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Chocolate and Vanilla Angel Food Cake with Dipped-Cone Icing

Chocolate and Vanilla Angel Food Cake with Dipped Cone Icing is an angel food cake featuring both chocolate and vanilla flavors. It’s frosted with whipped cream icing and chocolate ganache that will remind you of a dipped cone from the DQ. Put a cherry on top of any celebration with this extraordinary cake.

a slice of chocolate and vanilla Angel Food Cake with Dipped-Cone Icing

Except for a few attempts to win a blue ribbon in 4-H, I’ve always made angel food cakes from a mix. While it seemed good enough most of the time, homemade does taste better.

Besides, I’m tired of throwing away egg whites. So I resolved to learn how to bake a light and fluffy cake that rises so high it peeks over the side of the pan like Kilroy.

fearful baby
Don’t be scared!

Hey, come back here. If I can do it, you can too.

Yes, you can bake an angel food cake from scratch. I’m not saying it’s easy, but it’s also not that hard.

The basic recipe for angel food cake comes from my good friend, Joan. 

Then I combined it with an interesting idea I saw on Confections of a Foodie Bride (she’s a fellow Texan who seems to like Mexican food as much as I do). In much the same way Foodie Bride did, I folded cocoa into part of the batter and carefully poured it over the vanilla batter to make an irregular but pretty pattern.

Here’s where it gets good.

Frost this cake with whipped cream icing, then drizzle with chocolate ganache. Thankfully, imperfect drizzling adds charm

Try this for Valentine’s or Easter or any time you want a grand finale to a nice dinner.

How To Layer Batter forChocolate and Vanilla Angel Food Cake with “Dipped Cone” Icing

how to layer angel food cake batter
Use a spoon to make a trough. Fill with chocolate batter and smooth over the top.

Kitchen Hint: How To Practice Drizzling

Practicing dripping icing on a bowl
Practice making drips on an inverted bowl. This is also a good way to test the consistency of the ganache.

If you make this and enjoy the recipe, it would help me and others if you would return to this post and leave a rating (on the recipe card itself underneath the picture). Although always appreciated, no comment is required. Thanks so much! Paula

Chocolate and Vanilla Angel Food Cake with Dipped-Cone Icing

Chocolate and Vanilla Angel Food Cake with Dipped-Cone Icing

Yield: 16 slices
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Chocolate and vanilla angel food cake frosted with whipped cream icing and chocolate ganache that will remind you of a dipped cone from the DQ.

Ingredients

Cake:

  • 1 cup cake flour
  • 1-1/2 cup sugar--divided (I like superfine)
  • 1-2/3 cup egg whites (10-11 large eggs)
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons Dutch chocolate, sifted

Chocolate Ganache:

  • 2/3 cup heavy cream
  • 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate bar

Whipped Cream Icing:

  • 1-1/2 cup heavy cream, chilled
  • 1/3 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cake:

  1. Sift together cake flour and 3/4 cup sugar. Using stand mixer and wire attachment, begin mixing egg whites and cream of tartar on low for one minute. Add salt. Increase speed to medium-high and mix until egg whites are thick and billowy.
  2. With mixer running, pour the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar in from the side--slowly. Continue beating egg whites until glossy and soft peaks gently tip over when you pull the wire beater up. Add extracts and turn the mixer on for a couple of seconds to incorporate.
  3. Use your largest rubber spatula to delicately and carefully fold sifted flour and sugar into whipped egg whites. I add only about 1/4 cup of the flour and sugar mixture at a time. Slice with spatula perpendicular to whites down to bottom of bowl and turn spatula slightly to pull up batter from the bottom and lay over the top.
  4. Turn bowl 1/4 turn and repeat slice with spatula until flour and egg whites are just mixed. The folding process should be done with patience and a light hand. Practice helps. If you overdo the mixing, your cake won't be as high as your hopes.
  5. Pour slightly more than half of cake batter into an ungreased angel food cake pan with a removable bottom. Use a spoon to draw a trough around the middle. Carefully fold sifted cocoa into remaining batter until completely mixed. (Do not skip the sifting or you will have little chunks of cocoa in your batter.) Fill trough with the chocolate batter and then smooth over the top.
  6. Bake for 50-55 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately turn over to cool for several hours. I recommend overnight. Use a firm hand and a skinny knife to loosen cake from edges of pan and invert cake onto cake plate.

