Using only 6 ingredients, this perfect angel food cake bakes up tall, light, and airy. For best results, follow this recipe and video tutorial closely. The delicate texture can only be achieved with particular ingredients and careful mixing methods.
Ready for a slice of dessert heaven? We are no stranger to decadent and rich cakes. But what about a cake recipe where butter, fat, and egg yolks run away in fright? Meet angel food cake. Angel food cake is a low fat cake recipe made mostly from egg whites, cake flour, and sugar. It’s pristine white on the inside with a chewy light brown crumb around the exterior. What it lacks in butter makes up for in texture. This tall, tender, and timeless cake has a cloud-like crumb and ultra light flavor.
I’ve published angel food cupcakes on my blog, but now it’s time visit where they originate: classic homemade angel food cake!
Angel Food Cake Video Tutorial
Let’s dive right in. First, here’s a video tutorial where I walk you through each step. The steps and ingredients are pretty straightforward, but it’s always helpful to have a clear visual. 🙂
6 Angel Food Cake Ingredients
You only need 6 ingredients to make angel food cake. With so little ingredients, understand that each one is imperative to the cake’s final taste and texture. Here’s the breakdown:
- Granulated Sugar: The recipe begins with granulated sugar. Pulse it in a food processor to create superfine sugar. Superfine sugar’s granules are the best size to provide optimal structure for angel food cake. It’s not as coarse as granulated sugar and not as fine as confectioners’ sugar. Granulated sugar is simply too coarse, while confectioners’ sugar dissolves too quickly in the egg whites.
- Cake Flour: Cake flour is a low protein flour and yields a tender angel food cake. Do not use all-purpose flour because the cake will taste like white bread…! In a pinch, you can use this cake flour substitute. But real cake flour is ideal.
- Salt: Adds flavor.
- Egg Whites: You’ll notice there’s no baking powder or baking soda. The egg whites are actually the sole leavening ingredient providing all the cake’s rise. Use freshly separated eggs because they aerate the best. Carton egg whites or egg whites that have been frozen won’t expand as much during the whipping process, which will negatively affect the rise of your cake. You’ll have a lot of leftover egg yolks, so make some lemon curd and serve it with the cake!
- Cream of Tartar: Cream of tartar is an acid and stabilizes the whipped egg whites, just as it does in my chocolate swirled meringue cookies too. Without it, the cake would collapse. Other acids, such as lemon juice, can work but they aren’t nearly as effective. Cream of tartar is found in the spice aisle and is actually a common baking ingredient. I have many recipes calling for it!
- Vanilla Extract: Adds flavor.
How to Make Perfect Angel Food Cake
I’m confident this will be the most perfect angel food cake to ever hit your lips. We can’t achieve angel food cake perfection for free, so make sure you follow these steps closely.
- Pulse the granulated sugar into superfine sugar. Use a food processor or blender.
- Set 1 cup of the superfine sugar aside. You’ll add it to the egg whites.
- Add cake flour and salt to food processor. Pulse them with the remaining sugar. This aerates the dry ingredients.
- Beat egg whites and cream of tartar together. Beat on medium-low speed until foamy.
- Slowly add 1 cup of superfine sugar. Turn the mixer up to medium-high and pour in the superfine sugar you set aside.
- Beat into soft peaks. Whip the egg whites, cream of tartar, and superfine sugar into soft and lofty peaks. This takes at least 5 minutes. After that, add the vanilla.
- Sift and fold in dry ingredients. In 3 additions, sift and fold in the dry ingredients.
- Pour/spread batter into a tube pan. Do not grease the tube pan. Greasing the pan causes the batter to slip down the sides, preventing it from properly rising. If you already greased it, wash and wipe it completely clean.
- Bake at 325°F (163°C). A higher temperature won’t properly cook the cake.
- Cool upside down on a wire rack. If cooled upright, the cake’s own weight will crush itself. Cool it upside-down on a cooling rack so it holds its shape and air can reach it.
- Run a thin knife around the edges to release. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to help loosen the cake, too.
- Slice with a serrated knife. A regular sharp knife squishes the cake.
Can I use a Bundt pan for angel food cake? No, do not use a Bundt pan for angel food cake. You’ll have a very hard time getting it out in one piece. You need a tube pan which has a flat bottom and straight sides. If you don’t have one, I recommend this tube pan. It’s relatively inexpensive for its great quality. Though it’s labeled as nonstick, the coating is VERY thin and has never been an issue for my angel food cakes.
And good news: here’s a helpful trick for how to bake angel food cake without a tube pan.
