10 Mistakes Everybody Makes When Baking Angel Food Cake
Updated: May 26, 2023
Avoid these steps if you want a heavenly angel food cake.
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Substituting Ingredients
Angel food cake doesn’t require many ingredients. To get the perfect fluffy texture and flavor, you need to follow the exact recipe. That means no swapping cake flour for whole wheat flour or cutting down on eggs.
Using Cold Eggs
The perfect egg temperature for angel food cake is about 60 degrees. Eggs that are too cold won’t whip as well, so take a dozen eggs out of the refrigerator about an hour before you bake.
Not Whipping the Egg Whites Correctly
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!) By the way, check out these dreamy desserts you can make with angel food cake, too.
Stirring the Batter
When you go to dump the dry ingredients into your egg whites, it’s tempting to start stirring, the same way you would with any other cake batter. But instead, fold the flour into the whites, gently turning the mixture over with a rubber spatula.
New to this technique? Learn how to fold ingredients (it’s easy!).
Greasing the Pan
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.
Not Using a Special Angel Food Cake Pan
If you’re serious about angel food cake, you need to invest in the proper mold like this angel food cake pan. Making this cake in a regular cake tin or even a Bundt pan will not yield the same airy results.
Opening the Oven
We’re all guilty of this one. You want to check on the cake so you open the oven door every couple of minutes… but those changes in temperature can cause your cake to cook unevenly or even collapse. If you’re really tempted to peek while making this chocolate angel cake, use the oven light.
Cooling the Cake Right-Side Up
This step is an absolute must. Every angel food cake has to be cooled upside down in the pan. Why? Until the cake is completely cooled, its spongy structure hasn’t set. Flipping it upside down makes sure it doesn’t collapse during that process.
Some angel food cake pans have feet so you can just flip the pan over and let it cool. If you have a pan without this feature, fit the hole of the pan over the neck of a bottle.
Using Any Ol’ Knife to Slice the Cake
While you typically want to use a sharp knife to slice most desserts, you want to try a different tack with angel food cake. To get nice slices of angel cake, grab your bread knife (or a good serrated knife). Use a gentle sawing motion to cut slices of this airy cake. This will help preserve the appearance and texture.
Making Plain Cakes
When it comes to angel food cakes, many of us think of a classic white cake topped with berries or a bit of whipped cream, but really angel food cakes can be so much more! You can fill these cakes with sherbet, chocolate cream or lemon curd. And don’t forget that you can top angel food cakes with frosting and glazes. It’s all up to you!
Originally Published: April 12, 2021
