Gluten-Free Angel Food Cake

I’ve always found that cakes are the easiest dessert to turn gluten-free so they still taste exactly like their gluten counterpart. Cakes hardly use any flour, which lends to their delicate texture, so when you’re going gluten-free, you’re not taking away much of a cake’s integrity. Angel food cake especially barely needs any gluten, and the only flour it does use is cake flour—a type of flour with the least amount of gluten!

Because of this, it’s a surprise to no one that this gluten-free angel food cake looks and tastes like the angel food cake we know and love. From the light and airy texture to the stark white crumb with its golden brown crust, no one, not even gluten eaters, will turn down a piece of this cake—especially when it’s presented with a cloud of whipped cream and a scatter of berries.

Bonus points: Angel food cake, even gluten-free, is naturally dairy-free too!

Ingredients for Gluten-Free Angel Food Cake

• Egg whites: Separate egg whites from yolks while the eggs are still cold. It’s easier that way, and it’s imperative that not even a speck of yolk gets into the whites!
• Sugar: Use granulated sugar, not brown sugar, in this gluten-free angel food cake recipe. Brown sugar is very heavy and could weigh down and deflate the cake.
• Gluten-free flour: Use your xanthan gum-free gluten-free flour of choice. The good news is that there are plenty to choose from, and we made a list of our favorite gluten-free flour blends to buy at the store.
• Cornstarch: You can thank cornstarch for angel food cake’s spongy, light texture. Cornstarch makes up some of the flour measurement, creating a melt-in-your-mouth, light-as-air angel food cake.
• Cream of tartar: Cream of tartar is a must for meringues. It prevents the meringue from weeping and breaking, and instead keeps a meringue’s tall, fluffy structure.
• Extracts: Floral vanilla and nutty almond work their magic to create a delicately sweet flavor.
• Toppings: Serve slices of the cake with homemade whipped cream and an assortment of berries.

Directions

Step 1: Bring the eggs to room temperature and sift the flour

Jonathan Melendez for Taste of Home

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the egg whites in a large bowl, and let them stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

In a separate bowl, sift 3/4 cup sugar, the gluten-free flour and the cornstarch together twice. Set the bowl aside.

Editor’s Tip: Do not rush the 30-minute time block. The first time I ever attempted an angel food cake was at age 12 with my dad. We used cold egg whites and could not figure out why they weren’t whipping up. After a bit of research, we took turns trying to warm up the bowl with our hands. Don’t be like us!

Step 2: Make the meringue

Jonathan Melendez for Taste of Home

Into the bowl of egg whites, add the cream of tartar, salt, vanilla extract and almond extract. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat everything together on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, about 2 tablespoons at a time, beating on high until stiff peaks form.

Step 3: Fold in the flour

Take the bowl off the stand mixer or set your hand mixer aside. Using a rubber spatula, gradually fold in the sifted flour mixture.

Editor’s Tip: In my kitchen, I fold the flour mixture into the meringue in three parts.

Step 4: Pour into the tube pan

Jonathan Melendez for Taste of Home

Gently spoon the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan. Cut through the batter just a few times with a knife to remove air pockets.

Editor’s Tip: There are a few tips to note here. Do not grease the tube pan or the cake won’t be able to cling to the sides and gradually climb its way up to create a tall, fluffy cake. Also, it’s important to cut through the cake batter a few times to remove big air pockets and create picture-perfect slices.

Step 5: Bake the cake

Bake the gluten-free angel food cake on the lowest oven rack until it’s lightly browned and the entire top appears dry, 35 to 40 minutes. Immediately take the cake out of the oven and invert the pan onto the tube pan’s feet. Allow the cake to cool completely to room temperature, about one hour.

Step 6: Remove from the pan and serve

Run a knife (serrated works best) around the inside edge and the center tube of the pan to de-cling the cake from the pan. Remove the gluten-free angel food cake from the tube pan and onto a serving plate. Top the cake with dollops of whipped cream and berries, if desired.

Jonathan Melendez for Taste of Home

Recipe Variations

• Top with extras: Go beyond the whipped cream and berries and top your angel food cake with frosting, salted caramel sauce or chocolate sauce. Pastry cream is another wonderful topping and is a great excuse to use the leftover egg yolks!
• Turn it into a trifle: In my opinion, the best trifle recipes always have some sort of cakey layer, and that layer is almost always angel food cake. Once the cake has cooled to room temperature, cut it into small pieces and layer it into a trifle dish with berries, pudding and whipped cream.

How to Store Gluten-Free Angel Food Cake

Store angel food cake gluten-free in the fridge in an airtight container or cake dome. Make sure to press storage wrap onto any exposed sponge after cutting to avoid the cake drying out. This way, your cake will last about a week.

Can you freeze gluten-free angel food cake?

Yes, you can freeze this gluten-free angel food cake recipe. Once the cake has cooled completely to room temperature, wrap the cake twice in storage wrap, followed by a final layer of aluminum foil. Freeze the cake for up to two months, then thaw at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes.

Gluten-Free Angel Food Cake Tips

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Can you bake gluten-free angel food cake in a different pan?

Unfortunately, no, you can’t bake angel food cake, gluten-free or not, in anything other than a tube pan. Tube pans are specifically designed to create the tallest, fluffiest angel food cake possible, and the cake needs the center hole so the batter can cling to it while baking.

If you’re thinking, “Well, a Bundt pan has that too,” you’re not wrong! However, a Bundt pan’s intricate fluting can inhibit the batter from growing tall and will almost certainly break the cake when you try to invert it after baking.

Before you throw away the idea of an angel food cake based on the pan alone, know that a tube pan is also needed for chiffon cakes, so it’s worth having around the house!

Why didn’t my meringue whip up?

Your meringue might not have whipped up for a few reasons. The first is if you hurried the 30-minute time block where we bring the egg whites to room temperature. Cold egg whites will not whip up nearly as easily as room-temp ones.

Another reason, and one more likely, is if any egg yolks—even a speck—made their way into the egg whites. Egg whites will not whip up if any fat is present, which brings us to our final meringue mistake: unclean tools. If your tools are dirty or have any leftover food, it will inhibit a meringue from forming.

Why did my gluten-free angel food cake deflate after baking?

Your angel food cake may have deflated after baking if it was underbaked. It’s better to slightly overbake than underbake an angel food cake or else the weight of the underbaked batter will drag down the cake, causing it to deflate.