Angel Food Cake Recipe (With Video)

Prep Time:

30 mins

Total Time:

1 hr 10 mins

Servings:

8

decorvow's angel food cake is a tall, light-as-air delight made with just six ingredients. Its meringue-based batter calls for 12 egg whites, but you won't need any leaveners, butter, or oil. Cake flour is folded into the egg whites, then whipped to stiff peaks with the sugar. The fluffy dessert is baked in a special angel food cake pan: a tall tube pan with feet that allows you to invert the cake while it cools, which is part of the angel food cake magic. Serve this delicate cake with tea or enjoy it for dessert with whipped cream and berries.

Slicing an angel food cake: Always use a serrated knife when slicing an angel food cake. It's more gentle on the delicate cake and won't smush it as a chef's knife might.

What to Do With All Those Egg Yolks

Separating a dozen eggs is a task, but then you have both a light, fluffy angel cake to enjoy and a dozen egg yolks to use up. Use them to make lemon curd, ice cream, pastry cream, or aioli.

Directions

Preheat oven and sift dry ingredients:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place flour and salt in a sieve set over a bowl; sift into bowl, and set aside.
Beat egg white until foamy:

With a mixer, beat egg whites on medium-high until foamy, about 1 minute.
Add cream of tartar:

Add cream of tartar; beat until soft peaks form.
Gradually add sugar and beat until stiff peaks:

Continue to beat, gradually adding sugar; beat until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla; beat to combine.
Transfer to wide bowl:

Gently transfer egg-white mixture to a large, wide bowl.
Sift dry ingredients over egg white mixture in 4 additions:

In four batches, using the sieve again, sift flour mixture over egg-white mixture. While turning the bowl, use a rubber spatula to fold in the mixture by cutting down the center and coming up the sides.
Spoon batter into angel food pan and bake :

Gently spoon batter into an ungreased angel food cake pan with a removable bottom; smooth top. Bake until cake is golden and springs back when lightly pressed, 35 to 40 minutes.

Cut a knife or small spatula through batter to release any air bubbles in the batter once it is in angel food cake pan.
Invert and cool:

Invert pan; let cool in pan, 1 hour.
Unmold cake:

Run a knife around the inside of the pan and around the tube to release cake, and unmold. Use knife to release cake from bottom of pan, and remove.

Chocolate Angel Food Cake Variation

Replace 1/4 cup cake flour with 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder; reduce vanilla extract to 1 teaspoon.

Angel Food Cake

What to Do With All Those Egg Yolks

Directions

Preheat oven and sift dry ingredients:

Beat egg white until foamy:

Add cream of tartar:

Gradually add sugar and beat until stiff peaks:

Transfer to wide bowl:

Sift dry ingredients over egg white mixture in 4 additions:

Spoon batter into angel food pan and bake :

Invert and cool:

Unmold cake:

Chocolate Angel Food Cake Variation

Other Cake Recipes That Don't Use Butter to Try

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