Angel Food Cake with Dark Chocolate Whipped Cream & Pomegranate Syrup

Right now my life consists of grad school interviews (!!!!) and angel food cake. Both of which I'm super excited about. It looks like we'll be going to Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco (twice) over the next three weeks. My bank account is empty, my carbon footprint is huge, and my heart is full. We'll see what happens. 

On another note, it's almost Valentine's Day, a silly holiday if I do say so myself. I've never been much of a fan, until I clicked through my favorite food blogs earlier this morning and got super inspired. I'm debating between a simple pasta dish with mascarpone, hazelnuts, spinach and homemade pasta, or going big on a french theme with french onion soup (did you know you can make it without beef broth?) salad, and creme brûlée. Classic. Either way there will be angel food cake. 

You see, angel food cake is my husband's favorite, ever. Whenever I ask him what he wants for his birthday/first night home after a long trip away/anniversary the answer is always angel food cake. Being the crazy that I am, I refuse to buy the stuff, which in honestly way easier and not far off from the homemade version. You see, angel food cake is finicky. We're talking borderline french macaron finicky. So finicky I almost resisted posting it. So finicky it needs a special pan (I tried it in a bundt once to save money and it was disastrous), perfectly room-temperature egg whites, and an upside down cooling strategy. So finicky that my attempts to simplify and adapt an already perfect recipe failed miserably. So this recipe is from Alton Brown. Follow the directions exactly and you will be fine. Don't adapt, don't skip anything, or you will waste a dozen eggs. Yeah, I know it's a lot, but you can and should totally make ice cream with the yolks. 

Angel food cake is most traditionally served with whipped cream and strawberries. But alas it's February and I wish I could scream at every supermarket in the country right now to "STOP TRYING TO MAKE OUT-OF-SEASON STRAWBERRIES DURING VALENTINE'S DAY A THING". There is nothing romantic about over-priced, imported, tasteless out of season fruit. Just wait until Spring people, it will be worth it. In effort to replace the strawberries, and in keeping the the whole red v-day theme, I went with a sweet pomegranate syrup instead. And I made a dark chocolate whipped cream which is literally icing on an already fantastic cake, because chocolate is already a good idea. 

Angel Food Cake with Dark Chocolate Whipped Cream & Pomegranate Syrup 
Cake recipe by Alton Brown 

For the cake: 
1 3/4 cup cane sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cake flour
12 large egg whites, room temperature
1/3 cup warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1.5 teaspoons cream of tartar 

For the whipped cream: 
4 ounces dark chocolate, roughly chopped
2 cups heavy cream
pinch of salt 
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Pomegranate syrup
1.5 cups pomegranate juice (about 3 pomegranates - see notes) + a handful of arils for serving
1/3 cup cane sugar    

Make the whipped cream. Place chocolate in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan heat heavy cream to a soft boil. Remove from heat and pour over chocolate. Let sit for a minute, then stir until completely incorporated. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours. Once cool, use a hand mixer with a whisk attachment and whip until it becomes whipped cream.  

Make the cake. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pulse sugar in a food processor or blender for about 2 minutes until finely ground. Reserve 1/2 of the sugar. Whisk the other 1/2 of the sugar with cake flour, and salt. Combine egg whites, water, vanilla, and cream of tarter in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on medium high, slowly incorporating the remaining half of the sugar, until medium peaks form and the whisk forms grooves in the egg whites. Using a fine mesh strainer sprinkle about 1/5 of the flour mixture onto the egg whites. Being mindful you don't de-flat the egg whites, gently fold in the flour, sweeping the spatula from the bottom of the bowl to the top, turning the bowl as you go. Repeat four more times until all of the flour is incorporated. Try to do this step quickly. Pour batter into an angel food cake pan, take a sharp knife and pierce it into the batter, drawing a circle (martha stewart taught me this gets rid of air bubbles), then use a spatula to lightly even out the top. Cook for 45-50 minutes until the top is lightly brown and a skewer comes out clean. 