Chocolate Ganache:

  1. Heat heavy cream in small glass bowl for 1 minute in microwave oven. Add chocolate bar broken in several pieces to hot cream and allow to sit and melt while you ice the cake.
  2. When chocolate is completely melted use small wire whisk or spoon to mix making small circles at first, then larger and finally, mixing chocolate and cream until smooth.

Whipped Cream Icing:

  1. Whip cream in chilled bowl with wire attachment. When thick with soft peaks, add powdered sugar and continue to whip until cream makes stiff peaks. Go too far and whipped cream will be dry looking or turn into butter. Watch it! Spread smoothly over angel food cake.

Assembly:

  1. Pour warm chocolate ganache into a small Ziplock bag. Snip one corner about 1/4 inch. (Eyeball it.) Turn over a cereal bowl and practice running chocolate along the edge till you get the effect you want. If it's too thick to make nice "runs", add a few drops of warm cream. If too thin, let cool a while longer.
  2. Here is where it gets a little tricky. Run ganache along the upper/outer edge of cake and slowly squirt ganache from small hole in the corner of your Ziplock bag making "runs and drips" around the entire cake. Do the inner edge the same way. Squirt remainder of ganache over top of cake and use a spoon to quickly spread evenly.
  3. You have a small window to get it smooth because the cold whip cream icing will harden the ganache on contact. Chill at least one hour before serving. Best eaten within 24 hours but still amazingly good for a couple days.

Notes

1. No shame in using a mix if you prefer. Follow directions on the box, then proceed to Step 3 in the directions for the cake.

2. You don't have to use Dutch cocoa. Regular cocoa will work but the taste and color will be slightly different.

3. I think superfine (not powdered) sugar dissolves quicker in the cake batter. It's available at my local grocery but you can turn regular sugar into superfine with a blender.

4. I don't recommend substituting regular flour for the cake flour. It will taste fine but may not rise as much.

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As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. But don't worry. This doesn't change the price you pay.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 282 Total Fat: 14g Saturated Fat: 9g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 4g Cholesterol: 37mg Sodium: 87mg Carbohydrates: 35g Fiber: 1g Sugar: 27g Protein: 5g
© Paula of saladinajar.com
Cuisine: American / Category: Cakes and Icing
Chocolate and vanilla angel food cake frosted with whipped cream icing and chocolate ganache that will remind you of a dipped cone from the DQ.

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  2. Thank you for this recipe. I was a first-timer in the angel food cake “department” and did this recipe as instructed. It turned out pretty good for my first time, I must admit. The Icing and Ganache are to die for and I will be using them on other cake recipes from here on out.

    Thank you so much!! I was scared but with your help, I made my first angel food cake!

    Reply

  3. Hi there I absolutely love this site .I am an amateur baker and love so far everything that I have seen….one question though could i replace the cake flour with all purpose flour.

    Reply

  4. How did I miss this cake? It looks fantastic!!! I have never made an angel food cake (gulp)… I need to just do it. I’ve had an angel food cake PAN for 20 years… now that is just crazy. This is the recipe to try first.

    Reply

  5. I made this cake for my daughter’s 30th birthday. The first time I made an angel food cake from scatch. It was easy to follow your directions. It was a huge hit. Thanks for sharing

    Reply

  7. This looks great. Your instructions #3 under cake are the same as #2 under assembly. I don’t want to mess this up. Is there a missing step under assembly?

    Reply

    • I fixed it. Thanks SO MUCH for asking/telling me. I just recently reformatted the recipe and I guess I messed it up. Hope it turns out great for you.

      Reply

  9. Was going to make from scratch…do I have cake flour at home? It’s Friday night, you’re tired, go to Betty Crocker…can’t wait to try for Easter dessert!

    Reply

  17. Hi, I saw your blog on BC and thought I would take a look. I love the look of this cake and it looks very festive. Your icing practice was also a good idea.

