Rose's Baking Basics

Glazed Mocha Chiffon

Serves 12 to 14

Oven Temperature: 325°F/160°C

Baking Time: 50 to 60 minutes

Plan Ahead: For best flavor and texture, bake and syrup the cake 1 day ahead.

Baking Equipment: One uncoated 10 inch (16 cup) two-piece angel food pan

A long-neck glass bottle, small enough to fit into the opening of the tube and weighted with sugar or marbles to keep it from tipping

A 9 inch cardboard round

Incredibly light, soft, moist, and tender, imbued with coffee and glazed with chocolate, this is a stellar dessert.

Batter

canola or safflower oil	108 grams	½ cup (118 ml)
9 (to 11) large eggs, separated:
7 (to 11) yolks (see Baking Pearls)	130 grams	½ cup (118 ml)
9 whites	270 grams	1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (266 ml)
instant espresso powder, preferably Medaglio d’Oro (see Baking Pearls)	8 grams	2 tablespoons
water	158 grams	⅔ cup (158 ml)
pure vanilla extract	.	1 teaspoon (5 ml)
bleached cake flour (see Baking Pearls)	225 grams	2¼ cups (sifted into the cup and leveled off)
superfine sugar	300 grams	1½ cups, divided
baking soda	2.7 grams	½ teaspoon
fine sea salt	3 grams	½ teaspoon
cream of tartar	.	1⅛ teaspoons
Kahlúa, for brushing	267 grams	1 cup (237 ml), divided

Preheat the Oven

▪ Twenty minutes or longer before baking, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Set the oven at 325ºF/160ºC.

Mise en Place

▪ Thirty minutes to 1 hour ahead, set the oil and eggs on the counter at room temperature (65º to 75ºF/19º to 24ºC).

▪ Into separate bowls, weigh or measure the egg yolks and egg whites.

▪ Into a 2 cup measure with a spout, transfer the egg yolks. Add the oil.

▪ Into a 1 cup measure with a spout, stir together the espresso powder, water, and vanilla until the coffee granules are dissolved. Cover tightly with plastic wrap.

Make the Batter

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk beater, mix the flour, all but 25 grams/2 tablespoons of the sugar, the baking soda, and salt on low speed for 30 seconds. Make a well in the center.

2. Add the espresso mixture and the egg yolks and oil to the well in the flour mixture, and beat on low speed until the flour mixture is moistened, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Raise the speed to medium-high and beat for 1½ minutes, until thicker and lighter in color.

▪ Wash, rinse, and dry the whisk beater to remove any trace of oil. If you do not have a second mixer bowl, scrape this mixture into a large bowl and thoroughly wash, rinse, and dry the mixer bowl to remove any trace of oil.

Beat the Egg Whites into a Stiff Meringue

3. In the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the whisk beater, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on medium-low speed until foamy. Gradually raise the speed to medium-high and beat until soft peaks form when the beater is raised. Beat in the remaining 25 grams/2 tablespoons sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised slowly.

Add the Meringue to the Batter

4. Using a large slotted skimmer or large silicone spatula, gently fold the meringue into the batter just until blended. Use a silicone spatula to reach to the bottom of the bowl to ensure that all the meringue is incorporated.

5. Pour and scrape the batter into the pan. Run a small metal spatula in circles through the batter to prevent air pockets. There is no need to smooth the surface. The batter will come to about 1 inch from the top of the rim.

Bake the Cake

6. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted between the tube and the sides comes out clean, the cake springs back when pressed lightly, and the cracks on top are no longer moist. (During baking, the cake will dome above the top of the pan and cracks will form.) Avoid opening the oven door before the minimum baking time, or the fragile cake could fall. While the cake is baking, set up the unmolding bottle in a draft free area.

Cool the Cake

7. Immediately invert the pan onto the prepared bottle. Cool completely in the pan, about 2 hours.

Unmold and Syrup the Cake

8. Use a small sharp knife to dislodge the cake inside the rim of the pan. To loosen the sides of the cake from the pan, use a rigid metal spatula, at least 4 inches long and preferably with a squared off end, scraping firmly against the pan’s sides and slowly and carefully circling the pan. In order to ensure that you are scraping well against the sides of the pan, and not removing the crust from the sides of the cake, begin by angling the spatula about 20 degrees away from the cake and toward the pan, pushing the cake inward a bit. It works best to advance the spatula about 1 inch, lift it out, and reinsert it just behind where you pulled it out. Continue in this way around the entire cake.

