Angel Food Cake

Light, airy, and so deliciously sweet. This homemade angel food cake takes the cake over any of its’ store bought counterparts and is definitely worth the extra effort. Topped with fresh berries and a dollop of freshly whipped cream, this melt-in-your-mouth cake will keep you coming back for more!

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Angel food cake is one of those desserts that I really enjoy every time I have it, but it tends to slip my mind when it comes to baking–especially because they’re so easy to pick up pre-made at the grocery store. This year for Dylan’s birthday, he requested homemade angel food cake! Apparently it’s his favorite; how we’ve gone almost 8 years without me knowing this is absolutely baffling–but that’s completely off topic.

Birthday’s in the Kahl household are pretty big deals (if you know me then you know how much I love birthdays and all the holidays 🙂 ). Even if it’s just the two of us I try to make it really festive and special. Something as simple as putting up a few birthday decorations and having a fancy breakfast on the patio can make the day feel a little more magical.

And of course this year I made my hardworking hubby his angel food cake ❤

Disclaimer: I totally bought a back up dessert incase this cake failed miserably…

BUT

It turned out so delicious that I had to share with it you guys! Seriously, the entire cake was gone that evening. How many of those pieces were consumed by me is privileged info 😉

I’ve always been fond of the store-bought angel food cake (apparently true angel-food-cake-lovers find this appalling) but this was SO. MUCH. BETTER. It’s absolutely worth the extra effort in the kitchen, I promise.

I topped it with fresh berries, a heavy dusting of powdered sugar, a dollop of homemade whipped cream, and garnished with fresh mint!

A small side note that I hadn’t really thought about: Angel food cake and candles don’t really work well together. It’s such a light and fluffy cake that I didn’t want to ruin it with heavy candles. This year I carefully held them up next to his cake as we sang #dedicatedwife.

If you love angel food cake I hope you give this recipe a try!!

What you’ll need to make angel food cake

1 cup cake flour
1 1/2 cups super fine white sugar
1 1/4 cups egg whites (roughly 8-10 eggs)
1 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Appliances: Sifter, food processor (this isn’t absolutely essential but REALLY helps), a stand or handheld mixer with whisk attachment, angel food cake pan.

Making angel food cake step-by-step

Preheat oven to 350F and move the baking rack to the bottom third of the oven.
Separate egg whites into a liquid measuring cup, make sure to measure them (instead of just counting eggs) as the amount of egg whites varies depending on the size of the eggs! Tip: I like to separate one egg white at a time into a small dish and then pour it into the measuring cup. This prevents any accidental yolks or shells from getting into all of the egg whites!
In a food processor, combine cake flour and half the amount of sugar. Pulse on high 8-10 times. Note: If you don’t have a food processor you can just sift the mixture into a large bowl 6-7 times. Also, this is one of those times when it’s best not to substitute the cake flour with all-purpose. Tip: If you don’t have super fine sugar (I didn’t) you can use granulated sugar just make sure to pulse it extra fine in the food processor!

5. Once it’s been pulsed away in the food processor, sift the dry ingredients one time into a large bowl. I clearly need to get an actual sifter because using this powdered sugar duster takes FOREVER.

6. In a very clean stand mixer bowl, add egg whites, cream of tartar, salt, and vanilla. Fit your stand mixer with the whisk attachment and turn on low. Once mixed, increase speed to medium-high; on my mixer that’s number 6.

7. Once the egg white mixture begins to froth (see previous image), slowly add in remaining sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Just as in my Vanilla Meringue Cookie recipe, adding the sugar in super slowly is crucial to obtaining thick beautiful meringue!

8. Continue whisking on medium-high until stiff peaks are formed, then turn off the mixer and remove your bowl.

9. Now it’s time to fold in the dry ingredients with a spatula! Add in 1/4 cup of the flour/sugar mixture at a time and carefully incorporate it into your egg whites–we don’t want to lose any of that fluffiness! Repeat until all the flour mix is incorporated. Note: To “fold in” the dry ingredients use a spatula to cut down the middle of the mixture and scrape up the side of the bowl, turn the bowl and repeat until incorporated. Has anyone seen that scene from Schitt’s Creek where the mom is explaining what “folding in” means? OMG it’s hilarious.

10. Scoop or scrape your mixture into angel food cake pan. You’ll have to turn your pan as you add it in. Note: Do not grease your angel food cake pan! To be able to rise and become all cloud-like the batter has to be able to cling to the sides of the pan.

11. Gently smooth the top with a spatula. Run a long skewer or butter knife through the batter a few times to get rid of any large air pockets. We want light & airy cake, but not holey cake!

12. Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes; until the top is golden brown and a skewer comes out clean. Flip the cake pan upside down onto a wire cooling rack for one hour. Some angel food cake pans have little feet on the bottom so using a wire cooling rack isn’t necessary! Once completely cooled, run a thin knife along the edges (both outer and inner), and pull out the center piece. Run the knife along the bottom piece of the pan and then flip the cake onto a cake stand!