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Santa’s White Christmas Wacky Cake

November 28, 2018

Santa's White Christmas Wacky Cake is super-easy-mixed in one pan-and so delicious with coconut, caramel, and vanilla flavors! #SantasWhiteChristmas #IC #ad #ShowUsYourSanta #cake #holidaybaking | Recipe from Chattavore.com

This post was sponsored by Barnie’s Coffee as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

Santa’s White Christmas Wacky Cake is super-easy-mixed in one pan-and so delicious with coconut, caramel, and vanilla flavors! Wacky cake is a classic dessert and this one is full of holiday flavors. Everyone will love it! Everything you need is in your pantry – flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, oil, vinegar, and coffee. Santa’s White Christmas coffee from Barnie’s Coffee makes it even more tasty, especially with that coconut cream cheese icing!

a photograph of a slice of chocolate wacky cake with a pan of cake and a cup of coffee in the background
Click here to save this recipe on Pinterest!

Coffee = Life

What is your coffee-drinking style? For me, coffee is a ritual…it’s not as much about the caffeine as it is about the smell of coffee wafting through the house, the warm coffee, and a hot cup in my hands. Now, I am a coffee drinker 365 days a year, usually two cups a day: one in the morning and one when I get home in the afternoon.
a GIF of the ingredients for a chocolate wacky cake with Santa's White Christmas coffee being mixed in a pan

Coffee Baked Goods

I love an iced latte but this time of year it’s all about warmth…not that it’s cold here yet, but it’s getting closer. When the holiday season hits I love all the scents of the season – cinnamon, nutmeg, chocolate, and coconut. Fresh baked goods always call for a cup of coffee, and if I can find a way to squeeze some coffee into the baked goods, even better.
a photograph of a chocolate wacky cake with coconut cream cheese icing with two bags of Barnie's Coffee Santa's White Christmas coffee in the background

Santa’s White Christmas Coffee

Honestly, I can’t think of a better coffee to drink this time of year than Santa’s White Christmas from Barnie’s. I remember when there was a Barnie’s Coffee at our local mall, smelling the caramel-coconutty-vanilla scents at the holiday season and getting a Santa’s White Christmas granita. Always a treat!

Barnie’s Coffee has been making Santa’s White Christmas for 37 years (almost my whole life!) and this coffee is much-beloved around the country…not just for it’s delightfully festive flavors but also for the fabulously high quality that you can always count on from Barnie’s Coffee.
a photograph of two bags of Barnie's Santa's White Christmas coffee, a box of k-cups, and a mug of coffee

Wacky Cake!

Santa’s White Christmas coffee is the perfect coffee to make this wacky cake. This chocolate wacky cake is mixed right in the pan and topped with a cream cheese frosting. The cream cheese frosting has just a touch of coffee mixed in and a sprinkle of coconut.

My wacky cake is simplicity and flavor in under an hour with minimal dirty dishes! If you sift the powdered sugar and make sure the butter and cream cheese are super-soft, you don’t even need to use a mixer to make the icing!

You can find a variety of Santa’s White Christmas products in stores or on the Barnie’s Coffee website. Use the promo code CHATTAVORE30 to get 30% off of Barnie’s Coffee products!

How do you like your Santa’s White Christmas from Barnie’s Coffee? Show us your Santa!
Shared on The Weekend Potluck on The Country Cook!

Click here to save this recipe to your holiday and Christmas baking boards on Pinterest!
a photograph of a slice of chocolate wacky cake with a pan of cake and a cup of coffee in the background

Santa’s White Christmas Wacky Cake
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Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • heaping 1/4 cup natural cocoa
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
  • 1 cup brewed Barnie's Santa's White Christmas coffee
  • For the Icing
  • 4 ounces (1/2 block) cream cheese, room temperature
  • 4 ounces (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2/3 cup powdered sugar, sifted
  • Pinch salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons brewed Santa’s White Christmas coffee
  • Sweetened, shredded coconut (optional, for topping)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350? Fahrenheit.
  2. Place the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in an 8-inch ungreased square glass or ceramic pan and use a fork to combine.
  3. Create 3 wells in the dry ingredients. Place the vinegar in one, the vanilla in another, and the oil in the third. Pour the coffee over the top and use the fork to combine the ingredients completely.
  4. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack before icing.
  5. To make the icing: in a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese and butter with a wooden spoon or an electric hand mixer until smooth and well-combined. Add the sifted powdered sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and coffee. Stir or cream together until well-combined. If you mix it by hand there may be a few lumps but it will not affect the flavor. Spread the icing over the cooled cake. Top with shredded coconut, if desired.
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https://chattavore.com/santas-white-christmas-wacky-cake/

