Surely Angel Food Cake is too hard to make from scratch, right? Wrong! It is so easy to make that soft, sweet, spongy, classic cake! Let me show you how plus let you in on a couple of simple tips that make all the difference!
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Why Choose This Recipe
- Soooo Easy!!! Just like my Chocolate Angel Food Cake!
- Tastes better than what you can buy at the grocery store!
- Step-by-step instructions and detailed pictures.
- Can be made with a stand mixer or hand beaters.
- No tube pan? Use a loaf pan instead! This recipe makes two loaves!
Ingredient Notes
- Flour - Use all-purpose flour, not pastry flour, not cake flour, and never self-rising flour.
- Egg Whites - The fresher the eggs, the better. If you're worried about wasting the egg yolks, check out my recipe for Sweet Berry Crepes or for Croissant French Toast for ways to use them!
- Sugars - Please note that both granulated sugar and powdered sugar are used for this recipe.
Equipment Notes
- Start by washing everything you're going to use to make this cake with a good dish soap.
- Grease, even the tiniest little bit, will ruin an angel food cake because it breaks the egg whites down.
- You can use a one-piece 10-inch tube pan like the one below or...
- Or a two-piece 10-inch tube pan with a removable bottom, as pictured below.
- If you are worried about a two-piece pan leaking, you can cut out a circle of parchment paper to fit in the bottom and place the tub insert on top.
- You could use 2 loaf pans instead of tube pans as well.
- A bundt pan doesn't work well because the shaped grooves make it hard to get the cake out without tearing it.
Get Your Tube Pans Here
Step by Step Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and make sure your oven rack will put the cake right in the center of the oven to bake.
- Prepare your tube pan by thoroughly cleaning it. DO NOT grease the tube pan!
- Sift the flour and powdered sugar together 3 times and set aside.
- It is important to sift the flour mixture all three times to get that light and airy texture.
- Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites.
- Pour the egg whites into a separate large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
- Add the cream of tartar, vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt to the egg whites.
- Begin to beat the egg whites at a high speed.
- When the egg whites begin to foam up, add the granulated white sugar in a slow, steady stream while continuing to beat.
- Beat until stiff peaks form. For more info on how to properly beat egg whites, click HERE.
- Fold, NOT STIR, the flour/powdered sugar mixture into the stiffly beaten egg whites a fourth cup at a time until all the flour is incorporated into the batter.
- If you need instruction on how to "fold in" ingredients, click HERE.
- Gently scoop the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan.
- Run a butter knife through the batter in a spiral to release any large air pockets or air bubbles and even out the batter.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
- Once finished baking, carefully and IMMEDIATELY invert the cake on a wire rack to cool.
- Leave the cake upside down the entire time it's cooling.
- You can release the cake from the pan once completely cooled by running a sharp knife around the outer edge and center tube of the pan.
- If you pry at the cake on the bottom just a little with an offset spatula, it will pop right out.
- Place on a serving plate, slice with a serrated knife, and serve with fresh berries and whipped cream!
Recipe FAQs
Can you make this in a regular cake pan?
I'm sure you can; however, if you don't have a tube pan, I would use two bread loaf pans instead. Angel Food Cake is supposed to be tall, and the sides of a cake pan are short. You would either end up with batter spilling over the sides into the bottom of your oven or a very dense angel food cake.
Is the cream of tartar really necessary?
Yes, for angel food cake, it is. Cream of tartar is basically a powdered acid that adds stability to beaten egg whites. Since this cake relies almost solely on the fluffy egg whites to retain its height, you need the cream of tartar to give it some muscle.
Why does angel food cake sometimes collapse?
There are a couple of reasons this can happen. One, the eggs weren't beaten to stiff peaks. Two, the cream of tartar was left out. Or three, there was grease somewhere on something that was used to prepare the cake that broke the beaten egg whites down.
What goes with angel food cake?
Fresh Strawberry Topping and Fresh Whipped Cream!
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The Best Angel Food Cake Recipe
Surely Angel Food Cake is too hard to make from scratch, right? Wrong! It is so easy to make that soft, sweet, spongy, classic cake! Let me show you how, plus let you in on a couple of simple tips that make all the difference!
