Angel Food Cake

An ultra‑tender, cloud‑like cake with warm vanilla running through every bite, it’s everything a summer dessert should be. Keep it light with fresh berries or make it indulgent with lush cream, silky caramel, or dark chocolate.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Diet Low Fat

Keyword baked, cake, dairy free, heirloom recipe, light, meringue, nut free, sweet, vanilla

Category Cakes

Baking Ambition Adventurous

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 40

Cooling Time 2

Total Time 3 10

Servings

Calories 136kcal

Equipment

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measuring cups and spoons (or a kitchen scale)
large mixing bowl
electric mixer
10" angel food cake pan or tube pan

Ingredients

1 cup cake flour
½ cup powdered sugar
18 egg whites
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 ½ cups white sugar
1 tsp vanilla 2 tsp (10ml) vanilla bean paste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
Sift the flour and powdered sugar together 5 times (This is a very old recipe, I found that 2 times is sufficient for modern ingredients). Set aside.
1 cup cake flour, 1/2 cup powdered sugar
In large clean bowl, use an electric mixer with the whisk attachment to whip the egg whites with the salt until foamy.
18 egg whites, 1/4 tsp salt
With the mixer running, gradually add the cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form.
2 tsp cream of tartar
With the mixer running, gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until it forms very stiff peaks. Add the vanilla and beat to combine.
1 1/2 cups white sugar, 1 tsp vanilla
Sift the flour mixture over the top of the egg whites. Quickly and gently fold it in until no streaks or pockets of dry ingredients remain.
Spoon the batter into a 10" tube pan, gently run a thin knife through the batter in a zigzag pattern to release any large air pockets, then smooth the top.
Bake in the preheated oven for 38-42 min until the top is light golden brown and springs back when pressed gently (or to an internal temperature of 206°F). Turn the pan upside down to cool (If your tube pan does not have little feet on it, put the opening of the tube on a bottle so the pan is upside down). Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan (at least two hours).
Gently run a thin knife or spatula around the sides to loosen the from the pan. Slide the cake out and run your knife or spatula between the tube insert base and the cake. Gently twist or pull the cake to loosen it from the tube and then invert onto a serving plate. Serve plain, with fresh fruit, or drizzled with your favorite topping and a dollop of whipped cream.

Notes

If your egg whites whip to full volume, this batter will be too much for a standard 4.5–5 quart mixer bowl. You’ll need at least a 6‑quart bowl (I only had a few inches of clearance in my 8‑quart!) to give the whites enough room to expand and to fold in the dry ingredients without deflating them.
Wipe your mixing bowl and whisk attachment with a little lemon juice to remove any traces of fat— even a tiny amount can keep the egg whites from whipping to full volume.
With so many eggs to crack and separate, it’s worth using a small bowl for each egg. That way, if a yolk breaks, you only lose one egg instead of the whole batch you’ve already added to your mixing bowl.
All the lift in this cake comes from the air in the whipped egg whites, so protect that foam. Add ingredients gradually and resist the urge to dump anything in all at once.
Don’t skip the upside‑down cooling step—it keeps all those tiny air pockets open so the cake maintains its height as it cools and sets.

Nutrition