Angel Food Cake is light and airy. With only 6 ingredients, it is simple but turns out fabulous. It has the perfect blend of sweetness and looks stunning.
We love angel food cake and how delicious it is to pair with a host of toppings. It isn’t overly sweet or heavy and makes the perfect dessert all year long. I love making oven baked desserts that are easy enough for busy moms.
If you love lemon flavor, also try this Lemon Angel Food Cake recipe.
Table of contents
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Only a few ingredients. The entire recipe only calls for 6 ingredients.
- Soft and fluffy texture. This cake has the best texture. It’s so light and airy.
- Pairs perfectly with anything. You can easily combine this cake with any topping for the perfect dessert.
What is Angel Food Cake?
It is a really light cake made from egg whites, cream of tartar, cake flour and other simple ingredients. The combination results in a sponge cake texture that is soft and delicious.
Ingredients
- Cake Flour. Learn How to Make Cake Flour.
- Granulated Sugar. Divided
- Large Egg Whites. Room temperature.
- Cream of Tartar. This helps to stabilize the egg whites and give the cake a light texture.
The entire ingredient list is at the bottom of the page.
How to Make Angel Food Cake
- Step 1. Preheat the oven and lower the rack. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place the oven rack to a lower middle position.
Step 2. Next, place the sugar in a food processor and pulse until the sugar is fine and powdery. Remove 1 cup of sugar from the food processor and set aside.
Step 3. Leave the remaining sugar in the food processor and add in the cake flour and salt. Continue to pulse these ingredients together in the food processor until the mixture is combined.
Step 4. Get out your stand mixer to whip the eggs until the mixture is light and foamy. Then reduce the mixer speed to medium high speed. Gradually add the 1 cup of sugar that you set aside and mix until soft peaks form. Then add the vanilla and fold in the egg whites. Next, fold in the dry ingredients into the whipped egg whites.
Step 5. Pour the batter into the tube pan. Gently tap the pan on a countertop to get out any air bubbles.
Step 6. Finally, bake until golden brown. Remove the cake from the oven. Cool upside down on a cooling rack until the cake is completely cool (2-3 hours).
Step 7. Remove from the pan. I like to run a knife around the edges of the pan (inner and outer). Gently tap the pan on the counter until you invert the angel food cake upside down from the angel food cake pan.
Serving Suggestions
- Fresh Berries. Blueberries, raspberries and strawberries all make great toppings for this cake.
- Whipped Cream. A dollop of whipped cream makes a delicious topping on this cake. You can use storebought or this easy homemade whipped cream.
- Nuts. Almonds are delicious on top of each serving of homemade angel food cake.
Storage
Refrigerate the leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Make sure to cover the cake properly with plastic wrap so it stays fresh. You can also store the cake inside a storage container if you have one large enough.
Expert Tips
- Cream of Tartar is best. This ingredient stabilizes the egg whites. Without cream of tartar, the cake would fall apart.
While lemon juice can work as it is an acid, it is not as effective. We recommend cream of tarter. - Don’t let any egg yolks get in the egg white mixture. It is very important that not even a drop of egg yolks get in the egg whites. It will hinder and could totally prevent the egg white from forming peaks.
- Cake Flour is a game changer. Don’t substitute all-purpose flour. Cake Flour will give the cake the perfect texture. Whereas all purpose flour will make the texture and taste totally different and taste like bread.
- Don’t forget to pulse the sugar. It starts with granulated sugar and the process of pulsing it will give it the perfect texture. This in turn will provide the absolute best structure for this light type of cake.
- The egg whites should form soft peaks. You do not want stiff peaks as this means they will collapse during the baking process. It is important not to overbeat them.
- Follow the recipe precisely. It is a very simple recipe with only 6 simple ingredients. This will result in a light and airy Angel Food Cake recipe.
More Easy Cake Recipes
Just follow these easy instructions for the best Angel Food Cake everyone will enjoy. Please leave a comment once you do.
Angel Food Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup Cake Flour
- 1 3/4 cup Granulated Sugar divided
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 12 Large Egg Whites room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place the oven rack to a lower middle position.
- Place the sugar in a food processor and pulse until the sugar is fine and powdery. Remove 1 cup of sugar from the food processor and set aside.
- Leave the remaining sugar in the food processor and add in the cake flour and salt. Pulse these ingredients together in the food processor until the mixture is combined and light.
- Whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar in a large mixing bowl with a stand up or hand held mixer with a whisk attachment until the mixture is light and foamy (approximately 1 minute).
- Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add in the 1 cup of sugar that was set aside. Mix until soft peaks are formed (5-6 minutes).
- Add in the vanilla extract and mix until just combined.
- Gently fold in the flour mixture into the whipped egg whites. Add ¼ cup of the dry mixture at a time and gently fold in the mixture with a spatula. Continue this process until all of the dry ingredients are mixed in.
- Pour the batter into a 9 or 10 inch tub pan (uncreased). Gently tap the pan on a countertop to get out any air bubbles.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the cake is golden brown.
- Remove the cake from the oven. Cool the cake upside down on a wire rack until the cake is completely cooled (2-3 hours).
- Run a knife around the edges of the pan (inner and outer). Gently tap the pan on the counter until the cake is released from the pan.
- Serve topped with powdered sugar, whipped or fresh berries. Enjoy!
