Chocolate Cherry Angel Cakes
- 18 maraschino cherries
- ⅓ cup finely chopped dark chocolate
- 1 cup sifted cake flour
- 1½ cups superfine sugar
- 1⅓ cups egg whites (11 or 12 eggs), room temperature
- 1¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon Rodelle Pure Vanilla Extract
- Heat oven to 325 F.
- Finely dice the maraschino cherries. Roll them in a couple of layers of paper towel and press to remove as much of the juice as possible.
- Set aside the cherries and chocolate - those will get folded into the batter last.
- Sift flour 3 times with ½ cup of the sugar into a small bowl.
- Beat the egg whites until foamy. Sprinkle the salt and cream of tartar over eggs and beat until they hold soft peaks.
- Add the rest of the sugar, ¼ cup at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.
- Add the flour mixture in three additions, folding gently each time with a large metal spoon.
- Fold in the chocolate and cherries, being careful not to stir. You don't want to lose any of those precious bubbles!
- Spoon into cupcake liners, ⅔ full.
- Bake bite-size cakes for about 20 minutes. Bake regular cupcakes for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Cool on racks.
Recipe by The Rowdy Baker at http://www.therowdybaker.com/?p=825
3.1.09