Do You Want the Best Angel Food Cake Recipe? We have it for you. This cake bakes up light and airy and tall. It is the perfect cake to have with fresh berries, whipped cream, and raspberry sauce. If you follow our easy directions, you can have a gorgeous-looking cake like this also.
If you want another way to celebrate berries, try our delicious Homemade Pound Cake Cupcakes or Eton Mess Cake! They are also simply topped with whipped cream and fresh berries. Or how about the best Carrot Cake ever? It ticks all the boxes for me!!
Helpful Items For This Recipe
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Angel Food Tube Cake Pan – 10 inch
What Is Angel Food Cake Made of?
Very simple ingredients go into the Angel Food Cake. Plan on making some ice cream with the egg yolks. I make a fresh Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream every year with mint from our garden.
Icing sugar combined with flour by sifting them together gives the cake its light and airy texture, along with folding in the egg whites.
The cream of tartar which can be found in any grocery store, helps to stabilize the egg whites so they don’t deflate, also adding to the light and airiness of this cake.
Making a cake from scratch as opposed to a store bought mix is infinitely better. But in a pinch, a cake mix or even store bought cake will work, and just decorate it accordingly like we did for a masterpiece.
Ingredients
Egg whites (10-11 large eggs)
Icing sugar (confectioners’ sugar) -additional to be used with the whipped cream also
All-purpose flour
Cream of tartar
Vanilla extract
Salt
Granulated white sugar
Decorate with Whipped Cream, fresh berries, mint, lemon, etc.
What Kind of Cake Pan to Use and High Altitude Baking?
As far as I am concerned, I do like a traditional angel food cake pan as opposed to a bundt pan for making angel food cake. As pictured above, this cake pan has advantages.
I would get one that has the removable bottom so that the cake comes out of your pan easily without sticking.
Also important with this pan is that it has cooling legs. Once your cake is done, you cool it inverted using the cooling legs.
This ensures that your cake doesn’t collapse during cooling, which can happen with such a big, light, airy cake that is full of air bubbles. This cool, upside-down trick really works well.
Sometimes, cakes can bake differently at different altitudes. This cake has been tested at 3,400 feet and at sea level. The one at the higher altitude is a bit denser, and the air bubbles don’t remain quite as large, but still a gorgeously light and airy cake. So feel free to bake away anywhere between those two!
Affiliate link is above for an angel food cake pan like this!
How to Make Angel Food Cake
Place the egg whites in a mixing bowl and allow them to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Sift the icing sugar and flour together into a large bowl. Make sure you sift these ingredients together; this is one of the components that makes a pillowy light texture in your cake.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
After 30 minutes, start to whip the egg whites using a hand or stand mixer and immediately add the cream of tartar, vanilla extract, and salt.
While you are beating the egg whites, slowly add the white granulated sugar.
Continue to beat at high speed until the sugar is dissolved and stiff peaks have formed.
Using a spatula, gently fold in the flour and icing sugar mixture, adding about 1/3 of a cup at a time. Be careful not to deflate the egg whites. You want to keep them nice and airy.
Continue to gently fold until all the flour mixture is incorporated.
Spoon the batter into an ungreased 10-inch angel food cake pan. Using a knife, gently cut the batter to ensure there are no air pockets in the batter.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the cake comes out clean.
Invert the pan and allow to cool completely before removing the cake from the pan. You may need to loosen the cake from the pan with a knife (I used a plastic knife so as not to scratch the aluminum pan).
While the cake is cooling, add a bowl and wire whip attachment(s) into the freezer for your whipped cream.
How To Decorate Angel Food Cake
Whip your whipped cream with the frozen bowl and attachments. This will have your cream whipped in no time. I do this every time I whip cream, a great trick, especially in the hot weather. Add in a little icing sugar a tablespoon at a time or to taste to sweeten your whipped cream.
The whipped cream and berries can be ready, so you just need to decorate just before serving. You don’t want to decorate this ahead of time as the whipped cream will deflate and get runny. Decorate the cake and then present it. If you are prepared, it won’t take but a few minutes to do.
Be systematic as opposed to random when decorating a cake like this. First, swirl or pipe on the whipped cream.
Next, select the nicest strawberries you have and halve them. Place them cut side up and down on the cake. Then place on the blueberries.
Again, systematically add your blackberries, filling in holes here and there. After that are very thin slices of lemon. Arc or twist them slightly as you place them into the whipped cream.
Lastly, add in sprigs of mint and fill in any spots with berries that you think are missing. You want the cake to be as appealing to the eye as it is to the taste buds.
