Chocolate Angel Food Cake is soft, moist, and fluffy, and mixes together in about 5 minutes with 2 ingredients. Take it over the top with luscious chocolate ganache and chocolate shavings for a decadent chocolate dessert for the holidays, entertaining, or anytime you have a chocolate craving.
For more delicious chocolate cakes, try Chocolate Caramel Poke Cake and Chocolate Ricotta Cake.
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🎥Video: How to Make Chocolate Angel Food Cake
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I have a thing for angel food cakes. Case in point: these Orange Angel Food Cake, Strawberry Angel Food Cake, Pumpkin Angel Food Cake, and Lemon Angel Food Cake Roll recipes. And that's not even all of them.
So, being the chocolate lover that I am, a Chocolate Angel Food Cake is an obvious addition. It's super soft, moist, and fluffy, intensely chocolatey, and perfectly delicious topped with a dusting of confectioners' sugar and whipped cream. But to make it even more chocolatey, drizzle it with luscious ganache and sprinkle the top with shaved chocolate. You won't be sorry.
❤️You’re Going to Love This
- Light, fluffy, and full of rich chocolate flavor
- Starts with a box mix—just add cocoa powder and water!
- Topped with silky-smooth chocolate ganache and chocolate shavings for EVEN MORE chocolate!
- Easy enough for a weeknight treat, elegant enough for a special occasion.
🍫Ingredients
See recipe card at the bottom of the post for the full list of ingredients and exact amounts.
- Angel food cake mix. Use the just-add-water type. This recipe was tested with Betty Crocker angel food cake mix.
- Natural unsweetened cocoa powder. For the best flavor, I highly recommend Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa. I find the flavor far superior to Hershey's. VERY IMPORTANT: Do not use dark cocoa powder or Dutch-process cocoa powder -- during my testing, dutch-process cocoa powder deflated the batter to liquid and baked into a very dense cake. Dutch-process cocoa powder has been treated with an alkaline solution, making it less acidic, and likely the cause of the collapse.
- Instant espresso powder, optional. Espresso powder intensifies the chocolate flavor without it tasting like coffee. As a substitution, you can use coffee in place of all or some of the water.
- Water. I used the amount of water called for on the box PLUS more equal to the amount of cocoa powder I added. Cocoa powder is super thirsty and will dry out your cake if you don't adapt the liquid accordingly.
- Chocolate chips. For the ganache, I used dark chocolate chips. You can also use semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate bars. Use good quality chocolate for the smoothest ganache. I've found different types of chocolate can affect how thick or thin the ganache is. See recipe card for tips to thicken or thin the ganache, if needed.
🥣How to Make Chocolate Angel Food Cake
Step 1: Mix angel food cake, sifted cocoa powder, espresso powder, and water in a very large bowl with a handheld electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, then on medium speed for 1 minute, until fluffy.
Step 2: Pour or spoon batter into an ungreased tube pan. Bake on the lowest oven rack according to package directions, about 35-40 minutes, until the top has dry cracks and springs back when lightly pressed. Invert pan onto a wire rack and cool cake in the pan.
Step 3: Warm cream in the microwave, then pour it over the chocolate chips. Let it sit for 3-4 minutes, then stir until creamy. Cool if needed until it's the right consistency to spread or drizzle.
Step 4: Drizzle with chocolate ganache, letting it drip down the sides of the cake. If desired, top with shaved or grated chocolate. Cut chocolate angel food cake with a serrated knife using a gentle sawing motion.
Serve with fresh berries and whipped cream or ice cream, or this delicious Dairy-Free Chocolate Mousse.
🔪How to Remove an Angel Food Cake from an Angel Food Cake Pan.
To remove the cake from the pan, start by running a thin knife around the sides of the pan, then separate the two pieces of the pan.
Run your knife around the bottom of the cake and around the center hole to loosen the cake from the removable bottom.
Catch the cake in your hand as it releases from the pan.
Flip it over and set it on a wire rack or serving plate.
