Three Faces of Eve Cake

Happiness can be found in even the saddest accidents, such as forgetting an entire Costco-sized bag of Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate chips in the trunk of your car in Phoenix in the summertime. Besides, what better way to devil up an otherwise angelic cake than with a little ground chocolate?

Raspberry makes a wonderful counterpoint for a third dimension of flavor. And what to do with all those leftover yolks? Well, you could always make zabaglione!

1/2 cup cocoa powder
3 Tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
3 Tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
12 large egg whites
3 Tbsp Chambord
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp instant coffee
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla
6 Tbsp ground semisweet chocolate

Stir together cocoa, flours, cornstarch, salt, and half of sugar. Set aside.

Beat egg whites, Chambord, lemon juice, instant coffee, cream of tartar and vanilla on low speed in the work bowl of a stand mixer for 1 minute. Increase speed to medium and beat until mixture increass in volume 4 1/2 to 5 times and resembles a bowl of slightly translucent soft foam composed of tiny bubbles. This should take anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3 minutes. The foam will hold a very soft, moist shape when the beaters are lifted.

Beat in gradually on medium speed, 1 tbsp at a time, the other half of the sugar. This should take 2-3 minutes. When the entire 3/4 cup sugar has been added, the foam will be creamy and hold soft, moist, glossy peaks that bend over at the points.

Remove bowl from stand mixer. Sift the flour gradually over the top of the foam, about 1/8 at a time, and fold gently with a rubber spatula only until flour mixture is nearly incorporated. Repeat, folding in the last addition until no traces of flour are visible. Fold in ground chocolate in the same manner.

Pour the batter into an ungreased 10" angel cake pan. Tilt or spread batter to level the top. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven until a toothpick comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Turn upside down and let cool at least 1 1/2 hours.

Raspberry Coulis:

12 ozs frozen organic raspberries, thawed
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
3 Tbsp Grand Marnier

Blend raspberries and sugar in a blender until completely smooth. Press through a fine-mesh sieve to remove seeds. Stir in liqueur and transfer to a squirt bottle.

To serve, slice cake into thin wedges. Arrange on a plate atop a pool of raspberry coulis. Drizzle cake with additional coulis and garnish, if desired, with fresh raspberries.