The ultimate light and airy vanilla cake, this gluten free angel food cake is made with 4 simple ingredients: gluten free flour, egg whites, confectioners’ sugar, and salt.
The secret to success is in the method, which includes plenty of sifting. It’s the perfect fluffy white cake for serving with fresh fruit and cream, or chopping up for a trifle!
my take
Nicole’s Recipe Notes
- Texture: Light as air with a delightfully cloud-like inside that melts in your mouth. Impossibly light and spongy but never dry, angel food cake is made for warm weather weekends.
- Flavor: Lightly sweet, slightly tangy with a vanilla or almond flavor.
- Simple: Made of egg whites, gf flour, confectioners’ sugar and salt. Unlike a classic gluten free vanilla cake, it doesn’t have whole eggs, buttermilk, butter, or even baking powder or baking soda.
- Versatile: Cube it, and serve it as a parfait. Slice it thick, and serve with fresh berries and cream, as it doesn’t get weighed down and soggy very easily.
what’s in it
Recipe Ingredients
- Gluten free flour blend: Any well-balanced gluten free flour blend with finely ground rice flours should work to make a proper cake. Be sure you add xanthan gum if your blend doesn’t already contain it.
- Cornstarch: Add to the flour to soften the crumb of the cake.
- Confectioners’ sugar: Sweetens the cake, makes the crumb tender, and helps support the whipped egg whites.
- Salt: Balances sweetness and brightens the other flavors.
- Egg whites: Whipped pure egg whites form into a stable foam that provides much of the cake’s structure. Make sure there’s no yolk in the whites, or they won’t whip.
- Warm water: Loosens the egg whites during whipping.
- Cream of tartar: Helps stabilize the whipped egg whites so they don’t collapse during baking.
- Vanilla or almond extract: Adds depth of flavor.
How to make gluten free angel food cake
Angel food cake batter has 2 parts, the flour blend part, and the egg white part. Half of the confectioners’ sugar gets paired with the flour blend part, and the other half with the egg whites. Full instructions are in the recipe card below, along with a how-to video.
Sift the gluten free flour blend and cornstarch twice, add half the confectioners’ sugar and sift everything 2 times more for a total of 4 siftings. Sift onto parchment paper, then use the paper to transfer the mixture back and forth to the sifter, before finally sifting into a bowl. Whisk in the salt.
Whip the egg whites with some water, cream of tartar and vanilla or almond extract until the whites begin to bubble. Add the other half of the confectioners’ sugar and whip until the whites hold stiff peaks, about 3 minutes.
Carefully fold the sifted dry ingredients about 1 cup at a time into the whipped egg whites by hand with a spatula. Transfer the mixture to a dry tube pan. The pan will be nearly full. Run a butter knife carefully through the batter to break any too-large air bubbles.
Place the pan in the center of a 350°F oven, and bake for about 35 minutes or until the top is firm and a tester comes out with no more than a few crumbs.
Invert the cake pan onto the feet of your tube pan (on or off a wire rack for more air circulation). Allow the cake to cool completely.
Reinvert the cake pan, and run a straight edge along the perimeter of the pan and around the neck of the center column. Remove the sides of the pan and turn the cake back over onto a wire rack or cake stand. Run a straight edge between the bottom of the pan and the cake, and remove the rest of the pan.
My Pro Tip
Expert tips
Separate eggs individually
If you separate each egg into a bowl of collected egg whites and any yolk gets added, all of the whites are contaminated and will not whip. Instead, separate each egg into a small bowl individually, then pour the white into a bowl with the other pure egg whites. If you break a yolk during separating, use that egg for another purpose, and use another clean small bowl to separate the next one.
Sift 4 times
I know it seems like a lot to sift the dry ingredients 4 separate times, but without sifting these dry ingredients, they won’t be airy enough and will almost certainly have unpleasant clumps that may cause the cake to collapse.
Don’t grease the pan
The cake batter needs to be able to “grip” the nonstick pan a bit as it cooks, or it will fall during and after baking. That’s why every angel food cake is made in an ungreased nonstick pan, but has a slightly uneven crust where it was forced to separate from the pan.
Cool elevated and upside down
Angel food cake must be cooled in the pan, upside down in a way that allows air to circulate both above and below. If your tube pan has 3 or 4 little feet that extend just beyond the lip of the pan, they will keep the pan elevated off the surface. If your pan doesn’t have feet, invert the pan over the neck of a long neck bottle fitted into the hole in the tube pan.
Release the cooled cake
Once the cake has cooled, run a plastic knife or spatula between the pan and the cake, then separate it from the sides and the neck of the pan. If you skip this step, your cake may stick to the edges of the pan and tear.
Use a 2-part tube pan
The best tube pan comes in two nonstick parts that fit together loosely: one part is the sides, with a hole in the bottom. The other part is the center column and bottom of the pan. The tall, nonstick but ungreased sides support the cake batter as it bakes. Since the coating on nonstick pans doesn’t last and you can’t grease this pan, I buy an inexpensive 2-piece nonstick tube pan and replace it often.
If you don’t have a tube pan
You can make this cake even without the “perfect” pan. A bundt pan won’t work, but you can divide the batter between two high-sided nonstick loaf pans. Start checking for doneness after 20 minutes.
You’ll need to cool your angel food cake upside down on top of a wire rack, which won’t elevate the cake as much as it should. You may have a harder time getting the cake out of the pan, but it shouldn’t be impossible.
Ingredient substitutions
Egg-free
You may be able to use aquafaba in place of egg whites here. Aquafaba is the brine in a can of unsalted garbanzo beans or chickpeas, and it can be whipped to soft peaks much like egg whites can. I recommend adding some cream of tartar and/or fresh lemon juice to the mixture to help stabilize the mixture.
