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!
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. 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 1/3 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!
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe Source: Inspired by King Arthur Flour
This is by far the best angel food cake recipe I have ever made! It is so nice to be able to make something gluten free and it still be delicious! Thanks so much for the recipe
So happy to hear that! Thanks for the comment 🙂
Can I sub arrowroot for cornstarch? (Allergy)
I would recommend tapioca starch if you can. I think arrowroot should work as well though!
I use arrowroot powder and it works great!
I have not been successful at even regular angel food cake before and used mixes.
I was driven to try this because I couldn’t find a bakery with a GF one and was determined to make my Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle for a birthday celebration with a GF friend. This turned out AMAZING!!! I am so excited! Thank you, thank you!
This cake has fabulous flavor & texture! I was being silly & tried to balance the cake upside down on a bottle like my grandmother used to do – the whole thing fell over & broke into many pieces. So I made parfaits that were out of this world! Lemon Curd mixed with whipped cream layered w cake & raspberries & drizzled on top with raspberry sauce. I will absolutely be adding this cake to my repertoire!
That parfait sounds so amazing! Such a great idea to use the broken cake. I’ll have to try that myself sometime! Thanks for the comment 🙂
Can I use tapioca flour instead of the corn starch due to a corn allergy?
Yes that should work great!
I’ve been making GF angel food cake for like 10 years, and this is the best recipe I’ve ever made. The cake rose and retained it’s height beautifully. (Sometimes they sink while cooling– not this one). Super fluffy and moist, perfect consistency, not overly sweet but sweet enough. I used bob’s red mill 1-1 all purpose baking flour (the kind in the blue package), and I paired it with a lemon glaze and fresh strawberries. Instead of processing the dry ingredients with a mixer, I sifted them (only because this was more convenient for me).
The only real change I made (by accident due to my wonky oven) was starting it at 400 and immediately lowering it to 350 when I saw the oven thermometer. It cooked faster as a result but came out perfect regardless. Next time, if my oven cooperates, I’ll follow the temperature instructions, but even with my oven’s weirdness, it worked out great.
I have been craving strawberry shortcake for so long. Going to the store and seeing Sstrawberries just made it worse. I found your recipe when doing a Google search. This recipe is so light and good! I drooled through every bite!! I made exactly as listed! Thank you! This is a keeper!!!
I’m so happy it turned out for you! I love using it for strawberry shortcake too. Glad you were able to enjoy it again!
Can this cake be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge/freezer?
Yes! I recommend storing it at room temperature (tightly covered with plastic wrap) for up to 3 days. I don’t recommend refrigerating it. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months! Just wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then in a layer of foil.
I have an af tube pan my Mom gave me decades ago because she didn’t use it. So after another decade (retired), I decided to try your healthier version. I didn’t scroll to peaks, and added 1/2 c wildflower honey, PKG of stevia and salt and mixed it up with some foam on it lol. So oops, another 1 1/2 cups of peaked egg whites folded in. It could have cooked a bit longer (45 minutes). However it was a moist (sponge like) consistency with honey-vanilla highlights and went well with my frozen berries and coconut whip. Happy Fourth!
That sounds delicious! I’m glad it turned out well for you 🙂
Can the gluten free angel food can be made ahead of time?
I recommend storing it at room temperature (tightly covered with plastic wrap) for up to 3 days. I don’t recommend refrigerating the cake. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months! Just wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then in a layer of foil. I hope you enjoy it!
I made this cake today for a trifle. It’s is amazing and I was surprised how easy it was. There is prep to do it but so worth it.
I’m so glad you it turned out for you! I think it’s totally worth the effort as well 🙂
Can I use almond flour instead of gf flour. It is actually an almond flour blend from Victoria
Unfortunately almond flour won’t work here. The gluten-free flour is important for the correct cake structure!
Can you use a nonstick tube pan?
Yes that will work great! A tube pan is what you want – not a bundt pan.
In case anyone has duck eggs like we do. The recipe works very well with duck egg whites as well just takes a little longer to whip the whites
Great to know! 🙂
I don’t have a stand-up mixer, would a hand mixer work?
Yes that will work! Just be sure to mix it until you have stiff peaks.
This is the Best gf Angel Food Cake I have ever made. We took it to the Dr. Office with us 2 weeks ago and they said it was Wonderful they have never eat anything so moist and fluffy. When I told them it was gluten free they were shocked. I have to make this almost every week for my sweet Momma because she loves it so much. Excited to try more of your recipes. Thank you so Mu
That is so sweet you make it for your Momma so often! She’s lucky to have you! Always the best when nobody can tell it’s GF. Thanks for the comment 🙂
I have been using this recipe for about 4 years now as I have a stepdaughter who has celiac. Everybody loves it, can’t tell it is gluten free. My stepdaughters favorite dessert is tiramisu, so after cooling I lay slices of cake in a 9×13 pan, pour some strong cold coffee over it, and layer the tiramisu filling. Decadent! Thank you for this recipe.
What a great idea to use it for tiramisu! I will have to try that myself sometime. Thanks for the comment 🙂