Fat Free Chocolate Cake!

Being that I had a baby not quite 4 months ago, I am currently trying very hard to lose weight.  I have a lot of it to lose  - and that means getting very serious about my diet.  The working out thing, I can do (or I used to be able to do before my abdominal muscles were shredded and then sliced open) - but following a strict diet is difficult because I LOVE food - eating and preparing it.  Its very trendy right now to go the way of Michael Pollan and say just eat real foods and if you want dessert make it from scratch, right?

Um, wrong - cause I already do all that.  I don't eat convenience foods and unfortunately I really have fallen in love with baking.  Telling me to make my own desserts will not help me lose the weight I gained during pregnancy - quite the opposite.  I have to go the much harder route - if I want to lose I have to find a way to eat a lower calorie diet at home.   Which means what I really have to do is find a way to make 'diet' food something I actually enjoy making and eating.  Cooking is much easier (and more fun) when you aren't concerned with the amount of butter you are using.

And of course, when my birthday rolled around a few weeks ago and I really wanted to make a chocolate cake, that meant I needed to find something that wouldn't undo all my hard work.  I immediately thought of Angel Food cake, which is one of my favorite things anyway.  I had always wanted to try a chocolate one and I found this recipe filed under 'healthy' on Epicurious and I thought I would give it a try.  You know what, its really good.  Its slightly more dense than traditional Angel Food cake and could easily be used to substitute any chocolate cake if needed.  Its not too sweet, very chocolatey and only has 185 calories a slice (less if you are making more than 8 slices - which we did).  Its the perfect indulgence for those on a restricted diet and its tastes great even if you aren't.  We had it with just a dollop of Greek yogurt that I stirred some vanilla bean into, and we loved it! 

Diet Friendly Chocolate Cake
from  Chef Albaladejo at Four Seasons Aviara
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 tsp salt
12 egg whites
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 163 C / 325 F

Sift 1 cup of the sugar, flour, cocoa and salt together in a small bowl.

In a (very) large mixing bowl beat egg whites, lemon juice and vanilla on medium-high until peaks form.  Add sugar and beat on high until semi-stiff peaks form (don't overbeat they will break down). 

With a rubber spatula slowly and gently fold in dry ingredients until all incorporated.  Spoon into a tube pan and cook for 45-55 minutes or until the top springs back when you touch it (I found it to be on the lower end of that time frame). 

Remove from oven and invert onto a wire cooling rack to cool (if you don't invert the cake will sink!).   Gently remove cake from pan after it has completely cooled and serve.  Its great with yogurt or cream or marscapone, dusted in powdered sugar, with a light glaze, with fruit...you name it, the possibilities are endless!

Angel Food Cake with Lemon Whipped Cream Frosting

I always want to make pretty cakes that inspire oohs and ahhs when you serve them.  Except that I'm really not much of a baker, and I especially am not good at making anything I cook 'pretty'.  Usually I don't mind too much, because we all know that what really matters is how it tastes right?  Half the time those gorgeous cakes are dry and flavorless anyway (see: my wedding cake.).  

But then there was Angel Food Cake.  I'm not sure there is anything prettier, fluffier, or sweeter.  I absolutely love the stuff.  I think everyone has a favorite kind of cake (no? just me?  really?)  and my favorite has always been Angel Food. 

I was a bit surprised when I moved to Germany and realized (by doing an informal poll of my international group of friends) that Angel Food cake is pretty much an American thing.   I knew I had to make some for my friends so they experience the sweet fluffy goodness , but - there being no angel food cake here and all - an angel food cake pan was impossible to find.

Luckily my mom was awesome enough to send me one for my birthday and I promptly got to separating eggs, whipping eggs whites and sifting flour and sugar.  I had made this before in the states, and I found this recipe to produce a far superior Angel Food cake to anything I had tried before. The first cake I made was a complete disaster though.  See - I forgot the very important step of inverting the cake to cool and the cake lovingly became known as "crater cake."    Sure it tasted good...but it wasn't pretty.

Luckily eggs aren't too expensive (even organic, free range ones 'round here) and I didn't give up.  And in the meantime I found myself with a very large number of egg yolks to put to good use in what has become my very favoritist frosting ever - Lemon Whipped Cream. 

Its really simple:  take 500g Whipped Cream (Schlag Sahne) and a scant amount of sugar and beat it with an electric mixer until its very stiff (careful....you go too long it will turn to butter).  Then fold in a half cup to a cup of Lemon Curd (just to taste).  I got this fantastic idea from Alice Waters in the Art of Simple Food, and this tart and not-too-sweet frosting just pairs magically with Angel Food Cake.