Cornstarch
In place of cornstarch, you can use arrowroot or potato starch. If you can’t have corn, be sure to use a confectioners’ sugar that is corn-free.
Cream of tartar
If you don’t have cream of tartar, it’s a really useful ingredient and it’s available in most grocery stores. You can replace it with freshly squeezed lemon juice or white vinegar, both of which will add some flavor. Reduce the water you use in the egg whites by the amount of additional liquid you add.
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10-inch cast aluminum nonstick tube pan
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Fine mesh sieve for sifting
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Stand mixer with whisk attachment or handheld mixer
Prevent your screen from going dark
Sift the dry ingredients
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You will sift the flour, xanthan gum and cornstarch 2 times, then add half the confectioners’ sugar to the mixture and sift twice more. This is an essential step.
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Set out a medium-size bowl, 2 pieces of parchment paper and a fine mesh sifter on a flat surface.
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Place the flour blend, xanthan gum, and cornstarch in the sifter, and sift onto one piece of parchment paper. Shake the flour blend and cornstarch off the paper back into the sifter and sift onto the other piece of parchment.
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Shake the sifted flour blend mixture and about half (¾ cup) of the confectioner’s sugar back into the sifter. Sift it all onto the parchment paper.
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Place the sifter in the mixing bowl, then shake everything from the parchment paper back into the sifter and sift one final time (for a total of 4 times) into the bowl.
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Add the salt, and whisk to combine.
Make the egg white meringue
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In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or a large bowl with a handheld mixer, beat the egg whites, warm water, cream of tartar and almond (or vanilla) extract until begging to foam (about 30 seconds).
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With the mixer on low speed, add the remaining 3/4 cup (86 g) confectioner’s sugar in 3 or 4 batches. Once all the sugar has been added, increase the speed to medium high. The mixture will become fluffy with foam after about 3 minutes of mixing (longer with a handheld mixer).
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Increase the mixer speed to high and beat until peaks become stiff and glossy, about another 3 minutes. Do not beat until the mixture appears dry. If you do, beat in a drop more egg whites to smooth it out.
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The beater will begin to leave a trail in the whites, which are now a meringue. Remove the mixing bowl from the mixer.
Assemble the cake batter
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In 4 batches, add the sifted flour mixture to the meringue, gently folding in the flour by hand with a silicone spatula after each addition.
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Work quickly but carefully, so as not to deflate the egg whites. The mixture should be fluffy but relatively stable.
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Carefully transfer the cake batter to the ungreased tube pan. Run a butter knife or small offset spatula carefully through the batter carefully in a figure 8 motion to release any trapped pockets of air.
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Lightly smooth the top with a silicone spatula. The pan will be nearly full.
Bake the cake
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Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven, and bake until a cake tester inserted near the center comes out clean, the top is lightly browned, and it springs back when pushed gently, about 35 minutes. Don’t overbake.
Cool the cake
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Invert the pan over a long-neck bottle if your pan doesn’t have legs to elevate it from the counter when inverted. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for at least 1 hour or until completely cool to the touch.
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Re-invert the pan so the cake is right-side up. Coax the cake away from the sides and neck of the pan with a butter knife or offset spatula (ideally, plastic, so you don’t scratch the pan).
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If your pan is in two parts, with removable sides, lift the cake up and press upward on the cake bottom to remove it from the rest of the pan. Run a non-metal straight edge along the bottom of the cake to separate it from the bottom of the pan.
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Place a wire rack on top of the cake, then invert both the cake and pan together onto the rack. Remove the bottom of the cake pan. Allow the cake to finish cooling to cool to room temperature.
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Slice the cooled cake with a large serrated knife. For a clean cut, move the knife in one direction only, rather than sawing back and forth. Plate each slice with the optional berries and whipped cream and serve.
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Angel food cake freezes very well. You can wrap the whole, cooled cake tightly in freezer-safe wrap and freeze whole. You can also wrap individual slices tightly and freeze. Defrost at room temperature before serving.
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 92kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.001g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.001g | Sodium: 244mg | Potassium: 180mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 0.4g | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 0.1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Make ahead/leftovers
Storage Instructions
You can wrap the cooled cake or any leftover slices tightly in plastic wrap and keep it in a cool, dry place at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Any toppings such as whipped cream or fruit that you may add to the cake will change its texture over time, so it’s best to store the cake without any toppings.
For longer storage, wrap the whole cake or individual slices tightly in freezer-safe wrap and place in the freezer. You can freeze this cake for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature, still covered, and then unwrap, top, and serve.
FAQs
Yes! To make this cake a show-stopper, all you really have to commit to is to sift the dry ingredients 4 times. I hate sifting dry ingredients even once, but it’s essential here. Sifting the flour mixture removes any clumps, and aerates it so that it distributes almost effortlessly into the whipped egg whites.
It depends. Since egg whites in the carton are pasteurized, they are less able to create enough structure to support a high-rising, stable angel food cake. You can try replacing some of the egg whites with those in a carton, but I wouldn’t use more than 1/3 of the total, or about 145 grams here.
When baked goods rise and then fall as they cool, they are usually underbaked so the inside doesn’t have the structure to support the outside as steam escapes. This is usually due to a too-hot oven, which bakes the outside very quickly, long before the inside gets a chance to develop the proper structure. Use an oven thermometer, and use the doneness test specified in the recipe.
How to use up leftover egg yolks
If you’re separating 12 to 13 actual eggs to get enough egg whites to make this recipe for angel food cake, you are going to have a ton of egg yolks left over. Here are a few recipes that you can make with at least some of those egg yolks:
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