Holiday Angel Food Cake with Peanut Butter Cup Pinecones
December used to be the month I did the most baking, but self employment has now turned it into the month I do the least baking. (Sadly. I miss it!) When I was deciding on a holiday dessert, I knew it had to be good. I was hoping to make this for my husband and I for Christmas dessert, but in reality it didn't end up happening until after the holiday. Sort of a winter/New Year's cake!
The base is angel food cake, glazed with homemade marshmallow topping. I decorated it with chocolate twigs, berries and leaves, and "peanut butter cup" pinecones. (Peanut butter cup filling, shaped and dipped into chocolate, adorned with generic brand cocoa pebbles as the pinecone 'petals.')
This is my go-to angel food cake recipe. I don't remember the source, as I've been making it for about 10 years now and there isn't a source listed on my printout.
Make sure you have a BIG bowl to mix this in!
Angel Food Cake
Ingredients
18 egg whites
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 pinch salt
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup cake flour
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (*I also always add about 1/2 tsp almond extract for extra flavor!)
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Sift cake flour and confectioners sugar together 5 times and set aside. (Note: in reality I only do this about 3 ties, and I've never had any complaints about the consistency of my cake.)
In a large clean bowl, whip egg whites with a pinch of salt until foamy. Add cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar while beating, and continue to beat until very stiff. **Make sure you are patient with this process- less beating will result in a more airy cake, more beating will result in a smoother textured cake.** Add vanilla (and almond extract if you are using it. I like to.)
Quickly fold in flour mixture, a little at a time. Pour into a 10 inch tube pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes.
Turn the tube pan upside down over a bottle or similar object to allow the cake to cool completely. When the cake is cool, run a butter knife around the sides and bottom of the pan to help loosen the cake. Invert cake onto a plate/serving tray and you are done!
---------
Marshmallow Sauce
MAKES 2 CUPS
INGREDIENTS
1 tsp. unflavored powdered gelatin
½ cup cold water
1½ cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
Pinch of kosher salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS
Stir together unflavored powdered gelatin and cold water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk. Meanwhile, bring sugar, light corn syrup, kosher salt, and water to a boil in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat, and cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer reads 240°. Pour syrup over gelatin mixture and add vanilla extract; beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Increase speed to high, and beat until syrup becomes thick, shiny, and white. Transfer to a glass jar with a lid, and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
-----------
For the pinecones, I made a peanut butter cup mixture of the following:
peanut butter
confectioner's sugar
vanilla extract
I kept kneading the ingredients together until they made a nice dough consistency that I could form into shapes. I made a teardrop shape piece for each, then dipped them into melted chocolate and placed them onto waxed paper.
Before they cooled, I stuck little cocoa pebbles cereal (generic brand - cocoa dino bites, or something like that,) into the sides, directly into the chocolate. I recommend not dipping the peanut butter mixture into the chocolate until you are ready to put in the cereal petals, otherwise it starts to harden and it's impossible to get them to stick without adding another melted chocolate layer.
Let set/harden at room temperature. Once set, you can remove them from the waxed paper quite easily.
Keep in mind that this is a really tedious process. Have patience. :) They sure looked cute, though, and tasted really good. The cereal gave them a nice crispy coating!
The base is angel food cake, glazed with homemade marshmallow topping. I decorated it with chocolate twigs, berries and leaves, and "peanut butter cup" pinecones. (Peanut butter cup filling, shaped and dipped into chocolate, adorned with generic brand cocoa pebbles as the pinecone 'petals.')
This is my go-to angel food cake recipe. I don't remember the source, as I've been making it for about 10 years now and there isn't a source listed on my printout.
Make sure you have a BIG bowl to mix this in!
Angel Food Cake
Ingredients
18 egg whites
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 pinch salt
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup cake flour
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (*I also always add about 1/2 tsp almond extract for extra flavor!)
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Sift cake flour and confectioners sugar together 5 times and set aside. (Note: in reality I only do this about 3 ties, and I've never had any complaints about the consistency of my cake.)
In a large clean bowl, whip egg whites with a pinch of salt until foamy. Add cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar while beating, and continue to beat until very stiff. **Make sure you are patient with this process- less beating will result in a more airy cake, more beating will result in a smoother textured cake.** Add vanilla (and almond extract if you are using it. I like to.)
Quickly fold in flour mixture, a little at a time. Pour into a 10 inch tube pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes.
Turn the tube pan upside down over a bottle or similar object to allow the cake to cool completely. When the cake is cool, run a butter knife around the sides and bottom of the pan to help loosen the cake. Invert cake onto a plate/serving tray and you are done!
---------
Marshmallow Sauce
MAKES 2 CUPS
INGREDIENTS
1 tsp. unflavored powdered gelatin
½ cup cold water
1½ cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
Pinch of kosher salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS
Stir together unflavored powdered gelatin and cold water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk. Meanwhile, bring sugar, light corn syrup, kosher salt, and water to a boil in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat, and cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer reads 240°. Pour syrup over gelatin mixture and add vanilla extract; beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Increase speed to high, and beat until syrup becomes thick, shiny, and white. Transfer to a glass jar with a lid, and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
-----------
For the pinecones, I made a peanut butter cup mixture of the following:
peanut butter
confectioner's sugar
vanilla extract
I kept kneading the ingredients together until they made a nice dough consistency that I could form into shapes. I made a teardrop shape piece for each, then dipped them into melted chocolate and placed them onto waxed paper.
Before they cooled, I stuck little cocoa pebbles cereal (generic brand - cocoa dino bites, or something like that,) into the sides, directly into the chocolate. I recommend not dipping the peanut butter mixture into the chocolate until you are ready to put in the cereal petals, otherwise it starts to harden and it's impossible to get them to stick without adding another melted chocolate layer.
Let set/harden at room temperature. Once set, you can remove them from the waxed paper quite easily.
Keep in mind that this is a really tedious process. Have patience. :) They sure looked cute, though, and tasted really good. The cereal gave them a nice crispy coating!