Devilish Angel Food Cake with Mudslide Ganache

How about a history lesson? I find it interesting to know the origin of recipes. Today the lesson is about Angel Food Cake. Some food historians believe that the early angel food cakes were probably baked by African-American slaves from the Southern United States, as making this cake required a strong beating arm and lots of labor to whip the air into the whites. Angel food cakes are a traditional African-American favorite for post-funeral meals.

In "Mrs. Porter's New Southern Cookery Book, and Companion for Frugal and Economical" published in 1871 by M. E. Porter, has a recipe for Snow-drift Cake. A similar recipe appears in 1881 in a book by Abby Fisher, the first Black American woman and a former slave from Mobile, Alabama, who recorded her recipes in a cookbook called "What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking, Soups, Pickles, Preserves, Etc." in her book the cake is named "Silver Cake".

"The original Boston Cooking School Cook Book" by Mrs.D.A. Lincoln published in 1884 had a recipe for "Angel Cake" mentioning the name for the first time. In Fannie Merritt Farmer's 1896 updated version of the "Boston Cooking School Cook Book", she uses the same recipe and calls the cake "Angel Food Cake."

Ingredients:
2/3 cup sifted cake flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
12 large egg whites
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 teaspoons warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Sift together first 4 ingredients in a bowl, and set aside.

3. Beat egg whites, cream of tartar, warm water, vanilla extract, and salt in a large bowl at high speed of a mixer until foamy. Gradually add 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating mixture until stiff peaks form.
4. Sift flour mixture over egg white mixture, 1/4 cup at a time, and fold flour mixture in gently. Spoon batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan, spreading evenly. Break air pockets by cutting through batter with a knife.

5. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Invert pan; let cool completely. Loosen cake from sides of pan using a narrow spatula; revert cake onto a baking rack. Transfer the rack to a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Ingredients for Mudslide Ganache:
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 1/2 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped (preferably 70 percent cacao)
1/2 ounce (1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 ounce Kahlua
1/2 ounce Baileys Irish Cream

Directions: Bring cream to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Pour cream over chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Let stand for 2 minutes. Add butter, then whisk mixture until smooth. Stir in Kahlua and Baileys Irish Cream. Use immediately.

Adapted from Cooking Light

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