To cool, invert upside down over a bottle for at least an hour. I'm not kidding. See photo. Once cooled take a butter knife and glide it between the cake and the edges and center of the pan. I also had luck with a little shaking and smacking. Trust, it will come out. 

Make the pomegranate syrup. Combine juice and sugar in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Stir occasionally until juice has thickened and reduced by half, about 30-40 minutes. 

Serve the cake with whipped cream, pomegranate syrup and a small handful of pomegranate arils. Cake keeps for about 5 days covered at room temperature. 

Notes:

• Wanting to save time by not blending the sugar in a food processor, and thinking powdered sugar is basically the same thing? We think alike. And I tried it. It doesn't come out as well, I suspect because powdered sugar actually has some anti-clumping additive that must mess with the egg whites. 
• Feel bad about tossing all those egg yolks? Save them and make ice cream! 
• Here's a fantastic article with pictures for juicing your own pomegranates. All you need is a blender/food processor and a fine mesh strainer. If you don't have time, Pom pomegranate juice works, it's just more expensive. 

Homemade Dark Chocolate Nutella {vegan!}

My favorite part about being married is the idea that my husband and I get to become our own family, start our own traditions, and build a life on our terms. It's pretty awesome. Obviously, one of our family values is good food. We gladly spend the extra couple cents for organic produce, our favorite date nights revolve around food, and cooking together, however challenging it can be in our little kitchen, is one of our favorite activities.

So last year I, unknowingly, started a tradition by making Nate homemade nutella for christmas. I sneakily bought all the ingredients and whipped it up while he was at work then wrapped it and put it under the tree. It was everything nutella should be and more. It was nutella but fresh and real tasting with texture and warmth from real roasted hazelnuts and creamy melted chocolate, minus the chemicals and preservatives. I remember thinking I never realized how processed nutella tasted until I had the good stuff. 

So this year while we were brainstorming unique gift ideas we knew we had to re-create the homemade nutella. We made the first batch with classic milk chocolate. Then with leftover hazelnuts we figured we'd make ourselves a batch, the only problem was we ran out of milk chocolate. We figured since it was just us we'd experiment with dark chocolate. After some taste tests, we upped the amount of hazelnuts a tad and decreased the amount of chocolate a tad. Then to make up for the added bitterness and decreased sugar from the dark chocolate we added an extra tablespoon of sugar. And tada it was just as good as the original with added richness from the dark chocolate. As we stood over the sink comparing the two while licking the spatula and bowl of the food processor we realized our new version is vegan! 

So literally minutes after accidentally creating it, I'm writing to you about homemade dark chocolate nutella: the perfect diy christmas gift. It's so rich, so creamy, and so real tasting. It really does put processed traditional nutella to shame. Because really, what says "I love you, you're special, merry christmas" like a giant jar of homemade nutella? You can bet your chocolate smeared fingers it will be enjoyed until the spoon hits the bottom of the jar! 

Homemade Dark Chocolate Nutella {vegan} 
Adapted from Buzzfeed Food 
Makes 1 pint or 2 cups 

3 tbsp baking soda, if your hazelnuts contain skins
1 1/4 roasted hazelnuts
11 oz dark chocolate (I used 55% cocoa) 
3 tbsp grapeseed oil (or canola oil) 
4 tbsp confectioner's sugar - see notes
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 - 2 tsp sea salt 

Ideally, look for hazelnuts with the skins already removed. If you can only find hazelnuts with the peels intact (like me) you will need to peel them. The easiest peeling method is to bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Once water begins to boil add 3 tbsp baking soda, it will foam. Add your hazelnuts and continue to boil for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, remove 1 nut and test to see if the skin is easily removable. If not, boil longer then retest. Once the hazelnuts are done transfer them to a bowl of ice water. Remove the skins, they should easily peel off, and dry the nuts. 

