One Winged Angel Food Cake

So if that image doesn't tip you off, I did something crazy. Though not THAT crazy, just crazy enough (standard Adam crazy). I bought a new mixer. And I didn't just buy any mixer, I pretty much bought THE mixer. It's a monster. But it's my monster.

For some reason I'm prone to sleeping with the TV on during my vacations. It was a Sunday morning, my last day off, around 3AM and I woke up to the horrible screeching of one of Tyler Perry's TV shows. Startled, I quickly tried to find something a little more soothing to sleep to (I just can't be persuaded to turn my TV off). I ended up on The Shopping Channel. I laid there and watched as the KitchenAid Professional 600 mixer was offered for 50% off including the ice cream maker bowl. Sears was doing something similar a few months ago and I passed on it. I've pretty much regretted it every day since. In fact, when making the tiramisu with my Aunt I actually mentioned it to her; and then one week later, in the middle of the night, there it was. It was kismet. The next morning I was online and it was ordered.

There is honestly nothing wrong with my current Sunbeam mixer. I love my mixer. Pound for pound, given standard pricing, it's better than the comparable KitchenAid in both the accessories it comes with and (more importantly) power. It works perfectly. Okay maybe one of the beaters is a little bent because someone, who shall remain nameless, tried to scrape a knife off on the beater as it was running. And this may or may not have lead to the knife getting a bit stuck and slightly bending said beater. In this person's defence he's a bit of an idiot and wasn't thinking (confession: it was me). However, I have no intention of getting rid of my old mixer, it still has purpose.

As well, you might be concerned that my new mixer says “Professional” (it's right there) and I'm sure you're well aware that I am in no way a professional (perhaps I professionally horde 1989 Nintendo Power magazines). This concerned me bit, but when I tested the mixer it worked perfectly, so it probably hasn't figured it out yet. I'll let you know if that changes.

When I unpacked the new mixer for the first time it was like Christmas morning 1996; complete with a Nintendo 64 and Mario 64. It's so shiny and so awesome. I was giddy.

It took a few weeks before I was finally able to use it. It only comes with one bowl, sized: large (surprise surprise). So I needed a recipe that was a little more substantial than I normally make. Enter Chocolate Angel Food Cake.

If you're wondering where the recipe is or when it's coming. It's not. In reality it was a disaster. Not because the recipe was bad (far from it), but because I'm a wee bit (a lot) impatient. I got frustrated sifting the flour and folding it in; and then sifting and then folding; sifting, folding, etc. So I looked at the flour left in the bowl and decided there wasn't much left. Then I dumped it in. The flour literally made a "thud" as it hit the egg whites. Guess there was more than I thought.

The batter looked a little dense as I poured it in the pan and when it didn't fill the pan I knew it wasn't going to go well. After the allotted baking time and a few minutes more, the cake tested ready. It cooled (upside down of course). It shrank (bad sign number two). And when I went to release it from the pan the cake stuck horribly. I finally coaxed it onto a plate (most of it at least) only to discover that it wasn't completely baked around the centre. This both bewildered and amused me. Tube pans are designed to bake the middle as it bakes the sides. I need to get Stephen Hawking in here.

It tasted fantastic though. It had a much more chocolate flavour than I expected, which was great; but not surprisingly was also more dense than an angel food cake should be. But you know what you do when you have a chocolate angel food cake that's not completely baked? You cut yourself a big honkin' piece, add two scoops of vanilla bean ice cream, and grab a spoon. Awesome. Ice cream hides all imperfections :).

I will return to this chocolate angel food cake in the future, hopefully with a little more patience. After all, it's angel food cake, as long as you don't lose your mind half way through it's not difficult. And if you want the recipe here it is. Take your favourite angel food cake recipe, reduce the flour by 1/4 cup and add 1/4 cup of cocoa powder. BLAM! Done :).

And let me finish by saying that I love my new mixer. It's incredible. It beat those egg whites into submission. I just hope my old mixer doesn't get jealous. At times it can be a bit knead-y :).

Yeah, I just did that.

~Adam

P.S. You're a geek if you recognize my title reference. Welcome to the club.