Gluten-Free Angel Food Cake! The best-tasting angel food cake you’ll ever eat. Light, fluffy and perfect for your favorite desserts. Nobody will ever guess it’s gluten-free!
UPDATED April 2018: This is still my go-to recipe for angel food cake! People are always amazed this is gluten-free. I like using it in desserts like trifle or serving it on it’s own with berries and whipped cream. I’ve updated the recipe the way I’ve been making it lately with easier-to-find ingredients. Enjoy!
To me, angel food cake is more than just a vehicle for strawberries and cream.
Angel food cake is what my Mom and I would make for birthdays every year. She would mix sprinkles into the batter and top it with my Grandma’s 7-minute frosting.
If you’ve never had 7-minute frosting, imagine a cross between a fresh marshmallow and whipped cream. It is pure heaven on fluffy angel food cake!
Angel food cake is also what gets broken up to make my very favorite Gluten-Free Strawberry Trifle. That trifle is probably my favorite summer dessert of all time.
Every year my husband’s Grandma would make cherry and whipped cream fruit filled angel food cake for my mother-in-law’s birthday. I dearly love that cake too!
And though it be humble, I do love the classic angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream.
Since angel food cake is the key to so many favorite desserts, I need to have perfect gluten-free angel food cake in my life! This recipe is the one.
Since angel food cake gets it’s structure from egg whites, it is really easy to make gluten-free. It is moist and light with great height and flavor. I actually love this cake because it tastes a little more special than the regular box cake everyone is used to eating.
You can tell this cake is made from scratch, making it extra delicious. But nobody will ever guess it’s gluten-free.
Since there are a few steps I’ve made a visual tutorial for you all. I hope it is helpful!
1. In the bowl of a food processor, process the flours and powdered sugar together until smooth, about 30 seconds.
2. Sift the flour/powdered sugar mixture into a bowl and set aside.
3. Process the granulated sugar slightly, about 5-7 pulses. You don’t want to turn it into powdered sugar, just a little finer than it is normally. Set aside.
4. Place the egg whites (that should have sat at room temperature for at least 30 minutes) in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the salt and cream of tartar and beat until starting to foam.
5. Add the vanilla and almond extract and continue whipping on high speed.
6. Add the granulated sugar slowly, about 2 tablespoon at a time to the egg whites while they are whipping.
7. Continue whipping until stiff peaks form.
8. Slowly fold in the dry ingredients ¼ a cup at a time with a spatula. Do this carefully and slowly so you don’t deflate the egg whites. This is the key to good angel food cake!
9. Scoop in a ungreased, 10-inch round pan.
10. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes until lightly golden. Immediately invert pan onto a cooling rack when you remove it from the oven. Cool completely then run a knife along the edges of the pan and carefully plate the cake. Enjoy!
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Perfect Gluten-Free Angel Food Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups egg whites, from 10-11 large eggs
- ¾ cup gluten-free all purpose flour
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Separate the egg whites and allow them to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350. In the bowl of a food processor, process the flour, cornstarch and powdered sugar together until smooth, about 30 seconds. Set aside.
- Process the granulated sugar slightly, about 5-7 pulses. You don't want to turn it into powdered sugar, just a little finer than it is normally. Set aside.
- Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on high until starting to foam then add the salt and cream of tartar.
- Add the vanilla and almond extract and continue whipping on high speed.
- Add the granulated sugar slowly, about 1 tablespoon at a time to the egg whites while they are whipping.Continue whipping until stiff peaks form.
- Slowly fold in the dry ingredients ⅓ at a time with a spatula. Do this carefully and slowly so you don't deflate the egg whites. (This is the key to good angel food cake.) Scoop into a ungreased 10-inch round pan.
- Bake at 350 for about 35-40 minutes until lightly golden. Immediately invert pan onto a cooling rack when you remove it from the oven. Cool completely then run a knife along the edges of the pan and carefully plate the cake. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Recipe Source: Inspired by King Arthur Flour
Kathleen C Larsh says
How long will the angel food cake last? I need to make one for a Saturday baptism but will be gone all day on Friday. Can I make it two days before and seal it in tupperware cake holder?
Erin Collins says
I think that will work great actually! This cake keeps better than other cakes. I hope you like it!
April says
Hi. I can’t wait to make this as my GF son has never tried angel food cake. I’m confused about directions. It says to immediately invert it to allow to cool coming out of the oven. But then it says after cooling to run a knife along and remove from pan. Do you release it from pan right away or after it’s cooled? I don’t want it to deflate. Thanks!!
Michelle D Clarke says
Erin, can I substitute the corn starch with arrowroot powder? I have a corn intolerance.
Shelly says
Hello Erin!
Love your chocolate chip cookies and Angel food cake recipes! They taste even better than traditional recipes. Can the angel food cake be frozen?
Thank you!
Sheila
Jane Lesniak says
Thank you my son and grandchildren were so excited. Celiacs have a rough time hetting taste right. This was perfect. I know I made a little mistake because it was a little too moist and cutting it was tough but delicious…any suggestions?
Katherine Burger says
I have a prepared flour blend with xanthan gum in it. Will that affect the outcome of the cake at all?
Katherine
Erin Collins says
A blend with xanthan gum will work great! Hope you enjoy it 🙂
Geri Rapson says
Can you use this recipe for Angel food cake with crushed pineapple as in the weight watchers recipe?
Erin Collins says
Unfortunately I’m not familiar with that recipe! Sorry about that!
Laurie Patrick says
I can’t eat wheat and I was going crazy for Angel food cake. This is an AMAZING recipe-moist, fluffy and I think better than its wheat counterparts. This recipe will be a craveable staple!
Felicia says
Can I use liquid egg whites in this?
Erin Collins says
Yes! That works great!
Charlene Green says
My whole family loved this. Its the best tasting angel food cake I’ve ever eaten. Will never buy a box mix again or a stor bought cake. Thank you for recipe.
Sunshine says
Great recipe! I’m looking for your “Grandma’s 7 Minute Frosting?” I checked your index before asking. Thank you for sharing your talents!
Erin Collins says
I definitely need to share that recipe! I don’t have it up on my site yet!
Kelly Thomas says
Every time I make this I am blown away by how good it is. I use Cup 4 Cup gluten-free flour in this and it turns out beautifully Every. Single. Time. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Anna says
Cake looks great. I plan on making for my two celiac granddaughters. What can I do with all the egg yolks?
Erin Collins says
You can use them to make a custard like in this banana cream pie! https://meaningfuleats.com/dairy-free-banana-cream-pie-gluten-free/
Carolyn says
Made this according to the instructions and it looked beautiful in the oven! I took it out of the oven and immediately inverted on cooking rack. The whole cake started coming out and flattened to a mess! What did I do wrong? I definitely want to try it again but want to know what I did wrong.
Erin Collins says
I’m so sorry it didn’t turn out for you! Angel food cake can fall if your oven was at too low of a temperature, too short of cooking time, or the egg whites are not beaten to a stiff peak. In this case it’s usually the egg whites weren’t beaten enough. I hope this helps!
Carolyn says
I tried this recipe again and changed two things and it came out PERFECT! I cooked it a little longer than the first time by 5 minutes (40 minutes total) and I DIDN’T use the convection setting on my oven (because when you cook with convection, it lowers the oven temp by 25 degrees ). Cooked it at 350. It came out perfect and it is DELICIOUS! Thank you for replying to my question and offering a solution!