 cup + 2 tbsp.) sugar

-    1/4 cup cocoa

 

Okay, I’ll admit it. Mom made the cake. I watched. And took pictures!

Step 2: Measure into larger mixing bowl.

-    1  1/2 cups egg whites (about 12 whites)

-    1  1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

-    1/4 tsp. salt

-    1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Beat with wire whip until foamy throughout. Gradually add 2 tbsp. at a time:

-    3/4 cup sugar

Beat about 10 seconds after each addition. Continue beating after the last addition until meringue is firm and holds stiff in straight peaks. (This requires considerable beating.)

 

I thought the wire whip looked like a fly swatter. Hmmm…that shows the depth of my baking skills, doesn’t it?

Step 3: Place flour, sugar, cocoa mixture in sifter and sift about 3 tbsp. over the entire surface of meringue.

Fold gently with wire whip until flour, sugar, cocoa mixture disappears using 8 to 10 complete folding strokes and turning the bowl a quarter of a turn with each stroke.

Repeat this folding process until all of the flour, sugar, and cocoa is folded in. Then scrape down the sides of the bowl with rubber scraper and fold 8 to 10 strokes or until mixture is completely blended. This mixture will be very thick. Carefully with a rubber scraper, push batter into ungreased tube pan, 10 x 4 in size. Lift the last portion lightly from the bowl into the pan, being careful not to stir it.

Carefully cut through the batter going around the tube 5 or 6 times with a knife to break large air bubbles. Be sure to even up batter so it is level and touches the sides of the pan. Bake 30-35 minutes in oven (375 degrees Fahrenheit) or until top springs back when lightly touched. Deep cracks in the top are typical of this cake. Immediately turn pan upside down, placing tube part over neck of funnel or bottle. Let cake hang in pan until cold.

Remove cake, loosen from sides and tube with spatula close against the pan. Turn. Turn pan over and hit edge sharply on table to loosen. Split cake crosswise in 3 layers with saw-toothed knife. Spread Chocolate Fluff. Keep in refrigerator.

 

Chocolate Fluff

Mix together:

2 cups cream

2/3 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

Dash of salt

Beat until stiff.

  

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

My latest chocolate creations

Meet my latest chocolate creations.

Here, we have Spicy Italian Mocha Truffles. Cinnamon and spice (and chocolate) does taste nice. :)

 

Adventurous palate? You might want to try my Salted Caramel Chai squares.

Another view.

The recipes involve lots of steps. Thought I'd spare you the nitty gritty details for now. Leave me a comment if you're interested in either recipe. I'd be happy to share.

Little foodie in the kitchen

I'm in the midst of whipping up two foodie-inspired projects. The first one? Developing two new chocolate recipes for this chocolate class I'm taking. I plan to make:

Spicy Italian Mocha Truffles & Salted Caramel Chai Chocolate Squares.

Pictures to come.

I'm also working on a project for an independent study I'm taking that's about food & memory. I've been bugging my parents every five seconds to send me pictures of my grandmothers and some childhood pictures. Although I do recall loving to experiment with exotic ingredients in the kitchen growing up, I don't necessarily remember all the details. So, to jog my memory my parents sent me pictures from my early childhood. Apparently, I've always had a love for cooking. This passion -- newly discovered, really, in my adult years -- was inspired by my grandmothers. As a matter of fact, I just learned from my mother that my Grandmother Marcia (her picture is below) has a Hershey Bar Pie recipe that goes back to HER aunt (we're talking about a recipe that goes back to the early 1900s). I do plan to recreate the recipe in the near future.

Anyway, for your entertainment, here are a few pictures from days long past.

Circa 1981. Little me bakin' some pie. Lookin' a wee bit demented, eh? Don't know where that funky bib stain came from. Some things are better left unknown.

 Circa 1981. Little me helping with the pie crust.

Not sure of the year -- early 1980s. Where's the pie?

Early 1980s. "Excuse me, sir." says Little Me, "Could I trouble you for some Fleur de Sol?"

 My beautiful Grandmother Marcia. I miss her.

Love in a box

...and, ahem, a wrapper.

 

Piper-Heidsieck Champagne...minis!

Paired with Amedei Chuao 70% dark chocolate.

I'm in love....!

Commandment # 10 (and a half)

While some women may dream of owning the latest pair of Isabel Marant Otway Boots, others, like me, have dreams of a different sort.

And what could this dream be? [Wait for it...]

A wine and chocolate cellar.

Yes, I know. It doesn't seem like a rational dream to have, does it? Who would want such a thing, you might ask. How fantastic could a wine cellar (and for me, a wine AND chocolate cellar) be?  Let's take a trip to my friend Sarah's blog, "The Seven Spot" and find out.

Sarah, your cellar is the stuff of genius.

I mentioned to my husband the other day that if we one day build a house, I wanted to have a chocolate and wine cellar instead of a traditional basement. I might add in a commercial kitchen too. Just for good measure. Matt looked at me like I had lost my mind.

"Do you have any idea how much that would cost?" (typical Matt)

"It doesn't matter! How hard could it be to build a cellar?" (typical me)

"We would have to hire people to dig a huge hole in the earth."

"Well, then, I'm sure I could do it. How hard could it be?"

If you know me, then you know how comical that statement is. Let's just say that manual labor really isn't my forte. haha

Overcoming my hermit ways

I don't if I like to admit this kind of thing about myself, but I really have some issues when it comes to dealing with emotions that I find unpleasant. I've had some time to "recover" from my chocolate party that didn't happen -- but it took me about a week to do so. I've totally avoided e-mail, taking my dogs on a walk (b/c our friends live right next to us...and they are Facebook friends too...), and checking my Facebook account for almost a week. For whatever reason, I just couldn't face my feelings -- so, I did what I do best -- became a complete recluse...a hermit.

I finally returned the e-mail that my friend sent me on Friday. It felt good to move forward and get over the disappointment.

Ahhhh...I feel like I can breathe again.

The chocolate addict is at it again

Just in case you haven't noticed...you could say that I'm a little obsessed with writing about chocolate.

I'm sure that I should be working on something more professional right now... Oh, well.

I plan on selling my chocolates at a local coffee shop later this month. Here's a sneak peek of my chocolate shopping list...

 

Valentine's Day Chocolate

Valentine's Day kept me busy! I sold my first few boxes of chocolate at a local coffee shop. Exciting!

I've posted more pictures in my "New Chocolate pics" photo album on the left side of the screen. 

     

 

 

Limoncello Truffles

 

   

 

 

Pomegranate hand-dipped chocolates

The perfect pairing

My search has begun. I'm looking for the perfect red wine to pair with the dark chocolates that I make. I'm currently trying out Malbec reds. I'm not sure if it is the best type of wine to pair with dark chocolate...but, it's a trendy start. :-)

Any suggestions?

More on Malbec

A follow up to my "Kitchen Adventures" post...