Light and fluffy, homemade high altitude angel food cake served with fruit and whipped cream is such a special treat. The cake is soft and sweet, snowy white, and just exquisite in its simplicity. The ingredients are simple and few, and this meringue based cake is a classic dessert that every baker needs in their repertoire. Since it’s such an easy cake to make, I love to make angel food cake for summer get-togethers, sliced into wedges, with whipped cream, berries or fruit compote served on the side.
You might also love this white velvet cake, vanilla cake, and Charlotte cake.
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What is Angel Food Cake?
Angel food cake is a fluffy, light-as-a-cloud sponge cake, mainly made from egg whites, flour and sugar. It’s different from other cakes, because it doesn’t contain any fat at all, such as egg yolks, butter, oil, milk or sour cream. The aerated texture of angel food cake comes from whipped egg whites, which are stabilized with cream of tartar. You can flavor it with different extracts, such as lemon, orange or coconut, but I like to use vanilla and almond extracts in mine. With the cake’s light texture, it’s easy to eat a large slice without feeling full. They’re wonderful with fruit and barely sweetened fresh whipped cream.
This cake recipe uses a lot of egg whites. Twelve egg whites, to be exact. Did you know that you can freeze egg whites, though? So whenever I make ice cream or other recipes that just use egg yolks, I put the leftover egg whites into a freezer bag, labeled with the date and quantity, and freeze them until I have enough for an angel food cake or my beloved white velvet cake.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Egg Whites. You’ll need 12 egg whites to make an angel food cake. Whipping the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and sugar into a meringue is what aerates the cake, making it so light and fluffy.
- Cream of Tartar. Stabilizes the egg whites.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness.
- Sugar. Since the sugar needs to dissolve easily into the egg whites, the best sugar to use is “super-fine” granulated sugar.
- Vanilla + Almond Extracts. Flavor.
- Cake Flour. Use cake flour, not all-purpose flour, for the lightest, fluffiest texture.
Angel food cakes have a longer bake time at a slightly lower temperature than other cakes – 325 degrees Fahrenheit. A perfectly baked cake should have a light golden brown crust with a pure white, fluffy spongy cake crumb inside.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt on medium speed for several minutes until foamy.
- With the mixer still running, gradually sprinkle in the sugar, and continue to whip until the meringue forms thick, soft, billowy peaks that still fall over, similar to softly whipped cream. You should not whip the meringue to stiff peaks, or the structure of the cake will weaken, and could collapse while baking. Once your meringue has reached soft peaks, add the extracts and whip briefly to combine.
- Add the sifted cake flour, 1/3 cup at a time, gently folding the flour into the meringue with a spatula until no more flour streaks remain, until you’ve folded in all the flour.
- Spoon the batter into your ungreased tube pan and smooth out the top. Bake for about 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Immediately invert the pan onto a wire rack and cool the cake upside down for several hours, until completely cooled. Set the pan upright. Run a sharp knife around the outside edge and around the tube in the middle to loosen the cake, then carefully turn the cake out of the pan (this step is much easier if your pan has a removable bottom).
- Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the cake into slices using a back-and-forth sawing motion. Serve with whipped cream and fresh fruit.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many egg whites will I need?
You’ll need 12 egg whites, or 1 1/2 cups of egg whites.
What should I do with the leftover egg yolks?
Let’s talk first about what recipes you might bake or cook that use just egg yolks, so that you end up with extra egg whites. Some desserts include custard or pudding, cream pies, lemon curd, ice cream, creme brulee, bread pudding and pastry dough, to name a few. And on the savory side, there’s hollandaise sauce, spaghetti carbonara, steak tartare, homemade mayonnaise or aioli, and Caesar salad dressing.
So on the flip side of that, besides the obvious use of egg whites in white cake, meringue or pavlova, there are French macarons, souffles, candied nuts, royal icing and coconut macaroons. These lists are by no means exhaustive.
Can I use either fresh or frozen egg whites?
Both fresh and frozen egg whites work beautifully in angel food cake.
What does the cream of tartar do?
The cream of tartar helps to stabilize the whipped egg whites.
What is superfine sugar?
Also called ultrafine sugar or caster sugar, superfine sugar has smaller crystals than regular granulated sugar. To make your own, simply grind granulated sugar in a food processor or blender for 1 minute to grind it more finely, which helps it dissolve more easily into the egg whites. Powdered sugar is not a suitable replacement, as it is too fine.
