Angel Food Cake
This is the only Angel Food Cake recipe you will ever need! This homemade cake is super soft, light, airy, and turns out perfect every single time!
On Monday I shared a simple homemade cake flour recipe with you. So today, I wanted to share a recipe showing you how you can use that flour with this homemade angel food cake recipe!
If you’ve never made angel food cake from scratch, I can assure you it’s not too difficult. There are a few steps, but the end results are absolutely worth it.
In fact, this cake beats any box mix you can buy. It’s incredibly soft, light, airy, and always turns out perfect!
Ingredients For This Cake
Homemade angel food cake requires just seven simple ingredients, which is why it’s important that you use exactly what this recipe calls for. Here’s what we’ll use to make angel cake from scratch:
- Cake flour: Contains less protein than all-purpose flour, which results in a softer, lighter cake.
- Powdered sugar: I’ve tested this cake with just granulated sugar and I prefer using a combination of the two. The powdered sugar helps the flour particles disperse more evenly and makes it easier to fold into the egg whites.
- Egg whites: Make sure they are at room temperature before getting started. Room temperature egg whites will whip up much better than cold eggs, so I suggest separating the eggs and letting them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
- Cream of tartar: The acid from the cream of tartar helps the egg whites reach their full volume and stabilizes them, so don’t skip it!
- Salt: Balances out the sweetness of the batter.
- Granulated sugar: Needs to be beaten into the egg whites to incorporate air into the batter.
- Vanilla extract: Pure vanilla extract is best in this recipe.
How To Make Angel Food Cake
To make this cake, you’ll start by sifting cake flour and powdered sugar together three times. Once you’ve sifted the two together, you’ll set them aside and whip up some egg whites.
For this cake, you’ll be using 1 and 1/2 cups of egg whites which comes out to about 10-12 large egg whites. Then, you’ll beat the egg whites on low-medium speed until they’re foamy. Once the egg whites are foamy, mix in a little cream of tartar and salt.
Then, you’ll turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and gradually add a cup of granulated sugar until the egg whites form stiff peaks like the picture above. In other words, when you lift the beaters out of the bowl the tips of the egg whites stand straight up and don’t curl over. Then, you’ll mix in some vanilla extract until just combined.
Once the egg whites are at the stiff peak stage and the vanilla is mixed in, you’ll gradually sift in the dry ingredients. You want to avoid adding the dry ingredients all at once because it can weigh down the egg whites.
I suggest sifting the dry ingredients into the egg whites in four increments, making sure to gently fold in each addition until just combined. Once the dry ingredients are mixed into the egg whites, you’ll scoop the batter into an angel food cake pan.
A couple of important things when adding the batter to the pan, make sure you do not spray the pan. As this cake bakes, it will rise and cling to the side of the pan. If the pan is greased it can prevent your cake from reaching its full height.
The second thing is to make sure that you use a knife to cut through the batter, in the pan, before placing it in the oven. This will remove any large air pockets and prevent you from having any large holes in your cake.
When the cake batter is ready, you’ll bake it in the lower third of your oven for about 40-45 minutes. Once a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean, remove it from the oven, and turn it upside down to cool.
Cooling the cake upside down is incredibly important because the structure of the cake is not set until it cools. Allowing the cake to cool upside down will prevent it from collapsing on itself. Most angel food cake pans have a center piece that extends further than the outside rim, making it easier to cool the cake upside down. You can also rest your cake upside down on a heat-safe bottle to let it cool completely.
FAQ’s
How Do You Store This Cake?
Store leftover angel food cake in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to four days.
Can You Freeze Angel Food Cake?
Yes! Wrap the cake tightly and store in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.
What Toppings Should I Serve This With?
A few of my favorite angel food cake toppings are:
- Sliced strawberries tossed in a little sugar
- My homemade strawberry sauce
- Whipped cream
- Homemade blueberry sauce
- Microwave lemon curd
- Dulce de leche
Baking Tips
- Make sure to separate your egg whites and let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. This will help them whip up much better!
- Sift the dry ingredients into the egg whites in four additions and gently fold in each addition until just combined.
- Do not grease your cake pan, this will prevent the cake from rising to its full height. I prefer to use an angel food cake pan with a removable bottom, this makes it much easier to remove it from the pan!
- Once you’ve added the batter to the pan, make sure to run a knife through it to remove any large air bubbles.
- Once the cake is finished baking, make sure to completely cool it upside down in the pan.
More Easy Cake Recipes to Try!
Recipe Video
Angel Food Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup (115 grams) cake flour , spooned & leveled (homemade version here)
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180 grams) powdered sugar
- 1 and 1/2 cups egg whites , room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Position oven rack to the lower third position. Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C).
- Sift the cake flour and powdered sugar together three times. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, add the egg whites and beat on low-medium speed until foamy.
- Add the cream of tartar and salt then increase the speed to medium-high.
- Gradually add the granulated sugar, about one tablespoon at a time, and continue beating the egg whites until stiff glossy peaks form. Add the vanilla extract and mix on low speed until just combined.
- Sift about one-fourth of the dry ingredients over the beaten egg whites and gently fold it in. Repeat, folding in the dry ingredients one-fourth at a time.
- Scoop the batter into an ungreased 10-inch angel food cake pan or tube pan. Cut a knife through the batter to remove any air pockets, then smooth it out into one even layer.
- Bake the cake at 325°F (163°C) for 40-45 minutes or until the top is lightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and invert the cake pan onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, use a knife to loosen the sides of the cake from the pan and carefully remove it. Slice into pieces, serve, and enjoy!
This recipe is absolutely amazing, and I’ll never buy store-bought again! I had difficulty with air bubbles and folding, but that’s my personal skills lacking. I’ll get better. Thank you for posting this.
Over the top sweet. I only cut one piece(not even a piece, just a enough to taste) to taste and threw the rest away. Ungodly sweet. I could not imagine putting fruit and whipped vcream on top of this in addition to the sweetness of the cake. It looked great, cooked great, everything was fine and I was initially excited but whoa…
Thank you for such a WONDERFUL recipe! I love angel food cake but it is so expensive and I truly thought it was more complicated than you explained. The instructions were so easy to follow and I even made my own cake flour before I started. I live alone, so I am always reducing recipes. I quartered your recipe—which used three egg whites, each one measured 1/8 cup—baked it in my 7.5 in by 5.5 in glass bake dish for 25 minutes in my Cuisinart Multipurpose toaster oven—-PERFECT! Flavor is so fresh and the texture was spot on! I usually cut this size bake dish into six pieces when baking cakes, cornbread, cobblers, etc. I can not believe I made this and it worked so beautifully! Tastes so much better than the store bought ones. I think I may try reducing the recipe one more time just to see if it will work and try one with coarsely ground almonds. I am so inspired. Again, thank you so very much.
Second time I’ve made this recipe, it’s fabulous, don’t skip or take shortcuts, well worth the work. I tried another, this is by far the best. Love it
Excellent recipe! I made this for my dad’s birthday cake and everyone loved it including a very picky 2 year old. My dad had 3 slices and said it was “wonderful.” Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I have made this several times and everyone raves about how delicious it is. It is so light and fluffy, I’ll never use store bought again. So yummy! Thank you.