Red Velvet Angel Food Cake

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup boiling water
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 fl. oz red food coloring
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
• 1 cup cake flour
• 16 large egg whites, about 2 cups
• 2 tsp white vinegar

Makes 16 Servings

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. In a medium bowl, combine unsweetened cocoa, boiling water, vanilla and food coloring, whisk and set aside.
3. In another medium bowl, combine salt, 3/4 cup sugar and cake flour; mix well and set aside.
4. Using an electric mixer, ina large bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Add vinegar; continue to beat until soft peaks form. With electric mixer running on  slow speed, gradually add remaining cup of sugar; increase to high speed and beat until stiff peaks form.
5. Remove a heaping cup of egg whites and add it to chocolate mixture; gently combine and set aside.
6. Sift flour mixture over egg whites, a little at a time, and fold after each addition to incorporate. Add chocolate mixture and gently fold into egg whites. When just combined, turn batter into a two-piece 10-inch angel food cake pan with feet; smooth top into an even layer. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean, about 40-45 minutes. Remove cake from oven and invert pan onto its feet so the inverted cake can cool properly (the cake will not fall out of the pan). If your pan does not have feet, invert it over the neck of a wine bottle or glass soda battle. When cake is completely cool to the touch, loosen edges with a sharp knife and remove cake from pan. Slice into 16 pieces and serve.

WW POINTS VALUE:  3 pts (1 piece per serving)

Note: This recipe appears on www.weightwatchers.com. I have always wanted to make red velvet cake and this looked too good to pass up. I thought I was doing well until I got the cake out of the oven, let in cool and took it out of the pan. Weight Watchers said this was a difficult recipe and they were right. Angel food cake usually rises to the top and is usually fluffy and moist. This cake was not fluffy and moist. I know I did something wrong somewhere along the preparation. The flavor was nice but the texture was a little rubbery for me. This cake mixture probably would have been better as a mini bundt cake. Making cakes from scratch is an art form and there is some special trick to it. I just haven't found  out what that trick is.