Toast the hazelnuts at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes until fragrant and lightly browned, even if your hazelnuts are pre-toasted like mine I still do this step as I feel it boosts the flavor. Set aside. 

Melt chocolate in a double boiler. If, like me, you don't have a double boiler, in a small saucepan, bring an inch of so of water to a bowl. Top saucepan with-heat proof bowl, I used pyrex, making sure it doesn't touch the water. Once the water boils pour the chocolate into the bowl and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly. 

In a food processor blend hazelnuts and oil until they reach the consistency of smooth paste. You made need to scape down the sides with a spatula a couple times. Add the sugar (starting with 4 tbsp - you can add more later, if needed), cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt and process until completely combined. Pour in the melted chocolate and process until completely smooth and incorporated. Taste and adjust sugar and salt if needed. 

Notes: 
Depending on how dark your chocolate is you may need to add more sugar. I used 55%, so if you're using something much higher you will definitely need to add more sugar to combat the bitterness. We found salt also helped a surprising amount in bringing out the flavors and decreasing the bitterness, so feel free to up that as well. Just taste to gauge. 


 

DIY Dark Chocolate Speculoos Cookie Butter Cups with Sea Salt

I'm back! And I brought treats!! The hubby came back from being in Abu Dhabi for three weeks, just in time for our two year anniversary. My man got me our wedding cake stand, which I tracked down late one night while admiring our wedding pictures. I topped it off by re-created our wedding cake, complete with chocolate cake, chocolate bavarian cream (with vegetarian gelatin!), and chocolate whipped cream frosting. I snapped pictures, recording measurements, totally intending to share with you guys, then... we had structural failure. I'm talking disastrous failure. Apparently I'm incompetent at leveling cakes. Next year! 

We celebrated these past two years by taking off to Sonoma County for a whole week. We brought P, drank wine, and ate fantastic food. I can't wait to share all the details soon. In the meantime, Happy Halloween! What better way to celebrate than with DIY homemade candy. 

A couple years back while living in NYC, I developed a deep deep love for speculoos cookie butter at a Waffles and Dinges food truck. Since then, this Dutch delicacy has become pretty mainstream, even sold at Trader Joe's. Have you had it? If not, I have to warn you, it's seriously addicting. I often find myself going into the pantry with a spoon and coming out with the perfect one bite treat that always satisfies that little dessert craving. 

These cookie butter cups are like homemade peanut butter cups but better. They are made with dark chocolate and topped with sea salt which makes them totally sophisticated. Candy for adults. Goodbye processed mainstream candy. You've been replaced. 

DIY Dark Chocolate Speculoos Cookie Butter Cups with Sea Salt 
Adapted from Food52
Makes about 24 full-size cups 

1 pound dark chocolate, roughly chopped 
2 tbsp coconut oil 
3/4 cup speculoos cookie butter 
Fleur De Sel* 

Prepare a rimmed baking sheet with 24 cupcake liners. Warm chocolate and coconut oil in a double broiler until completely melted. Or microwave mixture 30 seconds at a time, stirring until completely melted. Pour about 1/2 tbsp of melted chocolate into each cupcake liner. Smack baking sheet on the counter 3-5 times until chocolate forms a smooth layer on the bottom of each liner. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. 

Remove liners from the fridge and top each cup with a heaping 1/2 tbsp cookie butter (I used a cookie scoop). Using the back of a spoon, smooth the cookie butter into a flat layer on top of the chocolate base, leaving a tiny border around the edges for chocolate to drip down. Top each cup with just enough chocolate to cover, then use the back of a spoon to smooth the chocolate over the cookie butter, covering it completely. Top with a liberal sprinkling of Fleur De Sel (I wish I'd use more than I did in the photos). Refrigerate for 25-30 minutes until completely set.  

*I recently splurged on this, which I used, but you could totally use regular sea salt.