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, cornstarch, 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 40 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 (330g) egg whites from 10-11 large eggs
- 3/4 cup (112g) gluten-free measure-for-measure flour
- 1/4 cup (32g) cornstarch
- 3/4 cup (90g) powdered sugar
- 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (175g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 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 live in New Mexico where we are 5000 feet above sea level. I find that I need to beat batter longer and raise the temperature by about 10 degrees, at least with a regular angel food cake mix (not gluten free). I hope this works with this recipe!
Hi Ann! High altitudes definitely impact baking. This recipe was designed at sea level so making adjustments for your elevation is a great idea. We’d love to hear how it went!
Can you substitute arrowroot powder for cornstarch in this recipe?
Hi Kelly! Yes, that should work well. We hope you love the cake!
Is there a way to lower the amount of sugar without using a sugar substitute?
Hi Judith! We don’t recommend cutting the sugar or using a sugar substitute unfortunately. In angel food cake, the sugar does much more than add sweetness. It helps stabilize the whipped egg whites, gives the cake its light, airy texture, and keeps it moist. Reducing it by much would likely cause the cake to collapse, turn out dense, or have a drier texture. If you’d like it a little less sweet, you could try reducing the sugar by 2–3 tablespoons max, but the results may vary when reducing the sugar. Thank you for your question!
Made this and it was soooo good. I am wondering if I could cut the sugar in half since it was pretty sweet. Would doing so change the consistency and not work? Can’t wait to make again.
Hi Cameron! We’re so glad you loved it! We don’t recommend cutting the sugar in half. In angel food cake, the sugar does much more than add sweetness—it helps stabilize the whipped egg whites, gives the cake its light, airy texture, and keeps it moist. Reducing it by 50% would likely cause the cake to collapse, turn out dense, or have a drier texture. If you’d like it a little less sweet, you could try reducing the sugar by 2–3 tablespoons, but we wouldn’t recommend reducing it much more than that. We hope you enjoy making it again!
I don’t have a food processor or blender for the sugar to be finer, can I just use regular sugar or should I look for a finer sugar that isn’t powdered sugar?
Hi Jessica! It’s possible to use regular granulated sugar, but for the best results we recommend using a finer sugar. If you don’t have a food processor or blender, caster (superfine) sugar is a great substitute and will dissolve more easily into the egg whites. We hope you enjoy the cake!
Thank you so much for the recipe, I can’t wait to try it! Can I use egg whites out of a carton in place of whites from an actual egg? Thanks again!
Hi Susie! Yes you can—we’ve had good success with Eggland’s Best and the Target Good & Gather brand. We hope you enjoy the cake!
I made this for the first time. It was excellent. The only gf bakery product that tastes good. I was looking for a recipe that my whole family could eat as a special dessert for the fourth of July. My son has gluten allergy. Store bought gf baked goods are too expensive.
We definitely understand wanting to make one dessert for everyone to share. We’re so happy to hear that the angel food cake was a hit with the whole family! Thank you for sharing your positive feedback with us, Michele. Happy baking!
Can I use egg beater egg whites instead?
Hi Lisa, carton egg whites work well in this cake! We haven’t used egg beater brand specifically. We’ve had good success with Eggland’s Best and the Target Good & Gather brand. We hope you enjoy the cake!
This was easy to make, and tasted delicious. I served it as a base for stawberry shortcake, but I caught my non gluten free hubby sneaking plain slices!
Aww, we’re so pleased the recipe worked well for the strawberry shortcake and that your husband loved the angel food cake so much. Thank you for sharing such amazing feedback with us, Jeanine. Happy baking!
I loved this recipe and I made a lemon glaze and added strawberries to decorate. I was a bit bummed that it did not rise as much as a gluten cake. At first I thought it was something I did but or my elevation, 7500′ but then I saw your pictures and noticed your photo indicated the same results. Thank you and thankful for results. My husband is celiac and I love to bake so Im thrilled when I find a good recipe.
We’re so glad you and your husband enjoyed the angel food cake, Susan! Elevation can definitely impact cakes, but it sounds like your cake turned out well. Thank you for sharing your positive experience with us!
This gluten free angel food cake is the best I have ever prepared! It was also very easy to make. My guests raved about it.
Yay! We’re so pleased you found the recipe easy to make and that the cake was a hit with one and all. Thank you for sharing your positive experience with us, Martha!
This recipe turned out well. I have made a wide variety of gluten-free angel food cakes. I personally do not do well with King Arthur’s Flour, so I followed the recipe and made up my own gf flour using rice flour, potato starch, arrowroot powder, psyllium husk powder, and a little almond flour. This was light and delicious. Make sure you don’t take it out too early. I have made this recipe twice, and the second time I think I took it out a little too soon, and it was not as impressive and kinda fell.
Thank you for sharing such thoughtful feedback with us, Grace! It’s great to hear you found a gf flour blend that works well for you and the recipe. Thanks for sharing the baking time tip, too. Happy baking!