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!
Hundreds of reviewers agree this is the most delicious gluten-free angel food cake recipe around! This tried-and-true recipe was originally published in 2013 and is one my #1 recipes today.
UPDATED June 2022: 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 fresh berries and whipped cream. 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 fresh fruit 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 also might like this gluten-free pound cake. Check out this full collection of gluten-free cake recipes!
For more tried-and-true recipes try this gluten-free pizza crust and gluten-free banana bread.
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 with step by step photos. I hope it is helpful!
How to Make Gluten-Free Angel Food Cake
1. In the bowl of a food processor, process the gluten-free flour 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 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. Using the whisk attachment, beat on medium speed until starting to foam and soft peaks form. You can also use a hand mixer.
Tip: You can separate the egg whites from the egg yolks or simply buy carton egg whites for this recipe.
5. Add the pure vanilla extract 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 1/4 a cup at a time with a rubber spatula. Do this carefully and slowly so you don’t deflate the egg whites. This is the key to good traditional angel food cake!
9. Spread the angel food cake batter in a ungreased, 10-inch round angel food cake pan.
Tip: An ungreased 10-inch tube pan is key for this recipe. You need a special round angel food pan for best results so the cake can have enough room to expand. Unfortunately a bundt pan won’t work the same.
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 serrated knife along the edges of the pan and carefully transfer the cake to a serving plate. Enjoy!
Original photo from 2013! I thought the blue plate was so cool – ha!
You could also top this angel food cake with gluten-free raspberry coulis.
More Gluten-Free Recipes
I hope you like this gluten-free angel food cake recipe as much as we do! If you try it be sure to leave me a comment/rating below. I’d love to hear from you!
Perfect Gluten-Free Angel Food Cake
Video
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups egg whites from 10-11 large eggs
- 3/4 cup gluten-free all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1/4 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°F. In the bowl of a food processor or blender, process the gluten-free flour, cornstarch and powdered sugar together until smooth, about 30 seconds. Pour into a bowl and set aside.
- Add the granulated sugar to the food processor or blender and pulse 5-7 times. You don’t want to turn it into powdered sugar, just a little finer than it is normally. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites on high speed until starting to foam, then add the salt and cream of tartar.
- Add the vanilla extract and almond extract and continue whipping on high speed.
- With the mixer running on high, slowly add the granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until all the sugar is added and the mixture is glossy with soft peaks.
- Using a rubber spatula, slowly fold in the flour mixture, ⅓ at a time. Do this carefully and slowly so you don’t deflate the egg whites. (This is the key to a good angel food cake.) Scoop into an ungreased 10-inch round pan.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes, until lightly golden.
- Remove the cake from the oven and immediately flip the cake upside down onto a wire rack. Cool the cake completely.
- Once cooled, run a thin knife around the edge of the cake and gently tap the pan on the counter until the cake releases. Slice with a sharp serrated knife and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe Source: Inspired by King Arthur Flour
I made this today but it turned out more dense and shorter than I’d expect. Did I not mix the eggs long enough?
Hi Allison, we’re sorry you had this experience! Yes, underwhipping the eggs can cause such results. Other factors can include adding the sugar too fast and/or folding the flour mix in too fast/roughly. We hope your next angel food cake turns out light, fluffy, and delicious!
This angel food cake is amazing! The first time I made it, it was a hit. It was all gone the first day! This time I made 2 for my birthday tomorrow because everyone loved it so much last time! It is very easy to make too, which is a plus.
Hi Grace, we’re so happy to hear this recipe was such a hit last time! We hope it’s enjoyed just as much this time too. Thank you for sharing your positive experiences with us. Happy birthday!
I’ve read that a carton of egg whites don’t work well for angel food cake. Have you tried it?
Hi Marce, good question! We definitely prefer using fresh eggs for the egg whites, but it’s still possible to use the carton egg whites in this recipe. Sometimes they just need to be whipped a bit longer to achieve the same volume as fresh egg whites. We hope this helps and you enjoy the recipe!
This recipe is amazing! My husband has been celiac for about 15 years and hasn’t had angel food cake since then. I made it for Christmas with strawberries and whipped cream and it was delicious!
Yay! We’re so glad you both enjoyed the recipe this Christmas! Thank you for sharing with us, Lindsay!
I plan to make this tomorrow using Jules Gluten free flour which is almost all starches. I am assuming I can just use 1 cup of the flour instead of adding the cornstarch? The first 3 ingredients of the “flour” are cornstarch, tapioca starch, and potato starch. Not healthy but i have had more success with it with baking
Hi Pam, we haven’t tried that flour blend before to say how it will do or if any further ingredient adjustments would be needed. We’d love to hear how it goes! Happy baking!
I was really impressed. I have made a regular angel food cake and just love it. My husband has some gluten sensitivities, so I tried this receipe. It is a labor of love, thats for sure. But, was well worth it.
Hi Sylvia, it makes us so happy to hear that you were impressed by this recipe! Thank you for sharing your kind feedback. Happy baking!
Hi there! I am absolutely loving your recipes. Angel food cake has always been my favorite and I am excited to try this, but was wondering if you have a recommendation for a cornstarch substitute. I am allergic to corn and often sub tapioca or arrowroot starch. Do you think one of these will work well or have an opinion on which one I should try? Thank you!
Hi Lydia, good question! Either tapioca starch or arrowroot will work. We hope you enjoy the recipe!
Can’t wait to try it but you noted the cherry chip version. Is there a way to share how you would do that with this recipe? Love everything we have tried so far excited to find your recipes and ready to try more. Thank Pam
Hi Pam, we’re so glad you’ve loved the recipes so far! Erin’s husband’s grandma used to make angel food cake filled with cherries and whipped cream, but otherwise we don’t have a specific cherry chip recipe. We hope you enjoy the angel food cake!
There are GF angel food cake recipes and then there is THIS GF angel food cake which is superior, in my humble opinion. I have made this recipe multiple times as both my dad and husband have celiac. I used Cup 4 Cup flour and I substituted the almond flavoring with Crème Bouquet. Other than the almond flavoring, I went by the recipe exactly. Wonderful recipe!!
Yay! We’re so happy to hear this! Thank you for taking the time to share such kind feedback with us. Happy baking!
Hi
I made this cake, for a card game luncheon & it was a hit. I made a cream cheese le.on frosting for top & everyone loved it. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Peggy, we’re so glad everyone enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for sharing your positive feedback with us!
I keep making this cake. It’s just perfect with a great texture. So fluffy. I cut the powdered sugar to 1/2 cup and didn’t add the 2 extra tablespoon of sugar and the taste and texture were still perfect
Hi Elyse, we’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Good to know it worked well with those sugar adjustments. Thanks for sharing your experience with us!
I didn’t have almond extract so I subbed with coconut extract. It tastes like a toasted marshmallow!
We’re glad you liked the recipe! Thanks for sharing the tip about the coconut extract!