Angel food cake is a light, fluffy, and easy to make white cake with a whipped cream and fruit topping. It’s airier than your typical dense cake, which makes it perfect for a not-too-sweet dessert recipe.
You’ll need your regular cake ingredients like flour, sugar, egg whites, and vanilla extract for this recipe, plus a few secret ingredients like cream of tartar and almond extract to ensure your cake is as light and fluffy as possible.
As for tools, you’ll need a large mixing bowl and an electric mixer to beat egg whites very well. You’ll also need a rubber spatula and an angel food cake pan to make your cake in. Ir you don’t have the right pan, another round or square cake pan will also work.
To start, crack 9 egg whites into a mixing bowl and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form, along with the cream of tartar to stabilize the egg whites.
Add the almond and vanilla extract to the egg whites and continue to beat until fluffy. Add the white sugar in two additions and mix to combine. Set a fine-mesh strainer over the mixing bowl and sift in the cake flour.
Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the flour into the whipped egg whites, being careful not to crush the air in the eggs.
Transfer the batter to a round cake pan and bake for 30 minutes, until golden and cooked through. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before inverting the cake onto a plate.
Use a sharp knife to cut a tunnel in the top of the cake, all the way around the circle. Fill the cake with a mixture of whipped cream and fresh berries.
Drizzle with white chocolate ganache and let the chocolate harden.
Decorate the cake with more fresh berries or other fruits if you like and enjoy!
Yes, after fully cooling the cake, you can wrap it in several layers of plastic wrap and freeze for up to three months. Then let the cake come to room temperature on the counter before serving.
An angel food cake pan is as easy to use as any cake pan. It has a round shape with a post in the center that gives you a donut-shaped cake perfect for filling with your favorite toppings.
You can use any kind of frosting that you like to decorate your cake. We love white chocolate ganache, as it adds a layer of sweetness to this otherwise not very sweet dessert. You could also use dark or milk chocolate ganache, or even buttercream frosting, cream cheese frosting or a simple white glaze made with powdered sugar and cream.
To make this light and fluffy cake, you’ll need the following pantry-staple ingredients:
Cake flour White sugar Egg whites Cream of tartar Almond Extract Vanilla extract Salt
For the topping, which you can customize to your tastes, we love:
Whipped cream Fresh berries (other sliced fruit, such as peaches and nectarines will also work) Berry preserves, such as raspberry, strawberry or mix-berry White chocolate ganache, or dark chocolate if you like
Sift flour and 1/2 cup sugar together.
Beat egg whites until they start to form soft peaks, add cream of tartar, both extracts, and salt. Slowly add in sugar and beat whites until stiff peaks form. Add flour and mix until combine.
Carefully pour batter into an ungreased angel food cake pan.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 350F/180C. Cool for 1 hour.
Mix together berries, whipped topping, and raspberry preserves until combined.
Using a sharp knife, cut out the middle of the cake. Scoop it out to create a well. Fill the cake with berries and cream, cover white chocolate ganache. Chill for 1 hour.