🧊Storage & Freezing
- Store unfrosted chocolate angel food cake covered in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Store chocolate angel food cake with ganache in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To avoid tenting plastic wrap with toothpicks, set the frosted, uncovered cake, in the refrigerator until the ganache is firm, about one hour. Then cover with plastic wrap.
✅Expert Tips
- VERY IMPORTANT: Do not use dark cocoa powder or Dutch-process cocoa powder, which can deflate the batter.
- Espresso powder is optional, but recommended to deepen the chocolate flavor (without tasting like coffee).
- Run a knife through the cake batter in the pan to avoid air pockets in the cake.
- For best results, use an ungreased aluminum 10-inch tube pan (not nonstick). The cake needs to be able to grab onto the sides of the pan to rise tall and fluffy.
- Gently cut angel food cake with a serrated knife, using a sawing motion, to avoid crushing the delicate cake.
❓Recipe FAQs
No. You can use two 9-inch loaf pans or a 9x13 cake pan. To cool, turn loaf pans on their sides on a cooling rack. Invert the 9 x 13 cake pan and balance it on cans or something similar. You can also make 2-3 dozen cupcakes in a cupcake pan, fill cups about ⅔ full, or a cake roll, like this lemon angel food cake roll with cream cheese filling, using a sheet pan. I don't recommend a Bundt pan because the filling might spill over and it will be difficult to remove the cake from the nooks and crannies.
Yes! I recommend freezing the cake unfrosted. Freeze the entire cake or individual pieces wrapped in a double layer of plastic wrap, then foil or a freezer bag. Thaw at room temperature.
When you can't rely on the golden brown color as a test of doneness, look for dry cracks on top of the cake. Also, the top should spring back when lightly pressed. The internal temperature of an angel food cake should reach 206 degrees f on a digital thermometer.
Cool the baked cake completely in the pan before removing it.
😋More Easy Angel Food Cake Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Chocolate Angel Food Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Angel Food Cake
- 1 box angel food cake mix just-add-water type
- ½ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder do not use dark cocoa powder or Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder, optional
- the amount of water called for on the box + ½ cup
Chocolate Ganache
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips (dairy-free or regular)
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
Chocolate Shavings
- 1 ounce dark chocolate bar
Instructions
- Move the oven racks apart to make room for the angel food cake pan. Preheat the oven according to the package instructions.
- Place the angel food cake mix and espresso powder in a very large mixing bowl. Sift in the cocoa powder. Whisk the dry ingredients together. Add the water. Mix with a hand mixer on low for 30 seconds, then on medium speed for one minute.
- Pour the batter into an ungreased angel food cake pan with a removable bottom. Run a knife through the batter to remove air bubbles. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the cracks are dry and the top springs back when lightly pressed. The internal temperature should be around 206.
- Immediately invert pan onto a baking rack or bottle. Cool cake upside down for about 2 hours or until the pan is cool. Run a thin knife around the edge of the cake to gently remove it from the pan. Place the cake right-side up on a serving plate.
Make the Chocolate Ganache
- Place the chocolate chips in a small bowl. Warm heavy cream in the microwave for 60-90 seconds to 180 degrees. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips and let them sit for 3-4 minutes.
- Stir until the ganache is smooth. Cool, if needed, until the ganache is a good drizzling or spreading consistency. You can speed this up in the fridge, stirring it every 10 minutes. Drizzle or spread ganache on top of the chocolate angel food cake, letting it drip down the sides. If desired, top with shaved chocolate. before the ganache sets.
- Cut chocolate angel food cake with a serrated knife using a sawing motion. Serve with whipped cream and fresh berries. Store leftover angel food cake with chocolate ganache in the refrigerateor.
Notes
- VERY IMPORTANT: Do not use dark cocoa powder or Dutch-process cocoa powder, which can deflate the batter.
- Espresso powder is optional, but recommended to deepen the chocolate flavor (without tasting like coffee).
- If the ganache is too thin, let it cool until thickened. Speed this up in the fridge, stirring every 10-15 min. If it's too thick, stir in a little more warmed cream, then warm the ganache in short bursts, stirring in between, until it comes together.
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