You need 1 cup (16 Tablespoons) + 2 Tablespoons of cake flour. Sounds like an odd amount, but 18 Tablespoons is the precise quantity to bring enough structure to the cake.
Soft Peaks, Not Stiff Peaks
Remember, whip the egg whites into soft peaks. (Pictured above.) Soft peaks don’t hold a stiff shape. Instead, they “wilt” back into the mixture after a few seconds. Soft peaks are the optimum consistency because they’ll continue to expand in the oven. Stiff peaks, on the other hand, means that the egg whites have been over-whipped for angel food cake and will likely collapse in the oven.
Important to remember: Don’t let a drop of egg yolks into the mixing bowl. Any lingering fat could prevent the egg whites from forming peaks at all. Crack eggs over an egg separator into a small bowl, then add the whites one-by-one into the mixing bowl. This way if the yolk breaks, it doesn’t break directly in the mixing bowl.
Sift the dry ingredients over the beaten egg whites in a few additions, gently folding together after each addition. The goal is to retain as much of the whipped volume as possible. Pouring the dry ingredients on top all at once will quickly deflate the egg whites.
The Magic is in the Details
I’ve thrown a lot of information at you in this post, so here’s a quick summary of all the important success tips. Remember that the magic is all in the details.
- Use freshly separated egg whites.
- Pulse granulated sugar into superfine sugar.
- Whip egg whites into soft peaks, not stiff peaks.
- Sift and gently fold in dry ingredients.
- Do not grease the tube pan.
- Cool the cake upside-down on a wire rack.
- Use a serrated knife to slice.
Helpful Tools
- Food Processor – These range in price. You can use a little ninja, a big food processor, or even a blender.
- Egg Separator – This is very inexpensive, but SO HANDY!
- Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer
- Fine Mesh Strainer (Sieve/Sifter)
- Tube Pan
- Cooling Rack
Want to make angel food cupcakes? I have you covered.
Angel food cake doesn’t need to hide under frosting, but tastes blissful with fresh berries, raspberry sauce, and/or a dollop of whipped cream! Feel free to dust the top with confectioners’ sugar, too. If you enjoy these flavors together, you’ll love my fresh berry cream cake. (Which, if I’m being honest, isn’t quite as fussy as this cake!)
I know what you’re thinking: is this cake really worth it? The answer is YES. Angel food cake boasts a texture like no other and once you go through the process, you’ll understand the preparation isn’t that difficult—it’s just a little picky. 😉 Let’s do this!
See Your Angel Food Cakes!
Many readers tried this recipe as part of a baking challenge! Feel free to email or share your recipe photos with us on social media. 🙂
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Angel Food Cake
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: serves 10-12
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Using only 6 ingredients, this perfect angel food cake bakes up tall, light, and airy. For best results, read the recipe in full before beginning and have all your ingredients ready to go. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 and 3/4 cups (350g) granulated sugar*
- 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons (133g) cake flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 12 large egg whites, at room temperature*
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- optional: confectioners’ sugar for dusting, whipped cream, and berries
Instructions
- Adjust the oven rack to the lower middle position and preheat oven to 325°F (163°C).
- In a food processor or blender, pulse the sugar until fine and powdery. Remove 1 cup and set aside to use in step 3; keep the rest inside the food processor. Add the cake flour and salt to the food processor. Pulse 5-10 times until sugar/flour/salt mixture is aerated and light.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip egg whites and cream of tartar together on medium-low until foamy, about 1 minute. Switch to medium-high and slowly add the 1 cup of sugar you set aside. Whip until soft peaks form, about 5-6 minutes. See photo and video above for a visual. Add the vanilla extract, then beat just until incorporated.
- In 3 additions, slowly sift the flour mixture into the egg white mixture using a fine mesh strainer, gently folding with a rubber spatula after each addition. To avoid deflating or a dense cake, don’t add the flour mixture all at once. Sift and very slowly fold in several additions. This is important! Pour and spread batter into an ungreased 9 or 10 inch tube pan. Shimmy the pan on the counter to smooth down the surface.
- Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 40-45 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through baking. The cake will rise up very tall while baking. Remove from the oven, then cool the cake completely upside-down set on a wire rack, about 3 hours. (Upside-down so the bottom of the tube pan is right-side up, see photo and video above.) Once cooled, run a thin knife around the edges and gently tap the pan on the counter until the cake releases.
- If desired, dust with confectioners’ sugar. Slice the cake with a sharp serrated knife. Regular knives can easily squish the cake. Serve with whipped cream and fresh berries.
