Chocolate Almond Frosting

  

 I love Angel Food Cake. It's light and fluffy, and you can convince yourself that it's healthy, since it's mostly egg whites (lots of protein and no fat, right?).
   Well, my dad picked up a few from the store and gave me a couple. Now, there are only two things I'm thinking right now: "I need to put one of these in the freezer, so I don't eat them both right now;" and "Chocolate Almond Frosting." (I think this one as if saying it in a deep-throated voice in great satisfaction.)
    I should say that there are a few rare occasions that I will make Angel Food Cake from scratch, and I like to use this recipe by Alton Brown as a basic jumping off point. It's messy and takes a while, so I usually use the store bought cake when it's on sale - or when it's gifted to me by a loving family member like it was this time. - Thank you Papa. :)
    Growing up, I can't really recall a time when we had Angel Food Cake and didn't have Chocolate Almond Frosting to go with it. (I'm sure we had other frosting/toppings as well, but my selective memory only remembers this one.) It's incredibly easy and delicious. Only 3 ingredients and the texture is light and fluffy, but also kind of like chocolate chip ice-cream with a crunch from the almonds. This is absolutely my favorite frosting for Angel Food Cake - I've even been known to eat just the frosting, when the cake was all gone. :)
    - The original recipe was to use one giant Hershey Bar with Almonds, but over the years my dad would just use whatever chocolate we had on hand, and whole almonds chopped up. So that is what I do now.

Here's what you need:

1 container of whipped topping, roasted and chopped almonds, and chocolate

Put the whipped topping into a mixing bowl.

Use any chocolate you like. (Milk, semi-sweet, dark, white. Whatever makes your heart say "Mmmmm.") Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, stirring every 30 seconds, until it's nice and smooth.


Pour all of the chocolate into the whipped topping.

 Fold the chocolate into the whipped topping. When the warm chocolate meets the cold whipped topping it turns hard, and you have teeny tiny chocolate flakes running all through the frosting. KEEP FOLDING! If you stop, you'll just have one big clump of chocolate.

To fold: take your spatula and cut through the middle. Drag it to the side and gently turn the spatula over to place the whipped topping that was on the bottom of the bowl to the top of the mixture. Don't stir it. The whipped topping will deflate, and it won't be light and fluffy.  Just be patient and keep folding until it's all combined.

 When it's all mixed in it doesn't look very chocolaty, but trust me . . . it is!

 When the chocolate is all folded in, add the chopped almonds, and fold them in as well.  I prefer to use the salted and roasted almonds (because I like the salty nuts and the sweet chocolate and cream together) but use what you have. Today I just had raw almonds. So . . . .

 I put them in a dry pan and "roasted" them over medium heat for a few minutes. When they turned darker in color, and I could smell them I took them off the heat.

 I put them in my little mini food processor,

 And chopped them as small as I like them. (I like big pieces of almonds to crunch into.)

 So, after the nuts are all folded in, you're done! How easy was that?

Now, put it on a pretty cake pedestal and shave some more chocolate on top - so no one knows how easy this was to throw together - and impress whom ever you want. . . .

Or, just cut a piece for yourself like I did and enjoy!

Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Almond Frosting

1 8 oz package of whipped topping

3/4 cup roasted and salted almonds, chopped

3/4 cup chocolate, melted

Put the whipped topping into a mixing bowl. Add the melted chocolate and fold in until well combined. Fold in the chopped almonds and frost your cake!

*The only measurement that matters here is the whipped topping, and that's only because it comes from the store in that size container. I have used the larger size container of whipped topping (I think it's 12 or 16 oz?) so that I can have extra frosting. Add as much or as little of the ingredients as you like. It should be said though, that the more chocolate and nuts you add, the less fluffy the frosting will be.

 Enjoy!