chocolate angel food cake

This is yet another dessert we love. Obviously we like sweets as it's the category with the most recipes on my sidebar! And it's chocolate,of course! Make this and your family will think you 'rock'. I love it when my kids say that. :)

Chocolate Angel Food Cake

3/4 cup cake flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
12 egg whites
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line the bottom of your angel food cake pan with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, cocoa and 3/4 cup of the sugar. Set aside. Chop the chocolate and toss in a small bowl with 3 tablespoons of the flour mixture.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer set at low speed, beat egg whites until foamy. Increase mixer speed to medium, stir in cream of tartar and salt and continue to beat until egg mixture forms soft peaks. Gradually mix in the remaining 3/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. If you've never made an angel food cake before this is what you are looking for -

Stir in the vanilla and lemon juice. Gently fold the flour mixture into the beaten egg whites, then fold in the chocolate pieces, stirring just until no white streaks remain. Gently scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the surface of the batter and tap the pan lightly to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 60 minutes, or until the surface springs back when touched. Cool upside down before removing from the pan.

I prefer to serve this cake with a dollop of chocolate cool whip. Fresh sliced strawberries would be really good too!