I had never iced an Angel Food Cake before - I had always eaten it fairly plain, maybe with some berries or fruit compote and some whipped cream at the most.   Iced, with some fresh raspberries and blueberries in the center for decoration,  it was just amazing.  The lemon and berries together with the sweet but low-fat cake seemed so summer-y - it was the ultimate dessert to enjoy after a backyard BBQ and I think would make an adorable take-along to a Fourth of July celebration. 

Angel Food Cake 
with Lemon Whipped Cream Frosting
recipe from Gourmet November 2001

• 1 1/2 cups egg whites (11 to 12 large eggs)
• 1 1/2 cups (150 g) sifted confectioners sugar (sift before measuring)
• 1 cup (100 g) sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring)(type 405 in Germany)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• Special equipment: a 10-inch tube pan (about 4 inches deep) with a removable bottom

Let egg whites stand in large wide bowl at room temperature about 1 hour before making cake. (They should be about 60°F, slightly below room temperature.) 

Set oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 350°F (180 C)

Sift together confectioners sugar, flour, and salt onto a sheet of wax paper using a fine sieve (I just sifted into a bowl). 

Beat whites in mixer until frothy. Add cream of tartar and beat at medium speed until they form soft peaks. Add granulated sugar gradually, beating, and continue beating just until whites are thickened and form soft, droopy peaks. Beat in vanilla. 

Sprinkle one fourth of sifted dry ingredients over whites and fold in with a rubber spatula gently but thoroughly. Fold in remaining dry ingredients, one third at a time. 

Gently pour batter evenly into ungreased tube pan and bake until top is light golden, cake retracts a bit from pan and springs back when touched lightly, and a tester comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Invert pan onto neck of an empty wine bottle or a large metal funnel and cool cake completely (mine didn't fit on either of those and I just set it inverted on a baking rack and that worked just fine).

To remove cake from pan, run tip of a long, narrow knife between outer edge of cake and pan. Tilt cake pan on its side and gently tap bottom edge against counter. Rotate pan, tapping and turning a few more times, until cake appears free. Cover pan with a metal rack or cardboard round (or dinner plate as I did) and invert, tapping pan firmly to loosen cake. Lift pan from cake. (It should come out beautifully, like a pillow taken out of a slipcover.) 

To frost, simply gently spread the icing in large heaping spoonfuls with a rubber spatula.  Since I used a thick coating of frosting I didn't see any need to do a crumb coat and the whole bit.  Frost around the whole cake including in the center hole.  I think this cake looks cute with the frosting kind of fluffy and 'rustic looking' but feel free to make yours all smooth and pretty with a cake spreader if that is your thing.   Keep the cake in the fridge until serving.  Fill the center with fresh berries - I used raspberries and blueberries - but I can't think of  a single berry that wouldn't taste great with this.  Strawberries are especially awesome. 

Lemon Curd

I love lemon sweets.  I think it all started with those sweet frozen lemonades we used to get at fairs and the ballpark when I was a kid, though it quickly expanded to things like lemon bars, lemon cake, and tart little lemon cookies.  Lemon cupcakes with lemon frosting are especially awesome.  However, until not too long ago I had never heard of  Lemon Curd.  In fact, the first I ever heard of it was reading through The Art of Simple Food and it promptly became the first recipe I bookmarked.

Maybe you are like me and had never heard of this little delight before.  Simply put its eggs (and a few extra yolks) whipped up with fresh lemon and cooked until nice and thick (almost pudding like).  Then you can do with it what you will - its delicious spread on toast,  biscuits, or scones for breakfast or a tea time snack.  You can also use it as a base for other desserts - like a tart as suggested by Alice Waters in her book.   I envision it between layers of cake, as a filling for cupcakes or donuts and somehow incorporated with Cheesecake (with raspberries!).  Mix it with whipped cream (again as suggested by Ms. Waters) and it makes an absolutely amazing icing (look for a recipe soon).   Basically this is  super tart and super-lemony with just the right amount of sweetness and creaminess and couldn't be easier to whip up.  I think I am in love.

Lemon Curd
recipe from The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters
4 lemons (or 2 really large lemons)
2 eggs
3 egg yolks
2 Tbs. milk
100 g sugar (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)
75g (1/3cup) butter, cut into small pieces

Grate the zest of the lemons on the small holes of a grater (I used a microplane).  Juice the lemons - there should be about 100ml juice.

Beat the eggs, yolks, milk, sugar and salt until mixed well.  Stir in the lemon juice and zest and add the butter.  Cook this mixture in a nonreactive heavy pan, stirring constantly, over medium heat until its thick enough to coat a spoon.  Do not allow to boil or the eggs will curdle.  When thick, pour into a glass jar or bowl to cool.  Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.