    Reply

  20. I’ve never made Angel Food Cake from scratch before, this looks fantastic. Perhaps even more appealing to me is the ganache, though. I’ve never been able to resist a good, heavy ganache, especially on top of fluffy cake.

    Reply

  23. The reason I like to make angel food from scratch is because the beaters taste so much better than licking the beaters from a box cake! The box batter tastes kinda like chemicals. Your cake looked beautiful and tasted good too! Thanks for the treats. We needed that this week….of course you always know what your friends need!

    Reply

    • Joan, your reason for making an angel food cake from scratch is just about the best one I’ve heard yet.

      Only 10 more days of craziness. Right?

      Reply

  24. What a pretty cake, you are a planner aren’t you? I can tell from your picture and everything else you have thought through it all. Wish I could be more that way, sometimes I get an idea of what I want to cook and post, I can’t wait to get it up (kinda like a little kid) that I leave the mess in my kitchen and start working on the photos and post, crazy huh?

    Reply

    • Suzanne, Well, yes. I’m a planner. But I would much rather work on my latest pictures than clean up the kitchen so I do the same as you in that department.

      Reply

  27. looks good! but i’m sticking with a mix for now. only time i made from scratch like this was in food science class at harding. hey, my krups open master can opener broke. i’m on the hunt for another one, but they don’t make it anymore. what can opener do you use? thoughts?

    Reply

  29. Oh my, that is a show-stopping cake! I’ve been wanting to make an angel food cake for a while… and this will definitely get me in the kitchen!

    Reply

  31. This looks delicious! I also want to say thank you for your wonderful Monkey Bread recipe. I made it a couple of months ago. So yummy! My husband asked me yesterday if I could make it this weekend (: I am going to post it on my blog – with a link to you of course.

    Reply

    • Kirstin, now that you mention it, I have probably been subliminally influenced by that cake. I have looked at that picture many times. I’ve never actually made that cake though and this recipe is totally different but maybe I should try hers some time.

      Reply

  33. Beautiful cake and not only that, you made a dual flavoured one. I’m really impressed and shamed to say I’ve never attempted angel food cake from scratch. Great tip about ganache testing too.

    Reply

  34. What an elegant and attractive cake! So pretty. Adorable expression on your little guy 🙂
    I have never made a two flavor Angel Food cake and the ganache really elevates it to perfect.

    I have made Ina Gartens Lemon Angel Food cake (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/lemon-angel-food-cake-recipe/index.html) many times and it comes out lovely. Not too hard. I did have a friend that made it unsuccessfully and gave me all of her unused ingredients saying it wasn’t worth the effort. Maybe I will make another one and do a post.

    I was involved with 4-H as a kid. Once for knitting and once for Cooking. We had to make and present a complete meal. I got a VG ribbon instead of excellent. Why? I didn’t include a dessert!!! What was I thinking 🙂 But I have learned my lesson and will never forget dessert again! Your Cake gets an Excellent!

    PS I just recently tried the Angel Food Cakes from a mix as my daughter makes them. I was impressed. Not bad at all.

    Reply

  35. Paula, this cake looks heavenly!! Wow, what a stunner. If the frosting tastes like that from DQ, then I need to make this soon…I have not made angel cake before! Fantastic post, and thanks for the tips on making “drips”!

    Reply

  37. I LOVE this post!!! The cake pictures are awesome and the way you guide us through each step makes it look so easy. What would we do without you? I have to say the pictures of your precious grandson takes the “CAKE”. Pun intended.
    I have a friend at work and she is always making cakes and bringing them to work. It might just by my turn. Now I have the perfect recipe.Love ya lots.

    Reply

  38. I can’t wait to try this recipe! Do you think it will be hard to go back to the mix after I try it homemade?
    I can’t get over how pretty your icing looks! Mom taught me how to make this icing and it is my “go-to” icing for sure, but my icing jobs look nothing like yours:+)
    My kids and I are MAJOR angel food cake fans…I will bake a cake, and we just eat the whole thing straight from the pan still hot…you should try it sometime with Kent!

    Reply

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