The Best Angel Food Cake (8 Ingredients)

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Homemade Angel Food Cake is not the same as store-bought

When your previous experience with angel food cake involves only store-bought versions, it’s easy to assume all angel food cake tends to be on the bland-dry-boring spectrum of cakes. That’s where this homemade angel food cake will absolutely waltz in and change all past notions.

Homemade angel food cake is heads above the rest:

• It smells amazingly aromatic as it bakes.
• It’s the opposite of bland; homemade angel food cake so lavish with flavor, it needs no embellishment. People eagerly devour this delicious cake all on its own.
• It’s also not even a little bit dry. This angel food cake recipe yields the most fluffy, tender, and pillowy soft cake.
• This angel food cake is actually dairy-free, containing no butter and no milk.
• There are only 8 ingredients to this recipe.

Only 8 Simple Ingredients

Angel food cake may feel like it belongs in the professional-baker category of desserts, but take heart: it only requires 8 simple pantry ingredients to make this fluffy soft cake come true, anytime you want.

Aside from the usual players like eggs, vanilla, sugar, and salt, you’ll also need cake flour, cream of tartar, and almond extract.

Cake Flour

The main difference between cake flour and all-purpose flour lies in the lower protein content of cake flour. Protein becomes gluten when liquids are introduced, which directly affects the structure and texture of baked goods.

With airy-light cakes like our angel food cake, the lower protein content is essential to achieving that signature pillowy soft crumb.

Cream of Tartar

Cream of tartar may be a strange name, but it’s a pantry staple for baking. It helps bind ingredients together and stabilizes light and fluffy baked goods. It’s essential when recipes involve whipping plentiful air into egg whites.

Egg Whites Only

Use large egg whites only; it’s important to remove any yolk that accidentally falls in with the egg whites. I’ve definitely plucked bits of yolk out of the whites, just to ensure the egg whites whip up as nice and airy as possible.

Soft Peaks vs. Stiff Peaks

Use either a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer to whip the egg whites into required peak levels. Be sure eggs are at room temperature.

Soft peaks: when you turn gently pick whisk up from the mixture and turn it upside down, the peaks are soft and gently bend over at the tips

Stiff peaks: when you turn whisk upside down, the peaks hold up strong and pointy, without bending at tips. 

More to Bake and Eat

• Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake (GF) – this is not your everyday mousse cake!
• One Bowl Yum-Yum Cake (No oil or dairy!) – this is the BEST pineapple cake ever.
• Fresh Strawberry Crumb Cake – so easy, you can make it on a weeknight.
• Banana Chiffon Cake – light, fluffy. yet never dry.
• Butter Pound Cake (6 Ingredients) – it’s so good all by itself.

Try This Easy Apple Cake, Too

The Best Angel Food Cake

4.99 from 103 ratings

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This Angel Food Cake is indeed divinely delicious. It is 200% better than any store-bought version, and easy to make at home. You will need a 2-piece angel food cake pan for best results. I bought my pan specifically for this cake, and I’ll be using it again and again.

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 30 minutes mins

Servings: 12

Author: Amy Dong

Ingredients  

1x2x3x

• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 ½ cups sugar, divided in half
• 12 large egg whites only, room temperature
• 1 ½ tsp cream of tartar
• ¼ tsp table salt
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp almond extract, must have

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375F. Sift cake flour and 3/4 cup sugar into a bowl and set aside. 
• Using stand mixer or electric hand mixer on medium-high speed, beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt until it forms soft peaks. Add the other 3/4 cup sugar slowly, and then beat on high until stiff peaks form.
• Beating on LOW, add in flour mixture and both extracts slowly, stopping as soon as batter is incorporated. Do not over-mix. Using rubber spatula, fold in the sides and bottoms of bowl, to fully incorporate.
• Spoon batter into un-greased angel food cake pan. Do NOT grease the 2-piece angel food cake pan. Gently shake to even out batter.
• Bake 30-35 min, or until the top springs back with a gentle touch, and top is golden.
• Invert pan upside down, to cool completely. Run a thin knife around pan sides, and remove bottom from the sides. Gently cut bottom away from pan.

Equipment

• Tube Pan, with removable inner core
• Cake Flour
• Cream of Tartar

Notes

• It’s important that not even a little egg yolk gets mixed in with the egg whites.
• Soft peaks: when you turn gently pick whisk up from the mixture and turn it upside down, the peaks are soft and gently bend over at the tips
• Stiff peaks: when you turn whisk upside down, the peaks hold up strong and pointy, without bending at tips. 
• If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and give it a rating ♡

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Nutrition (per serving)

Serving: 1g | Calories: 158kcal | Carbohydrates: 34.5g | Protein: 4.5g | Fat: 0.2g | Sodium: 104mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 25.3g

Course: cake, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Low Fat

Method: baking