Delicious, classic Homemade Angel Food Cake recipe! (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to angel food cake? ›

Angel food cake is one-of-a-kind, and no other cake recipe matches its super fluffy, airy texture. Though it's a type of sponge cake, it differs from other popular recipes because it's traditionally made using no butter or oil in the batter. Instead, beaten egg whites are the secret to its ultra-light texture.

Cream of Tartar: Stabilizes the egg whites and keeps them from deflating. This helps create that light, fluffy texture. Vanilla: Vanilla extract adds incredible flavor! For angel food cake variations, try replacing some or all of the vanilla with almond extract, orange extract, or lemon extract.

Use cream of tartar – cream of tartar is an acid and stabilizes the egg whites. Without cream of tartar, your cake will collapse. Other acidic ingredients aren't quite as strong, so I wouldn't recommend substituting cream of tartar with anything. Sift some of the sugar and flour several times – four to be exact.

As stated previously, Angel Food Cakes are great for people with diabetes because they are low in sugar compared to most other cakes, and especially low in simple sugars and carbohydrates.

Some people use a bit of lemon or lime juice or white vinegar to help stabilize the egg whites instead, but I recommend cream of tartar for best results. Flour. Growing up we never had cake flour in my house and so we were forced to improvise.

Without yeast to act as a leavening agent, an angel food cake relies completely on the egg whites to rise. You want to whip the whites just until they form soft peaks; whipping too much will make the cake chewy and dense.

Overmixing is exactly what it sounds like: the process by which a dough or batter gets mixed too much, typically yielding dense, tough, or deflated baked goods. Overmixed doughs and batters may have an unappealing look or feel, which remain just as unappealing when they're baked.

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.

Angel food cake recipes don't typically contain leaveners; the air whipped into the egg white-based batter is what makes them so lofty. Because of this, you will need a straight-sided pan that's uncoated (and ungreased) so that the batter can cling to the sides of the pan as it expands, helping it rise up tall.

But some desserts, such as angel food cake, are naturally less deadly on the calorie and fat scales, so a full-size portion on occasion won't wreak havoc on an otherwise healthy diet. Angel food cake gets its lift from beaten egg whites. No egg yolks and no butter mean the cake contains no fat.

What pan is best for angel food cake? ›

The Wilton Angel Food Cake Pan is a top option for even heat distribution and even baking every time.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 9x13-inch pan with cooking spray. Mix pineapple with juice and cake mix together in a large bowl until well combined; pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 25 minutes.

If your tube pan has prongs around the rim for lifting, invert the pan onto them. Let the cake cool completely upside down, at least 2 hours. Don't worry – it won't fall out of the pan! To unmold, run a plastic/silicone knife around the edge of the pan, being careful not to separate the crust.

Do not grease the angel food cake tube pan (one in which the center tube is higher than the walls of pan and the bottom is removable.) You want the batter to cling to the side while it is rising. A greased pan will not allow the batter to rise.

A small bit of moisture or egg yolk mixed in with the egg whites, a particularly humid day, or repeatedly opening your oven can also cause the cake to not rise. Over-mixing the batter once you've added the flour is another likely culprit, mix until just combined.

Baking: The temperature at which an angel food is baked is very important – if it's too low, the cake won't rise like it should. If it's too high, the top of the cake will set before the cake has fully risen, and it will stifle itself. Either way, the result is a less-than-airy angel food.

According to Cooking for Engineers, the cake could collapse under its own weight, which is most definitely not the heavenly reward you're aiming for. Turning your freshly baked angel food cake upside down while it cools ensures it will stay light and fluffy, with the heavenly, airy texture you desire.