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ Cup Powdered Sugar
- 1 Cup Flour
- 1 ½ Cups Egg Whites this is about 12 large eggs (room temp. *see note)
- ½ teaspoon Cream of Tartar
- 1 ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ teaspoon Almond Extract
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and adjust oven racks if necessary for the angel food cake to be right in the center of the oven. Â
- Be sure that all kitchen equipment you will be using is completely free of any grease. Â Even though already clean, I usually give mine an extra hand scrub to be sure there is not any grease, as even the tiniest bit will ruin an angel food cake.
- Sift the flour and powdered sugar together 3 times.  Set aside.
- Pour the egg whites, cream of tartar, vanilla, almond extract, and salt into a mixing bowl.
- Begin to beat at a high speed.
- Once the egg whites start to foam up, add the sugar in a slow and steady stream with the beaters still running.
- Continue to beat on high until stiff peaks form.
- FOLD, not stir the flour/powdered sugar into the egg whites a ¼ cup at a time. Â
- Once the previous ¼ cup has been folded in halfway, add the next ¼ cup. Repeat until all the flour/powdered sugar has been added and is completely folded in.
- Gently spoon the batter into an UNGREASED 10-inch tube pan. Â
- Run a sharp knife in a clockwise (or counterclockwise) circle around the tube pan to even out the batter and pop large air bubbles, but do not deflate the batter.
- Bake at 350 degrees in the center of the oven for 40 minutes. Â
- IMMEDIATELY, invert the hot angel food cake and set the tube pan upside down on a wire rack to cool after removing it from the oven. Â
- Do not remove the outside piece of the tube yet. Â Allow the angel food cake to cool completely while upside down.
- Once cool, flip back over and run a sharp knife around the outside edge and inside the tube. Â Remove the outside piece of the pan if using a 2-piece tube pan, and then remove the cake from the inside piece. Â
- If using a 1-piece tube pan, turn the pan over at a slight angle and use a thin spatula to loosen the bottom just a bit. The angel food cake should pop right out.
- Slice with a serrated knife and serve with fresh fruit and whipped cream.
Notes
- To quickly bring egg whites to room temperature, place the eggs in a bowl of hot tap water for 3 or 4 minutes before cracking them. Â Dry the eggs and proceed in cracking the eggs and separating the yolks from the whites.
- Wash everything you'll be using to make this cake well with a good dish soap. Any grease anywhere will break the egg whites and ruin the cake.
- FOLD: don't stir the flour/powdered sugar in.
Nutrition
Calories: 1994kcalCarbohydrates: 452gProtein: 44gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 0.01gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 704mgPotassium: 902mgFiber: 2gSugar: 354gVitamin A: 2IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 212mgIron: 7mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Thanks for stopping by! Before you go, be sure to check out a few of my most popular recipes!
Denise
Could I use lemon extract in place of the almond to make this a lemon angel food cake? I’ve made your chocolate version and loved it! It was a hit for my birthday girl
Mindee
So glad you loved my chocolate angel food cake!!! You could use lemon extract in place of the almond but you would need more for the lemon flavor to come through. I would probably try 1 1/2 tsp lemon extract and reduce the vanilla extract amount to 1/2 tsp.
Denise
Thank you! I’ll let you know how it turns out. I’ll be baking it this week.
Denise
Well, I tried with lemon extract-twice, and it never formed peaks. So on my third attempt, I folded some lemon zest and lemon juice in with the flour and sugar. I didn’t add much juice because I didn’t want the peaks to fall. It’s in the oven. We’ll see how much lemon flavor there is.
Mindee
I wonder if there's oil in the lemon extract. There shouldn't be but...hmmm. The other thing you could try is a product by True Citrus. It's crystalized lemon powder. It's awesome but I never know how available it is to people. If you opted to try it I would try 2-3 teaspoons of it sifted in with the flour.
Denise
Well, I tried with lemon extract-twice, and it never formed peaks. So on my third attempt, I folded some lemon zest and lemon juice in with the flour and sugar. I didn’t add much juice because I didn’t want the peaks to fall. It’s in the oven. We’ll see how much lemon flavor there is.
Lori
Sounds delicious!!
Mindy
Didn't click on the 5 stars, but it definitely is!
Mindy
Angel food is a staple during spring time! Thanks for the great recipe that I can whip up anytime!
Shayla
I love that this is made from scratch!
Adams
The flour..please specify plain or selfrising
mindeescookingobsession
Just plain, all purpose flour.