Filed Under: By Course, Dessert, Easy Baking, Easy Recipes, How to Cook From Scratch, How-To, Recipes Tagged With: baking, cakes, dessert, holidays, special occasions By Mary // Chattavore 13 Comments

Instant Pot Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

July 24, 2018

This chocolate chip coffee cake is made in your Instant Pot. It’s mixed in one bowl and doesn’t require you to turn on your stove. And it’s so delicious!

a photograph of a piece of chocolate chip coffee cake with the whole cake and a cup of coffee in the background

Click here to save this recipe on Pinterest!

Instant Pot Baking

I have been teaching Instant Pot classes at The Chattery for several months now. One of the things that I have tried to do with varying levels of success is use my Instant Pot for baking. Using a recipe for baking a cake mix in the Instant Pot in a regular pan, I’ve had some cakes turn out perfectly and others turn out as complete goo.

My hypothesis was that using a bundt pan to increase the surface area of the cake would speed the baking time and make the cake bake more evenly. I picked up a bundt pan at Williams-Sonoma on a quick trip to Huntsville recently and I was eager to try it out.

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

I decided that my first bundt cake in the Instant Pot would be this chocolate chip coffee cake. This cake is adapted from a chocolate swirl coffee cake from one of my favorite cookbooks, Mad Hungry by Lucinda Scala Quinn. LSQ used to have a cooking show and it was one of my favorites!

Why Bake in the Instant Pot?

A question I get asked a lot at my classes is one that makes a lot of sense: “What is the advantage to using the Instant Pot for baking?” I love to bake, but I also love not having to turn my oven on when it it so hot here, so that is an obvious advantage. I think that the steam generated inside of the Instant Pot also makes the cake very dense but moist at the same time. And, I mean, just look at that adorable tiny little cake! In my house, with two adults who are trying not to eat too many sweets, this cake is the perfect size!


a chocolate chip coffee cake baked in the Instant Pot

One-Bowl Recipe!

The original recipe for this coffee cake doesn’t include chocolate chips, but how can you resist a coffee cake with mini chocolate chips and a chocolate-coffee swirl?? I turned it into a one-bowl recipe by skipping the step of mixing the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, and assuming your butter is soft enough you could definitely just use a wooden spoon for mixing instead of a mixer. The original recipe recommends freezing the cake while it is still warm to make it ultra moist when it thaws (sorry if you are one of those people who is skeeved out by the word “moist”).

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Baking the Perfect Cake:

  • Use my recipe for cake release below. It’s like homemade Baker’s Joy. I learned the recipe when I took cake decorating classes a lifetime ago and it is SO amazing for prepping fancy-pants pans like this. I was worried that my cake would stick but it popped right out! Don’t rely on butter and flour or cooking spray.
  • Cover the pan with paper towels then aluminum foil. That will keep the condensation from inside of the pot from ruining your cake.
  • Use a “sling” to get your cake out of the Instant Pot. I have a little metal sling that came with my Instant Pot steamer, but you can make your own by folding a couple of sheets of foil into long, thick strips.
  • Bring the ingredients to room temperature before making the cake to make mixing as easy as possible!

This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you click the link and make a purchase on Amazon, I will receive a small commission. This does not affect the cost to you. For more information, please see my disclosures. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Shared on The Weekend Potluck on Served Up With Love and Meal Plan Monday on Southern Bite!

Click here to save this recipe to your Instant Pot and Baking Pinterest Boards!

a photograph of a piece of chocolate chip coffee cake with a cup of coffee and the whole cake in the background

Mary

Yield: 8

Instant Pot Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

This Instant Pot coffee cake is delicious and super-simple to make without turning on your oven!

