Gluten-Free Angel Food Cake - Classic Light and Fluffy Cake Recipe! (2024)

By: Published: May 22, 2023Updated: Jul 5, 2023

Recipe Ingredients

Here’s the ingredients list for what you’ll need to make gluten-free angel food cake. The recipe card at the end of this post will includes full ingredient amounts and instructions.

• Sugar: If you can find superfine sugar this will help the sugar better dissolve into the batter and create a smoother cake. Or you can simply use a food processor to grind down granulated sugar.
• Gluten-Free Flour: Use your preferred1:1 gluten-free baking flour. I use Bob’s Red Mill.
• Salt: Use fine sea salt or table salt in this recipe.
• Egg Whites: Save the egg yolks to use in other recipes, such as a chocolate pudding or flan that uses only egg yolks.
• Cream of Tartar: This helps the egg whites to achieve the most height. You can get away with not using it if you don’t have any, but you may need to beat the egg whites longer.
• Vanilla Extract: Use pure vanilla extract for the best flavor.

How to Make Angel Food Cake

Here is my easy method for making gluten-free angel food cake. Note that the oven is set a little lower when you bake this cake, to 325°F.

• Preheat the oven. Adjust the oven rack to the bottom third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F.
• Prepare the dry ingredients. Pulse the granulated sugar in a food processor for about 1 1/2 minutes until the grains are slightly finer. Remove 1 cup of the sugar and set aside. Add the gluten-free baking flour and salt to the remaining flour in the food processor and pulse a few times to help mix and fluff the ingredients. Set aside.

• Whip the egg whites. In a large mixing bowl add the 12 room-temperature egg whites and cream of tartar. With a handheld or stand mixer, beat the egg whites on medium until foamy, about 1 minute. Slowly add the 1 cup of fine sugar (previously pulsed in the food processor)then beat on high for about 6 minutes until soft peaks form. Blend in the vanilla extract.
• Sift in the flour mix. Use a fine mesh sieve to sift one-third of the total flour mixture gently onto the top of the egg white mixture. Use a rubber spatula to very gently fold the flour mixture in. Take care not to deflate the egg whites. Add more of the flour mixture in the same manner in two more additions.

• Pour the batter carefully into a tube pan. Pour the batter into a 9 or 10-inch tube pan. It’s important that you don’t grease or spray the pan because this could affect the rise. Use the rubber spatula to gently smooth out the surface of the cake
• Bake the cake. Bake the cake on a rack situated in the bottom third of the oven for 40-45 minutes. Check the cake at 40 minutes with a long wooden skewer to see if it comes out clean – this means it’s done. The top should be golden brown.

• Cool the cake. The tube pan needs to be inverted (upside down) while the cake cools for a couple of hours. If your tube pan has feet on it for this purpose, you can invert it directly onto the counter top. If it doesn’t have feet, you can invert it onto a wine bottle or other bottle that the center of the tube pan can fit through.
• Now remove the cake from the pan. Once the cake is completely cooled, use a thin knife to go around both the inner and outer edges of the tube pan. Remove cake from pan.

Toppings

• Top with whipped cream and fruit. This is my preferred way to serve angel food cake! It’s so simple and so satisfying. The soft, spongy cake is amazing topped with sweetened whipped cream and fresh berries.
• Whipped coconut cream. If you would like to keep your angel food cake entirely dairy-free, topping slices with whipped coconut cream is a great way to add a rich topping without dairy. You can buy cans of coconut cream or skim the cream off the top of a can of coconut milk. Then whip the coconut cream the same way you’d whip heavy cream.
• Drizzle with strawberry, chocolate, or caramel sauce. Any one of these sauces would make a wonderfully simple topping for slices of angel food cake. Add some toasted almonds or honey glazed walnuts for crunch.
• Sprinkle with crushed pineapple. For a more tropical treat, top your angel food cake with crushed pineapple and a cloud of whipped cream.

Variations

• Make it a lemon angel food cake. Adding citrus zest to the batter will give your cake a wonderful flavor. I love adding lemon zest to the batter along with the flour, but you could make it a lime or orange angel food cake, too.
• Bake a chocolate angel food cake. Substitute half of the gluten-free flour for unsweetened cocoa powder to make a chocolate angel food cake.

Other ways to use it

• Turn it into a trifle. Trifle is a layered confection of angel food cake, berries, and whipped cream. This angel food cake recipe would work perfectly in a trifle.
• Use in tiramisu. To make a gluten-free tiramisu, substitute slices of this gluten-free angel food cake for the lady finger cookies.
• Build a sundae. Use slices of angel food cake, top with your favorite ice cream, layer on some chocolate glaze and whipped cream, and make a gluten-free cake sundae! You could also just top slices with ice cream for a decadent treat.

Is angel food cake gluten-free?

Angel food is not traditionally gluten-free because it uses flour in the batter.

Is angel food cake healthy?

Angel food cake is considered a healthier cake because it doesn’t need any fat, such as oil or butter, and uses egg whites. This results in an entirely fat-free cake.

What Kind of Pan Do You Use?

Angel food cake is best when baked in a tube pan. You will not need to grease the tube pan and it’s important that you don’t do so so that the oil doesn’t affect the texture of the cake! And while you may be tempted to use a regular cake pan, it unfortunately will not work for baking an angel food cake. In a pinch, you can use a loaf pan. If you do use a loaf pan, line just the bottom of the pan with a piece of parchment paper. You may also need to adjust the baking time if you use a different pan.