This Angel Food Cake recipe is an absolute game-changer! No more sifting flour, room-temp eggs, stabilizer, cold oven, or crossing your fingers! If you’ve always wondered how to make angel food cake, then this recipe is perfect for you! It’s totally foolproof and just as good as if you slaved all day. My mind is blown!
What’s in this Angel Food Cake Recipe?
I’m so excited about this easy dessert recipe because it makes baking one of my favorite cakes a little less scary. This easy angel food cake is so light and airy. It’s just as delicious as a typical recipe, but with a few little tips that make it so much simpler. Are you excited? You should be! Buckle up for this incredible cake.
- Bleached Cake Flour: I recommend Swan’s Down or Softasilk is necessary in this recipe. Unbleached flour will not work in this recipe.
- Egg Whites: Make this cake light and fluffy.
- Granulated Sugar: Sweetens the cake.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds just a hint of vanilla flavor that enhances the sweetness of the cake. You can swap for almond extract if you prefer.
- Lemon Juice: This is an acidic ingredient that helps to stabilize the egg whites, which prevents the cake from collapsing–it’s delicate!
- Kosher Salt: Enhances the overall flavor of the cake.
Pro Tip: Follow this guide for how to separate egg whites!
Variations on Homemade Angel Food Cake
You can make a lemon cream glaze and candied lemon zest to decorate this cake like the pictures. Follow my mom’s recipe for more info on how to make those components.
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This light and airy cake is made using egg whites only, which act as a natural (and delicate!) leavener for the cake!
Angel food cake certainly sounds a lot healthier than the typical dessert. It is a light and airy cake, after all. Generally, angel food cake isn’t quite as calorie-heavy as a lot of other desserts, so don’t feel too guilty when you devour this easy angel food cake after you bake it!
No, this cake is not gluten free. Bleached cake flour contains gluten.
It would be such a shame to waste 16 egg yolks, so make up a batch of eggnog or some banana cream pie, caramel pie, or tiramisu to use them up!
After baking the angel food cake, you should allow the cake to cool upside down inside the pan. This helps the angel food cake stay light and airy instead of condensing into a thicker consistency. The fluffiness of this easy angel food cake recipe will make you want to bake this cake over and over again.
Yes, you can freeze this cake for up to 6 months!
How to Store
This easy angel food cake should last for a couple of days at room temperature. If you want your cake to last a bit longer, you can put your angel food cake in the refrigerator for up to a week.
How to Freeze
Freeze angel food cake in Ziplock freezer bags or tightly wrapped in 2 layers of plastic wrap and 1 layer of aluminum foil for up to 6 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
Serving Suggestions
This is one of Mom’s recipes. She drizzled it with the most delicious and delicate Candied Lemon Zest Glaze, but it’s just as delicious with this easy lemon syrup, lemon curd, blueberry compote, chocolate syrup, or apple butter. Classic vanilla frosting or chocolate buttercream would also be delish! You feel like you’re eating delicious air. It is just such a treat!
Angel Food Cake Recipe
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Ingredients
For the Cake
- 18 tablespoons bleached cake flour 140 grams (1 cup + 2 tablespoons) — see note
- 2 cups egg whites 425 grams (from about 16 eggs)
- 2 cups granulated sugar 425 grams
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract 12 grams (15mL) — can substitute part almond extract
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 25 grams (from 1 lemon)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt 1 gram
Recommended Equipment
- Kitchen Scale (optional)
Instructions
- Place the oven rack in the middle position, and preheat oven to 350°F.
- Set a 10-inch aluminum tube (angel food cake) pan nearby. Do not grease or butter the pan.
- Shake flour through a fine-mesh sieve or sift it and set aside.18 tablespoons bleached cake flour
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the egg whites, sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix on low for 1 minute, then increase speed to medium-low and whip for 3 minutes. The whites will look darker and will still be thick.2 cups egg whites, 2 cups granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- With the mixer running, add the lemon juice and salt.2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Set the speed to medium and whisk the meringue for 3 more minutes. At this stage, the meringue will be foamy and thin.
- Increase the speed to medium-high and whip for another 2-4 minutes. The meringue should be glossy white and thick(ish), but not to the stiff-peak stage. It should still be soft enough to run off the wires of the whisk, when lifted, and mound like soft-serve ice cream in the bowl.
- Sprinkle cake flour over the meringue and use a clean and dry rubber spatula to fold the flour into the meringue. Fold the flour by scraping from the bottom up and folding through the center. Fold the flour until no pockets of flour remain.
- Spoon the batter into the (ungreased) tube pan and gently smooth it out on top. Give the pan a couple of gentle raps on the counter to release any large air bubbles.
- Bake at 350°F 40-50 minutes, or until the cake has risen and is golden blond and somewhat firm to the touch. The internal temperature should read 206°F on a food thermometer.
- Angel Food Cake has to be placed upside down to cool completely for at least 2 hours. If your pan has stilts, invert it onto its stilts over a clean kitchen towel. If your pan doesn’t have stilts, invert it onto a trio of cans.
- Slide a thin knife or an offset spatula around the sides and around the center tube to loosen the cake. Lift the cake by the center tube and set it on the counter. Loosen the bottom of the cake by sliding a knife between the cake and the bottom of the pan’s insert. Place one hand on each side of the cake and carefully lift the cake off the center tube. Set the cake on a cake tray or serving plate.
Last step! Don’t forget to show me a pic of what you made! Upload an image or tag me @thecookierookie on Instagram!
Becky’s tips
- Use a standard 10-inch, non-greased, aluminum tube pan. Preferable one with a removable bottom and prongs around the rim.
- Bleached cake flour such as Swan’s Down or Softasilk is necessary in this recipe. (Unbleached will not work in this recipe.)
- Follow this guide for how to separate egg whites!
- You can make a lemon cream glaze and candied lemon zest to decorate this cake like the pictures. Follow my mom’s recipe for more info on how to make those components.
Nutrition Information
More Classic Vanilla Cake Recipes We Love
- Homemade Pound Cake
- Yellow Cake with Milk Chocolate Buttercream
- Gooey Butter Cake
- Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Filling