20 minPrep Time:

55 minCook Time:

1 hr, 15 Total Time:

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Ingredients

    For the cake release
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon shortening or coconut oil
  • For the filling
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cocoa powder
  • For the cake
  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the cake release until smooth (i.e. no lumps of flour or solid fat remain). Brush the insides of a 6-7 cup bundt pan generously with the cake release. Cover the remaining cake release and save for another time. This should make enough for 2-3 small cakes. Set aside the prepared pan.
  2. In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the filling. Set aside.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the granulated sugar and the butter together using an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the egg and beat until homogenous.
  4. Add half of the flour, the baking soda, baking powder, and the salt. Beat to combine then add half of the sour cream and beat to combine. Repeat with the remaining flour, the remaining sour cream, and the vanilla extract.
  5. Use a silicone spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl and fold in the chocolate chips. Scoop one-third of the cake batter into the prepared pan and smooth. Sprinkle with half of the filling. Repeat with another third of the cake batter and the remaining filling. Top with the remaining cake batter and smooth the top.
  6. Cover the top of the cake pan with two layers of paper towels and wrap with foil. Pour 1 1/2 cups of water into the Instant Pot and place the trivet into the Instant Pot. Fold two 20-inch pieces of foil into long strips and criss-cross them then place into the Instant Pot to make a sling for the cake pan.
  7. Place the cake pan into the Instant Pot. Top with the lid and make sure the steam release valve is set to "sealing". Choose the manual pressure setting and set the time for 35 minutes.
  8. Once the cook time has completed, allow the pressure to release naturally for ten minutes. Manually release any remaining pressure then carefully remove the cake from the Instant Pot, remove the foil and paper towels, and allow the cake to stand for ten minutes. Use a thin spatula to loosen the inside of the cake then carefully turn it out onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool slightly before serving, or wrap in foil and freeze for an ultra-moist cake.

Notes

Cook time includes time to reach pressure and time to naturally release pressure.

Tags

Diet
vegetarian
lacto vegetarian
pescetarian
Allergy
soy free
peanut free
seafood free
treenut free
sesame free
mustard free
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Filed Under: By Course, Dessert, Easy Recipes, How to Use Tools & Techniques, How-To, Instant Pot, Recipes Tagged With: baking, cakes, desserts, Instant Pot, pressure cooker By Mary // Chattavore Leave a Comment

Blueberry Dump Cake From Scratch

June 13, 2018

Knowing how to make dump cake from scratch is a valuable skill to have. Forgive the name but dump cake literally just requires dumping ingredients in a pan and baking them. This blueberry dump cake from scratch is a delicious, perfect summer recipe, and you probably have all the ingredients you need!

a close-up picture of blueberry dump cake with vanilla ice cream on a white plate with the pan in the background

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Dump Cake?

First of all, let me apologize to you for the name of this recipe. I hate the term “dump cake”. I mean, I get that it is called that because you literally dump the ingredients into a pan and bake them, but GAH. It just sounds very unappetizing. Ditto for “dump dinners” (I have seen a cookbook in my favorite local used book store with this name and I. Just. Can’t.).
an overhead picture of a pan of blueberry dump cake from scratch on a cooling rack
But alas, when you write a blog you have to give the people what they are looking for, and according to Pinterest and Google, people are looking for dump cakes. Or, if they are like me, they are looking for “dump cake from scratch”.

The dump cakes from my previous experience are absolutely delicious and are made with a few basic ingredients:

  1. Canned pie fillings
  2. Cake mix
  3. Butter
  4. Maybe some other ingredients like canned pineapple, brown sugar, etc., but these are not necessary.

a close-up picture of a spoonful of blueberry dump cake from scratch in the pan

Dump Cake from Scratch!

And you guys know me…I have an insatiable need to make everything from scratch (i.e. without a mix or a can). Mostly because I know that I am always going to have some sort of fresh or frozen fruit, butter, and dry ingredients for a cake in the house. But also because I really do, at least in theory, try to avoid processed food as much as possible (though I have not been as good at this lately. Stress, am I right?).

I did a little poking around the interwebs trying to figure out how to make a dump cake from scratch. I found a recipe on Simply Recipes and riffed on that a bit. My filling follows their formula but my dry cake is actually a divided recipe for yellow cake from the book The Perfect Cake from America’s Test Kitchen, which I somehow miraculously managed to score the Kindle edition of last week for $3.99. A miracle indeed, because ATK books never go on sale!
an overhead picture of a plate of blueberry dump cake on a white cake with vanilla ice cream on top
I used frozen blueberries for mine, but you could definitely use a variety of fruits instead. And while this may not be a literal “dump and go” recipe like the original dump cake, dump cake from scratch is still dead simple and you probably have the ingredients in your house:

  • fruit
  • sugar
  • cornstarch
  • flour
  • baking powder
  • baking soda
  • butter

Easy, right? And because when I use a bowl for dry ingredients I just wipe it out with a towel and put it back, the only dishes that I dirtied were the pan and the bowl I used to melt the butter. 100% worth it for this delicious dessert that is perfect for summer and that, by the way, I baked in my Breville Smart Oven so I didn’t even have to heat up my kitchen.