What flavors of extracts can I use?
I love the flavor of vanilla and almond extract in this cake. Other popular flavors are orange, lemon and coconut.
What kind of pan do I need?
You’ll need a 9-inch tube pan, ungreased, preferably one with a removable bottom. Without the removable bottom, the cake is much harder to get out of the pan. The pan must be ungreased, because the meringue will not be able to rise if the sides of the pan are slippery. Angel food cake cannot be made in a bundt pan, because it would be impossible to remove cleanly.
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High Altitude Angel Food Cake with Berries
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Tube Pan with Removable Bottom
- Stand Mixer with Whisk Attachment
Ingredients
- 12 large egg whites (1 1/2 cups), room temperature
- 1 ¼ tsp cream of tartar
- ¾ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 ⅓ cups super-fine sugar (see note)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 ⅓ cups cake flour, spooned and leveled, then sifted
- fruit and whipped cream, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt on medium speed for several minutes until foamy.
- With the mixer still running, gradually sprinkle in the sugar, and continue to whip until the meringue forms thick, soft, billowy peaks that still fall over, similar to softly whipped cream. You should not whip the meringue to stiff peaks, or the structure of the cake will weaken, and could collapse while baking. Once your meringue has reached soft peaks, add the extracts and whip briefly to combine.
- Add the sifted cake flour, 1/3 cup at a time, gently folding the flour into the meringue with a spatula until no more flour streaks remain, until you’ve folded in all the flour.
- Spoon the batter into your ungreased tube pan and smooth out the top. Bake for about 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Immediately invert the pan onto a wire rack and cool the cake upside down for several hours, until completely cooled. Set the pan upright. Run a sharp knife around the outside edge and around the tube in the middle to loosen the cake, then carefully turn the cake out of the pan (this step is much easier if your pan has a removable bottom).
- Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the cake into slices using a back-and-forth sawing motion. Serve with whipped cream and fresh fruit.
Notes
- The cake should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- You can also cool the cake, wrap it in several layers of plastic wrap, and freeze for 3-6 months.
- For “super-fine” granulated sugar, you can grind regular granulated sugar in a food processor or Ninja for one minute to grind it up more finely, which helps it dissolve more easily into the egg whites. Powdered sugar is not a suitable replacement, as it is too fine.
- If you like, omit the almond extract and just use two teaspoons of vanilla extract instead. Angel food cakes can also be flavored with orange, lemon or coconut extracts.
- The cream of tartar is necessary to stabilize the whipped egg whites and provide structure to the cake.
- You’ll need a 9-inch tube pan, ungreased, preferably one with a removable bottom. The removable bottom is not a must (mine does not have this feature), but you do have to work a little harder to get the cake out without it. The pan must be ungreased, because the meringue will not be able to rise if the sides of the pan are slippery. This cake cannot be made in a bundt pan, because it would be impossible to remove cleanly.
- Fresh or frozen egg whites can be used. Some say that fresh yield the best results, however, I almost always find myself with excess egg whites that I freeze for later use, until I have enough for a white cake. I use those for my cakes, so I can say with confidence that frozen and thawed egg whites work excellently.
Very pretty and simple. I love your recipes. Its amazing at what a mother can do with so much on her plate. But when it is time to sit and relax this would be the best cake! You are appreciated for all that you do.
This was a gorgeous angel cake and it came out perfectly! Thank you for the notes about the super fine sugar and soft peaks for the egg whites- they definitely helped guide in making this for the first time.
I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you for taking the time to comment.
I’m going to make this recipe in a few days. I’m so thankful for all your high altitude recipes! I moved from down south 2 years ago to CO and was struggling with baking until I found your site! Thank you so much for sharing all the recipes!
You’re so welcome, Denet!
It worked well for me my first high altitude angel food cake. I did notice the top was more sticky than other angel food cakes I have made. Did I take it out to soon? It was browned on top and had pulled away from the edges.
Will be trying this cake tonight and I think it may be a winner. As the person above mentioned, my cake was also golden brown on top and had pulled away from the sides of the pan but the top is quite wet. Am wondering if someone has thoughts about my error? I am at 7500 ft.
Hi. I live at 7,000 feet. Have you had any comments on higher altitudes or do you know if this recipe would work at that altitude? Thank you.
Alex, I think it would probably work as is, or you may just add a few tablespoons more flour. The most important thing to remember when making angel food cake at high altitude is to only whip the egg whites to soft peaks, not stiff peaks.