9. Place the cake pan on top of a canister that is smaller than the bottom opening of the pan’s outer rim. Press down on both sides of the pan to release the outer pan. Alternatively, grasp the center core and lift out the cake. Run a wire cake tester or wooden skewer around the center core. Dislodge the cake from the bottom with a metal spatula or thin sharp knife. Invert the cake onto a wire rack that has been covered with plastic wrap, then lightly coated with nonstick cooking spray.

10. Brush the bottom and sides of the cake with all but 33 grams/2 tablespoons/30 ml of the Kahlúa. Reinvert the cake onto the 9 inch cake round and set it on another wire rack. Set the rack on a sheet of foil or a cookie sheet.

11. Brush the top of the cake with the remaining Kahlúa.

Mocha Glaze Makes 340 grams/1⅔ cups/393 ml

dark chocolate, 60% to 62% cacao, chopped	170 grams	6 ounces
instant espresso powder, preferably Medaglio d’Oro	.	2 teaspoons
heavy cream	174 grams	¾ cup (177 ml)
Kahlúa	33 grams	2 tablespoons (30 ml)

Make the Glaze

▪ Have ready a fine-mesh strainer suspended over a small glass bowl.

1. In a food processor, process the chocolate and espresso powder until very fine. Scrape the mixture into a medium heat-proof bowl.

2. In a 1 cup glass measure with a spout, in the microwave, scald the cream: Heat it to the boiling point; small bubbles will form around the periphery. (Alternatively, scald it in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring often.) Pour three-quarters of the hot cream (130 grams/a little more than ½ cup/133 ml) over the chocolate. Cover and allow it to sit for 5 minutes to melt the chocolate. Stir gently until smooth so as not to create air bubbles.

3. Pass the glaze through the fine-mesh strainer. Stir in the Kahlúa and allow the mixture to cool until tepid. A small amount of glaze should mound a bit when dropped from a spoon before smoothly disappearing. If the glaze is too thick, add some of the remaining warm cream by the teaspoonful. When the consistency is correct, use it at once, or store and reheat it.

Glaze the Cake

4. Set the cake, still on the rack, over a clean pan or piece of foil to catch the dripping chocolate. Pour the glaze evenly over the top of the cake, spreading and smoothing the top with a metal spatula and allowing it to drip down over the sides. With a small metal spatula, lift the glaze from the bottom surface and apply it to cover the sides of the cake.

5. Allow the cake to sit at room temperature for at least 2 hours, until the glaze has set. Avoid refrigerating the glazed cake as it will dull slightly.

6. Use two pancake turners to transfer the cake to a flat serving plate.

Store Airtight: room temperature, 3 days; refrigerated, 10 days; frozen, 2 months.

Baking Pearls

The ratio of white to yolk in an egg can vary to such a degree that you may need as few as 7 or as many as 11 eggs for this recipe. It is therefore advisable to weigh or measure the separated yolks and add or reduce if needed.

If you want to use bleached all-purpose flour, you will need the same weight, but by volume only 2 cups minus 2 table-spoons (lightly spooned into the cup and leveled off). You will also need to use only 6 egg whites (180 grams/¾ cup/177 ml) and only ¾ teaspoon cream of tartar. The batter will fill the pan about 2 inches from the top.

You can replace the espresso powder and water in the cake with 2 shots of brewed espresso or 158 grams/⅔ cup/158 ml strong coffee; if using espresso, add water to equal the same weight or volume.

If the sides of the cake are not smooth, it’s fine to apply a crumb coat first: Use a long metal spatula to spread a thin layer of the glaze on the sides before pouring on the rest of it.

Make This Recipe Your Own

If desired, before the glaze has set, garnish with chocolate-covered coffee beans. Alternatively, you can drizzle it with quick tempered white chocolate (see below).

Variation

White chocolate drizzle glaze

Quick temper 56 grams/2 ounces of white chocolate by melting it but removing it from the heat source before fully melted and then stirring until fully melted. Stir in 1 tablespoon/15 ml of flavorless oil or 4 teaspoons/20 ml of Cognac. Fill a disposable pastry bag or plastic squeeze bottle with the mixture and pipe onto the top of the cake or plate.

Making Glazed Mocha Chiffon