Variations
Don’t have these specific berries but want to try other toppings, maybe. Try adorning the cake with Saskatoon berries, bananas, mandarins, cherries and more.
If you would like to make this for Canada Day, stick with raspberries and strawberries. For 4th of July, strawberries and blueberries only.
Alternatively, if you want to serve it plain, pass the lemon curd, berry sauces, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, salted caramel, ice cream, and more.
An angel food cake is basically a blank canvas for you to add in what you like and enjoy.
How to Store Angel Food Cake
The angel food cake can be stored on the counter covered with plastic wrap for a few days, although it is best if served shortly after it has cooled.
I like to bake the cake in the afternoon and then serve it that evening. This will give you the best results. Then, just simply decorate and serve. You can have all the other ingredients ready, like washed berries, whipped cream, and raspberry sauce made.
What Does Angel Food Cake Taste Like?
Angel Food Cake is pretty much absent of fat. It doesn’t contain fat from egg yolks, butter, or oils, as it only uses egg whites for the cake. This gives the cake a very light and airy texture and taste.
It is gorgeously white on the inside and has a chewy, outer golden crust. For me, this is reminiscent to a marshmallow in taste. One that has been just ever so slightly toasted. You know, the perfect marshmallow before it catches on fire, lol.
It has also been described as having a subtle vanilla flavor from the extract that was added, maybe even some subtle flavors of almond.
With this cake lacking in buttery goodness, it makes up for it in texture, being light as a cloud. This is why I love it for a summer dessert. Plus, it pairs amazingly with fresh summer produce like berries. Use what is freshest, local and in season if you like.
Now For Raspberry Sauce
Want more deliciousness for this Angel Food Cake? Try our amazing and Easy Homemade Raspberry Sauce as it pairs perfectly with this light and airy cake!
The raspberry sauce will give you a bite of fresh raspberries with each bite of luscious cake. The contrast in flavors is amazing.
The raspberry sauce or coulis takes minutes to make and will sit and wait for you in the refrigerator until ready to use. You can even have the raspberry sauce stowed away in the freezer if you want to make it way ahead.
Can You Freeze Angel Food Cake?
Yes, you can freeze angel food cake. This type of cake that is low in fat loses moisture quickly and can become dry, crumbly and stale quickly.
So your best plan to make this ahead would be to let it cool completely, wrap in plastic wrap and then large zipper bags or air-tight containers and freeze. You can keep this cake in the freezer for 4-6 months, but make sure it doesn’t get damaged by placing something on top of it.
Pin it HERE!!
Pin it HERE!!
Best Angel Food Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups egg whites 10-11 large eggs
- 1 ¼ cups icing sugar confectioners’ sugar
- 1 cup AP flour
- 1 ½ tsp cream of tartar
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- Decorate with Whipped Cream fresh berries, mint, lemon, etc.
Instructions
- Place the egg whites in a mixing bowl and allow them to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Sift the icing sugar and flour together into a large bowl. Make sure you sift these ingredients together; this is one of the components that make a pillowy, light texture in your cake.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- After 30 minutes, start to beat the egg whites and immediately add the cream of tartar, vanilla extract, and salt.
- While you are beating the egg whites, slowly add the granulated white sugar.
- Continue to beat at high speed until the sugar is dissolved and stiff peaks have formed.
- Using a spatula, gently fold in the flour and icing sugar mixture, adding about 1/3 of a cup at a time. Be careful not to deflate the egg whites. You want to keep them nice and airy.
- Continue to gently fold until all the flour mixture is incorporated.
- Spoon the batter into an ungreased 10-inch angel food cake pan. Using a knife, gently cut the batter to ensure there are no air pockets in the batter.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the cake comes out clean.
- Invert the pan and allow to cool completely before removing the cake from the pan. You may need to loosen the cake from the pan with a knife (I used a plastic knife so as not to scratch the aluminum pan).
Comments & Reviews
MaryAnn says
I like to use angel cake as a base for fruit shortcakes. With a dab of whipped coconut or dairy cream on top. This works well if you want a lighter shortcake with a more delicate flavor.
To use up those extra yolks, add some to normal scrambled eggs, omelettes, sheetpan eggs, breakfast casseroles, quiches or frittatas. Mix with regular eggs for fried rice, potato salads. Anything that requires eggs will work. To keep the fluid amount correct, cut down by about 1 oz of the fluid in the recipe. There are also gold cakes that call for many yolks. Egg yolks have a short life so use them promptly. I like this recipe, I’ll give it a try next time I find eggs on sale. BTW would commercial liquid whites work in this recipe?
Tara Noland says
I am not sure about buying egg whites as I have never tried that before but if it is pure egg whites it should work!!