Oh yeah – vanilla ice cream is non-negotiable. Don’t even try.

Shared on The Weekend Potluck on The Country Cook!

Click here to save this recipe to your Pinterest baking or cake boards!

a picture of a white plate of blueberry dump cake from scratch with vanilla ice cream on top

This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you click the link and make a purchase from Amazon, I will receive a small commission. This does not affect the cost to you. For more information, please see my disclosures. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Products used for this recipe:

Mary

Yield: 1 9x13 inch cake

Blueberry Dump Cake From Scratch

This recipe is adapted from Simply Recipes and from the book A Perfect Cake from America's Test Kitchen.

10 minPrep Time:

45 minCook Time:

55 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

    For the filling
  • 3 pounds fresh or frozen fruit (there is no need to thaw frozen fruit)
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • pinch salt
  • For the cake
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks or 12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
  • Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375? Fahrenheit.
  2. In a 9x13 inch pan, combine the fruit with the sugar, cornstarch, and salt.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Sprinkle the dry cake ingredients evenly over the fruit mixture.
  4. Use a spoon to drizzle the melted butter evenly over the dry cake mixture.
  5. Bake the cake for 35-45 minutes, until the cake is light golden on top and the fruit is bubbling. Frozen fruit may need to bake slightly longer (my fruit was frozen and I baked my cake for 55 minutes). There may be a few small patches of dry ingredients on top. I just smoothed these with a spoon.
  6. Cool the cake for at least an hour before serving. I know that this is a difficult step but eating the cake too soon will result in unpleasant mouth burns! Vanilla ice cream is non-optional!
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https://chattavore.com/blueberry-dump-cake-from-scratch/

Filed Under: By Course, By Main Ingredients, Dessert, Easy Baking, Easy Recipes, Fruit, How to Cook From Scratch, How-To, Recipes Tagged With: baking, cakes, dessert, southern cooking, southern food By Mary // Chattavore 3 Comments

Chocolate Stout Cake with Ganache Drizzle + Video

October 27, 2017

chocolate stout cake| chattavore

Use your favorite chocolate stout (or porter) beer to make this dark chocolate stout cake with ganache drizzle! Perfect rich, chocolatey dessert. Scroll down for video!
a picture of two slices of chocolate stout cake on plates with vanilla ice cream

Click here to save this recipe!

Chocolate Stout Cake

Chocolate stout cake was born out of my husband’s request for me to make more food with beer in it (I’ve mentioned that before a time or two). This was actually his suggestion.
a photograph of a bowl of dry cake ingredients, butter, and a bottle of chocolate milk stout
an overhead photograph of a bundt pan prepped with oil and cocoa powder

Icing Decisions

I considered a whiskey caramel drizzle or an Irish Creme icing, but then I decided that I didn’t need to get too fancy. Nothing that involved thermometers or boiling or a mixer. What should go on top of a chocolate stout cake? Chocolate stout ganache, duh.


a photograph of someone pouring chocolate milk stout into a measuring cup
a photograph of a measuring cup filled with cream and stout beer with a bottle of chocolate milk stout next to it

Which Stout to Use?

Most stout cakes involve Guinness, but my husband owns a beer store and I can get lots of great craft stouts and porters. My favorites for this recipe are Terrapin Moo-Hoo Chocolate Milk Stout (pictured), Boulder Shake Chocolate Porter (in the video), and Founder’s Breakfast Stout.
a photograph of someone pouring chocolate ganache on top of a chocolate stout bundt cake
a photograph of a chocolate stout bundt cake glazed with chocolate ganache on a sheet pan with a cooling rack with a bottle of milk stout beer in front of it

The Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book

The Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book (<–affiliate link) provided the perfect starting point with their chocolate sour cream bundt cake recipe (and a wonderful tip for “greasing” the pan with butter and cocoa), and the Beeroness gave me a wonderful ganache recipe. By the way, I’ve decided that bundt cakes are every bit as easy sheet cakes, and when icing just involves heating, stirring, and pouring, that’s a win.

Few things make me happier than an easy chocolate cake recipe. I hope that you guys love this one as much as I do!