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare the angel food cake one day in advance, then cover tightly and store at room temperature overnight. Angel food cake can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Blender or Food Processor | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Egg Separator | Fine Mesh Sieve | Silicone Spatula | Tube Pan | Cooling Rack
- Sugar: In this recipe, you use granulated sugar and pulse it in a food processor to make superfine sugar. If you have superfine sugar or caster sugar, use that. Pulse 3/4 cup of it with the dry ingredients in step 2. Use 1 cup of it in step 3.
- Egg Whites: I strongly recommend using fresh real egg whites instead of egg white substitutes, previously frozen egg whites, or egg whites from a carton. Separate the eggs when they’re cold, then bring the egg whites to room temperature. Fresh room temperature egg whites whip into the fluffiest volume. With the extra yolks, make lemon curd or some of these recipes.
- Pan: An angel food cake pan (aka tube pan) is imperative. Do not use a Bundt pan. Angel food cake’s structure and stability requires the tube pan’s particular specifications. Some angel food cake pans come with little feet, which makes cooling the cake upside down easy. If your pan has feet, no need to use a wire rack. Whether your tube pan has feet or not, cool the cake upside down as directed in step 5.
- Party Angel Food Cake: Turn this cake into a party by gently folding in 1/2 cup of rainbow sprinkles before pouring and spreading the batter into the tube pan. Once cake is ready to serve, skip the confectioners’ sugar and top with chocolate ganache and more sprinkles.
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated
Reader Comments and Reviews
Can you recommend a frosting for this cake. My son is 31 and I always make him a frosted angel food cake for his birthday! I’ve never made one from scratch . I usually frost it and write his name on top ect!!
Hi Michelle, Personally I love this cake with just a drizzle of chocolate ganache on top (there are directions in the post to whip it if you wish to pipe with it). But you can really use any frosting recipe that you or your son enjoys!
The best frosting for an Angel Food Cake is Betty Crocker boxed Home Style Fluffy White Frosting Mix.
I have made 3 different recipes from scratch and yours was the 3rd and the charm. I watched the video first and then made just as instructed. Came out perfect. This will be my go to from now on. Thank you so much. With much love from SW Minnesota.
I chose this recipe for the September baking challenge because I had already been making so much bread and I’ve been wanting to try to make angel food cake. This recipe did not disappoint!! I will absolutely make it again. I made your strawberry sauce recipe, but I made it a mixed berry, to top it and also some homemade whipped cream. The family loved it!! Thanks for the recipe!!
FYI: The high altitude adjustment is to the whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. No other adjustment required.
My husband out of the blue said he wanted an angel food cake for his birthday and I have never tackled one before. I looked over a ton of recipes and this one looked the most promising! Made it tonight along with your whipped topping recipe- so delicious!! I had 2 problems- one was self sabotaging… I ordered the special pan, but when I got it- it was only 7″ so I saw your angel food cupcakes and threw the remainder into them. But they were more dense and did not rise as much… My other problem was folding in the dry ingredients, I tried not tonmix too much, but kept finding spots of dry ingredients when I was pooring into the cake pan! How do you know you mixed enough without overmixing?
I was hopeful this would work because of all the positives reviews I followed the recipe very carefully because I know it can be tricky. Unfortunately although the toothpick came clean when I checked to see if cake was done it fell out of the pan when I inverted it on a cooling rack. I am wondering if this is due to the fact that I am at a high altitude of 4,500 feet.
I was very disappointed. I will keep searching for a recipe that works. This wasn’t the one. I didn’t grease angel food tube cake pan nor did I use a non stick angel food cake pan.
I love the recipe, but the way that it is presented is difficult to navigate. For example, one section reads “save some of the sugar aside,” and then another section reads “save 1 cup of sugar aside” ; one section refers to vanilla, and the other doesn’t. The two extra table spoons of flour is confusing too. Luckily I did a large scoop. I hope that it turns out o.k. It was delicious last time.
I have to agree with Sherry. I realize the responsibility it is on the baker to read the recipe through in its entirety before starting–which we mostly did (a little challenging baking with small children :)–but I still got tripped up with setting the sugar aside. Most times I’ve seen it, it is listed in the ingredients as “3/4 cup + 1 cup, divided” or something like that. Just this one little addition to the recipe would help a lot, I think! Thanks for sharing!
