Ina Garten has got to be one of my favourite chefs on TV. She has a simple approach to food that is just honest and promises to deliver every time. But when I went healthy I knew that her recipes would move to my don't make list. Yes they are honest and simple but they are also loaded with fat and simple carbs and not the healthiest. But the other day I had a lot of egg whites left over at home after I had made a double batch of tiramisu for a friend's party. I wanted to put them to a good use.

Kids always enjoy a cake around the house but I wanted to cut out the fat atleast. So while doing my research online, I stumbled upon this recipe from Ina Garten. It seemed to meet all my needs. It was an angel food cake and I was hoping the grated chocolate in it would be the right addition to a plain cake for it to be consumed without any need for fruit on the side or cream or custard of any form. The only thing that I changed was to omit the glaze in the original recipe and to tell you the truth, no one missed it one bit.

This is a beautiful cake ..... it is a keeper. It can be easily used for kids at home and can be converted to a dessert for company. Just add the glaze and serve with ice cream and hot chocolate sauce and voila you will have a dessert that will have your guests asking for more. Now since this is an angel food cake, there is a lot of technique involved.

Whipping the egg whites to the right consistency is critical. Make sure the whisk and bowl are very clean. It is best to remove all traces of fat by taking a paper towel, dab some vinegar or lemon juice on it and use it to wipe the whisk and the bowl. Aged egg whites also whisk up much better than fresh ones. So if you have them lying around the refrigerator for a day or so, that will help to whisk them even better. Don't use egg whites right out of the refrigerator. Allow them to come to room temperature before whisking.

The other important thing is the pan used for baking the cake. This has to be a tube pan with removable bottom. It should not be a non stick pan. The way this cake bakes is that it climbs and holds on to the sides of the pan as it rises. If the pan were to be greased, the cake would collapse back. The other way in which this pan is different from other pans is that it has small stands. These are very useful for cooling the cake. The cake is inverted and allowed to cool down before being removed from the pan.

Ingredients:

2 cups sifted superfine sugar

1 1/3 cups sifted cake flour

1 1/2 cups egg whites at room temperature (about 10 to 12 whites)

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup coarsely grated semisweet chocolate

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F/180C. Combine 1/2 cup of the sugar with the cake flour and sift them together 4 times.

2. Place the egg whites, salt and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on high speed till the egg whites form medium-firm peaks, about one minute. With the mixer on medium speed, add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of sugar by sprinkling over the beaten egg whites. Beat on high speed for 1-2 minutes till thick and shiny. Add the vanilla and continue to whisk until very thick - for 1 more minute.

3. Sift 1/4 of the flour mixture over the beaten egg whites and fold it very carefully into the batter with a rubber spatula. Continue adding the flour in 3 equal additions, sifting and folding until it's all incorporated.

4. Fold in the grated chocolate.

5. Pour the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan, smooth the top and bake for 35-45 minutes until it springs back to the touch.

6. Remove the cake from the oven and invert the pan on a cooling rack.

7. When cool, run a thin flexible knife around the cake to remove it from the pan.