Angel Food Cake Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to angel food cake? ›

Egg Whites: The star of the show! They provide all of the leavening for angel food cake. Using only whites (no yolks) gives this cake a super light texture. Be sure to use only fresh eggs; liquid egg whites in a carton have been pasteurized, which can prevent them from whipping into stiff peaks.

Soft Peaks, Not Stiff Peaks

Instead, they “wilt” back into the mixture after a few seconds. Soft peaks are the optimum consistency because they'll continue to expand in the oven. Stiff peaks, on the other hand, means that the egg whites have been over-whipped for angel food cake and will likely collapse in the oven.

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.

An angel food cake is finished baking when the cake is golden brown and it springs back when touched. If the cake stays pressed when you touch it, it isn't finished baking and needs a few more minutes.

Egg whites do not need to be at room temperature before beating. In fact, they'll incorporate more air if they're on the cool side, about 60 degrees F. Starting with cold eggs, the whites will warm up to this temperature in 30 minutes to an hour in your kitchen. A stand mixer is a real plus when making angel food cake.

Cream of tartar is an acid and helps to stabilize the whipped egg whites. There is really no substitution for cream of tartar. If you don't use cream of tartar in this recipe, the cake will collapse.

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. (No good!)

Most cakes begin with creaming butter and sugar together. Butter is capable of holding air and the creaming process is when butter traps that air. While baking, that trapped air expands and produces a fluffy cake. No properly creamed butter = no air = no fluffiness.

It's not just the raw eggs. Don't do this. Most of us know that raw eggs in cookie dough and cake batter can carry salmonella, but a new warning from the FDA and surge of product recalls is a grim reminder that raw flour could be making us sick, too.

What is an interesting fact about angel food cake? ›

Its aerated texture comes from whipped egg white. Angel food cake originated in the United States and first became popular in the late 19th century. It gained its unique reputation along with its name due to its light and fluffy texture and white color.

If a cake pan is too small, the batter may be too deep. It will rise and maybe dome, but if the center is still wet, it will collapse before the structure sets in the center. (It may also spill over the sides of the pan and onto the oven floor, or both!)

Success Tips for Angel Food Cake:

Cool cake upside down. To prevent batter from overflowing when baking in loaf pans, fill pans no more than 2/3 full. To ensure cake stays in pan during cooling, do not underbake.

Sounds crazy, but it's true! In order for the angel food cake to rise properly, it needs to be able to cling to the sides of the pan. If your pan is greased, the batter won't be able to do that.

Angel food cake, or angel cake, is a type of sponge cake made with egg whites, flour, and sugar. A whipping agent, such as cream of tartar, is commonly added. It differs from other cakes because it uses no butter. Its aerated texture comes from whipped egg white.