Just a question, I love this recipe, it is my favorite all time angel food cake. I was wondering if I wanted to make a chocolate angel food, would I have to use less flour for the cocoa addition or just add the cocoa. I have looked at lots of chocolate angel food recipes and lots of regular angel food cake recipes and it seems to me the amounts of flour and sugar vary a lot from recipe to recipe, I think this recipe hit the jackpot. The amounts of sugar, flour and cocoa vary a lot in recipes too, from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup, very confusing.
Hi Barb, we haven’t tested a chocolate angel food cake. If you try it, let us know how it goes!
The chocolate angel food cake was excellent, I gave half to my cousin and she and her husband loved it. I used your recipe and just added 1/4 cup plus 1 T of cocoa along with the flour. The result was a nice rich chocolate, not too sweet and nice and moist. Really good with some fresh blackberries from my patch and whipped cream! I debated removing some of the flour, but it didn’t really need it.
I never knew angel food cake could be so heavenly! My husband always said it was his favorite but I never realized why until I tried this recipe. Thanks for all the great instructions. I’ve made it several times successfully but the last 2 times it came out way too moist. Any thoughts? Thank you 🙂
Hi Kate! I’m so glad to read how much you enjoy this angel food cake recipe. I wonder if the weather (humidity) is making the last 2 batches taste a little moist. The warmer air as the cake cools, perhaps. A couple extra minutes of baking in the oven could help.
My first time making an angel food cake. Excellent!!! Very easy and I had to gift some as I could have eaten the whole thing. Thank you for the recipe
Been working on this cake on and off for a couple weeks–as a new baker, it’s a little intimidating since I know Angel Food is quite picky.
Each time has been better than the last–but more importantly ever iteration (including a rather disastrous first attempt) has been delicious. Firmly recommend this recipe!
I have a question about the sugar. Do you pulse only the amount that the recipe requires? Once it is pulsed it seems to make less than what the recipe asks for… My cake seemed too sweet so I think I did something wrong.
Follow the recipe and it comes out perfectly. Over whipping the egg whites reduces the volume of the final cake a bit but does not change the flavour. Can recommend Chantilly cream (whipped cream with vanilla) and strawberries for a perfect topping.
For a non baker, this is a great introduction: if you follow the instructions, you will get the advertised result!
Thank you for another awesome recipe. I don’t have a tube pan and hate buying things that only have one purpose so I used a Bundt pan. My Bundt pan isn’t very detailed and I sprayed it with cooking spray, then rubbed the heck out of it with butter and then sifted cake flour over it and have successfully made this recipe twice in my Bundt pan so it’s possible with proper greasing! My in-laws and husbands grandmother had never had homemade angel food cake before and everyone loved it. It’s so easy to make I just made it again on a week night. We have chickens and lots of eggs! Now I just need a recipe to use up my egg yolks! Thanks!
Hi! Do you think I could add chocolate chips to this batter?
I haven’t tried it, but I can’t see why not. I would stick with 3/4 – 1 cup. Fold them into the finished batter slowly and gently.
Hi!! Quick question— I plan to make this tomorrow.. I have a two piece tube pan and no matter what type of batter I’ve used, it always seems to leak out of the pan. can I use a piece of parchment in the bottom to prevent that with this cake? Or would you happen to have any other tricks? Thank you!!
Hi Emily! Lining the pan with parchment is certainly worth a try– that’s what I would do first and see how it turns out.
Wonderful recipe! Everyone loves it. It is so fluffy and sweet, that it almost tastes like a cotton candy. We will do it again for sure.
Even though I followed all the steps and watched the video, I had a hard time getting the cake out of the flute pan. I didn’t grease it, just like it was recommended. I did cool it off on a rack.
So what went wrong? I am tempted to grease the pan next time. Will it effect the cake? Or will it just come out flawlessly?
Hi Kriszta, We are so happy that you loved the cake! Do not grease the tube pan. Greasing the pan causes the batter to slip down the sides, preventing it from properly rising. Once cooled, run a thin knife around the edges then and gently tap the pan on the counter until the cake releases.
Hi, I was wondering if anyone has used this recipe to turn into a layered strawberry cake? Does the cake cut easily on the horizontal?
Made this cake for a trifle I was making for July 4th and it was delicious- my family loved it. I found the cake a little too sweet but that was just a personal opinion because my husband said it was perfect (he has a sweet tooth haha). The trifle I had made included a no-bake cheesecake which matched perfectly with this homemade angel cake. I had a lot of egg yolks left after this so I made lemon curd!