This post contains affiliate links. That means that if you click the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. This does not affect the cost to you. For more information, please see my disclosures. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Shared on The Weekend Potluck on The Country Cook!

Click here to save this recipe to your Pinterest chocolate and baking boards!

12-16 servings

Chocolate Stout Cake (adapted from The Cook's Illustrated Baking Book)

30 minPrep Time:

50 minCook Time:

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Ingredients

    For the cake
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus one tablespoon for pan
  • 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus one tablespoon, melted, for pan
  • 6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet dark chocolate, chopped
  • 3/4 cup chocolate stout (I used Terrapin Moo-Hoo chocolate milk stout)
  • 1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
  • 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 cups packed brown sugar
  • 5 large eggs, at room temperature
  • For the Ganache
  • 2 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup chocolate stout

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Position a rack at the lower middle position. Combine the tablespoon of melted butter with the tablespoon of cocoa. Brush all over the inside of a 12-cup bundt pan.
  2. Combine the remaining cocoa with the 6 ounces of chopped chocolate. Heat the 3/4 cup stout to nearly boiling. Pour over the chocolate mixture and allow to stand for five minutes. Stir until smooth, then stir in the sour cream until completely combined. Whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a small bowl.
  3. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar together on medium-high speed until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until completely combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Reduce the speed to medium and add the flour mixture, a third at a time, alternating with the chocolate mixture, beating until completely combined and scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition.
  4. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake the cake for 45-50 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake has only crumbs clinging to it. Cool in the pan for ten minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
  5. For ganache: Set the cake on the wire rack over a baking sheet. Place the 2 cups of chocolate into a bowl. Heat the cream and remaining stout until nearly boiling. Pour over the chocolate and let stand for five minutes. Stir until smooth. Let stand for thirty minutes to allow it to thicken. Pour over the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides and the center. The excess will collect in the pan and can be reserved for another use. Allow the cake to stand for 15 to 30 minutes to allow the ganache to set before serving.
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https://chattavore.com/chocolate-stout-cake/

a photograph of a fork holding a bite of chocolate stout bundt cake with a slice of chocolate stout bundt cake on a plate with a scoop of ice cream in the background

Filed Under: By Course, Dessert, Easy Baking, Easy Recipes, From Scratch, Recipe Videos, Recipes, Videos Tagged With: cakes, desserts, special occasions By Mary // Chattavore 8 Comments

Pumpkin Angel Food Cake from Scratch + Video

October 15, 2017

pumpkin angel food cake from scratch // chattavore

Most pumpkin angel food cake on the interwebs is made from a mix, but my pumpkin angel food cake is from scratch, and it is fabulous! Scroll down for video!
a photograph of a slice of pumpkin angel food cake from scratch on a plate with a scoop of ice cream and a pumpkin angel food cake in the background

Click here to save this recipe on Pinterest!

Pumpkin Angel Food Cake

How bizarre is it that I have to denote pumpkin angel food cake from scratch?  One might assume that this would be implied, but one would be wrong.  When I first thought (because I had a bag full of egg whites in my freezer, meticulously frozen one by one in ice trays as I used the yolks for other applications as well as a cup of pumpkin left over from making my signature pumpkin-banana-chocolate chip muffins) of making a pumpkin angel food cake, I began perusing the interwebs for recipes to inspire my recipe to no avail.  Every. Single. Recipe. that I found called for a box of angel food cake mix.  Are you kidding?

Look, there’s something that I know about angel food cake: beaten egg whites are fragile at best, temperamental at worst.  You just have to, as Julia Child put it, have courage.  Maybe you know the secret to beating a heavy, wet ingredient into your angel food cake batter and still turning out an impossibly tall confection with the pumpkin perfectly evenly distributed throughout the tight crumbs of the cake.  Me, however….well, I just decided that I was okay with the fact that this cake was not likely to be as tall as a plain angel food cake (it isn’t, though the height is still impressive) and that a pocket of pumpkin here and there was not a problem-in fact, it lends a lovely hint of just exactly what that mysterious ingredient is that adds a deep but not obvious flavor and a slight tinge of an orange color.   I was also okay with the fact that my slightly more moist than your average angel food cake stuck to the pan a little bit, leaving a hole that I promptly cut out with my first slice.

a photograph of a pumpkin angel food cake from scratch with a hole in it and a pumpkin angel food cake with a slice cut out of it

All Pumpkin All the Time!

