Angelus Cake
The first thing I did when I got this half-size angel food pan was cackle maniacally over its adorable half-size cuteness. The second thing I did was make chocolate angel food cake. I remembered have made one (full-size) in the past, but honestly, I had forgotten how good it was.
If you have never had homemade angel food cake before, it is a revelation! It is at once moist and fluffy, light and flavorful: very different and (dare I say) vastly better than one brought home from the grocery store, or even made from a mix.
This half-size cake is an excellent introduction to making angel food; the smaller size is more manageable when folding in the dry ingredients. In developing this half-size recipe, I looked at several full-size recipes. All suggest using cake flour, and replacing some of the cake flour with unsweetened cocoa powder. The small amount of flour looks odd, and the small amount of cocoa seems inadequate, but I assure you it is right.
Angel food cake is great unfrosted, but on the "more is better" principle, I added a bittersweet chocolate glaze. The end product is named after the "dark angel" of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Notes: You can also make this cake in a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
This cake is gluten-free. To make an regular (gluten) version of the cake, use ordinary cake flour rather than gluten-free flour, and omit the xanthan gum.
If you've never made an angel food cake before, see tips section.