I didn’t have cake flour so I used the method of combining all-purpose flour with corn starch. Additionally, I didn’t have a tube pan so I used a DIY tub pan (per the directions provided). Despite all of this, the cake still came out amazing – light and airy and it rose properly.
I’m an amateur baker so this took a while for me to make but it was worth it! Would definitely make it again and recommend this recipe. Thank you!
This is without a doubt the best Angel food cake I have ever made. It is now the only recipe I use for Angel food cake. After making a full sized cake quite a few times I decided to cut the recipe in half and use my 7” Angel Food cake pan. Came out perfect. The baking time was not a lot different about 40 minutes, the big one was 45 minutes. Thank you for this excellent recipe, and the many others I have been tempted to try on this website! Happy 4th of July!
Hola Sally. Te cuento que hice el pye de lima y me salió exquisito. Lo base lo hice con galleta soda como es un poco saladita, y las nueces que uso para mi aji de pollo utilicé y quedó muy bien.
Por la mañana de hoy hice tu bizcocho angel, me quedó muy bien y alto, y suavecito a mi paladar. Te pasaste eres un genio. Lo corté a las 4pm. no me aguante mas , como aquí es invierno enfrió rápido, lo puse boca abajo y utillicé un molde de chifón con patitas. Me salió perfecto, y rico, muy buena tu explicación. Se puede hacer el bizcocho ángel con cacao? Ojalá que sí. Inténtalo por favor para que nos enseñes todas tus delicateces.
Besitos Mary
I made this today. It was so beautiful in the oven, nice and flat with just the slightest crack in the top. The recipe was very easy to follow and I was so excited to take it out of the oven, at which time I burned myself on the oven door and dropped it! I was crushed! I turned it upside down on a cooking rack anyway and it tasted heavenly, just didn’t look that way. Good thing it was only for my husband and me. I’ll make this again!
I followed this recipe step by step and the cake was perfect and beautiful! It tastes and looks so much better than store bought or from a box mix. After reading your recipe and watching the tutorial, I can understand where I went wrong with other angel food recipes. I am now a huge fan and cant wait to search your blog for other recipes!
Update to rate this recipe: Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! I just made it for Father’s Day today and it’s already all gone. It’s so wonderful and fluffy and not overly sweet. I added half a teaspoon of almond extract with the vanilla and I used a non-stick bundt pan with only a light nonstick coating. It’s so simple and so your video helped a lot. It worked and was Devine. Thank you so much!
My first attempt at making angel food cake from scratch! Even with your very thorough directions and video, I still managed to not get it 100% right. My cake fell significantly after I took it out of the over, over an inch. I think I may have under-whipped the egg whites for fear of over-whipping them lol! Is that something that would make the cake fall a bit? It’s the only thing I can think of that I did wrong, my peaks melted back into the bowel way too fast.
Other than the fall, it was still a great cake with wonderful texture and taste, everyone loved it! But I’m trying it again soon and want to nail it this time! Thanks 🙂
Great Angel Food Cake recipe! Followed instructions exactly. So much better than store bought just like most things homemade are. Not as sweet and I really liked that. This is the third recipe from this website I’ve tried. All have been great and I’ve gotten a lot of great baking tips as well. Thank so very much!!
AMAZING! This is the best recipe, so light and airy and is a favourite from all of the family. I have made this with the cake flour substitute (four + cornstarch) and it worked out beautifully. I also used a normal bunt pan as I don’t have a tube pan and I lightly sprayed it (I know risky) and flipped the pan over once out of the oven and let it cool for about an hour, since my family is so inpatient but it worked! I have also made this using a half recipe and it worked just didn’t have the extra puffed crust you get from the full recipe. Overall, amazing recipe and highly recommend.
I’m looking forward to making this cake. Would I be able to replace the vanilla with lemon juice plus zest? Have you tried this?
Hi Kolina, I haven’t tested this with lemon but if you decide to I suggest you use half of the vanilla extract and half lemon instead of all lemon. Let me know if you try it!
Excellent recipe wish I had heeded the bunt pan warning but don’t have a tubular pan. It’s so moist, soft, melts in your mouth. So much better than store bought. Egg whites took a bit longer to make peaks though guess they were too cold.
I just made this cake and it turned out beautifully! The texture is perfect and the vanilla flavour is delicious. It is just a tad too sweet for my personal tastes. Do you think I could cut down on the sugar next time or will that throw off the proportions and cause the cake not to rise? Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe!
I’m so happy you enjoyed this cake, Juno. With only 6 ingredients, each one plays a crucial role so I don’t recommend altering the ratio. Best to stick to the recipe!