Of course, pumpkin-based desserts are a traditional Thanksgiving offering, so I am sure that you are not surprised that I am giving you this pumpkin angel food cake recipe in November.  Traditional Thanksgiving desserts tend to be thick, dense, somewhat heavy, as in the syrupy sweetness of pecan pie (Philip’s poison of choice and something that I had to learn to make for him) and the thick custard of the ubiquitous pumpkin pie or a sweet potato pie.  

This is a light and airy alternative to those, something to cleanse the palate, something that’s virtually sinless on a day when you feel like you need to beg forgiveness for your food transgressions (though I never feel regret over eating fabulous food).  Served with an acidic scoop of buttermilk ice cream like I’ve shown here, this dessert is practically a health food (please ignore the sugar content in the recipe…ahem). (I still have pumpkin mini-trifles and pumpkin buttermilk pie up my sleeve, by the way.)

I hope you love this from scratch pumpkin angel food cake!

Shared on The Weekend Potluck on Served Up With Love!

Click here to save this recipe to your Pinterest Fall Baking and Pumpkin boards!


Mary

Yield: 10-12 servings

Pumpkin Angel Food Cake from Scratch

This recipe is adapted from America's Test Kitchen .

30 minPrep Time:

1 hrCook Time:

1 hr, 30 Total Time:

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Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar (10 1/2 ounces)
  • 3/4 cups cake flour-I used Swan's Down (3 ounces)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or Chinese Five-Spice Powder (I used Alchemy Spice Wake & Bake Sweet Spice Blend)
  • 12 Large egg whites (room temperature)
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1/4 teaspoon table salt (or 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 3/4 cups pumpkin puree (fresh or canned)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. If you are using a tube pan that does not have a removable bottom (do these still exist??!?!?!), line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Whisk 3/4 cup of the sugar and the pumpkin pie spice or Chinese five-spice powder with the cake flour in a medium bowl.
  2. Whip the egg whites and the cream of tartar together over medium-low speed in a stand mixer for about a minute, until foamy. Increase the speed to medium-high and whip until puffy, about a minute, then add the salt and the remaining sugar a tablespoon at a time. Whip until soft peaks are reached.
  3. Remove from the stand mixer and gently whisk in the lemon juice by hand. Sift the flour/sugar mixture over the egg whites 1/4 cup and a time, gently but thoroughly folding in with a silicone spatula after each addition. Now, add the pumpkin puree 1/4 cup at a time, taking great care not to deflate the egg whites as you are folding. You will end up with a few pockets of pumpkin throughout the batter-that's okay.
  4. Carefully scrape the batter into the prepared tube pan. Tap the bottom of the pan against the counter a few times to settle it. Place in the oven for 50-60 minutes, until golden brown and springy.
  5. Remove the cake from the oven and immediately invert. Most tube pans have "feet" or the center portion is taller than the edges allowing the pan to stand off of the counter, but if yours does not place the center of the pan over a sturdy bottle. Cool like this for at least three hours before removing from the pan. This step keeps the cake from deflating as it cools.
  6. Run a thin knife or spatula around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake, then (assuming your pan has a removable bottom) push the bottom out of the pan and run the knife/spatula under the cake and around the center to loosen the cake from the base. Serve at room temperature.

Notes

A tube pan is essential to making this cake. Any other pan will not allow the cake to "climb" and reach the height that an angel food cake should reach, resulting in a squat, dense cake. You can buy an inexpensive tube pan at any store that sells home goods. It's worth the investment.

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https://chattavore.com/pumpkin-angel-food-cake-scratch/

a photograph of a slice of pumpkin angel food cake from scratch on a plate with a scoop of ice cream and a fork with a bite of pumpkin angel food cake on it
a photo collage with a photograph of a pumpkin angel food cake from scratch on a cake stand with a slice cut out of it and a photograph of a slice of pumpkin angel food cake on a plate with a scoop of ice cream and a fork with a bite of pumpkin angel food cake on it

Filed Under: By Course, Dessert, Easy Baking, Easy Recipes, From Scratch, How to Cook From Scratch, How-To, Recipe Videos, Recipes, Videos Tagged With: cakes, desserts, special occasions By Mary // Chattavore 22 Comments

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About Chattavore

Hi, I'm Mary! Welcome to Chattavore, a destination for people who want to feed themselves and their families well every day! Life can be crazy, which means that getting dinner on the table can be a challenge (more often than not!) and my mission is to take all your favorite recipes and figure out how to serve them on a Tuesday.

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