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
Delicious! Thank you for this recipe. The cake was high, golden brown, and tasty. This recipe is a keeper. I did use egg whites from a carton.. The only ingredient was egg whites, no colors, preservatives, or any other additives.
Thank you!
I would love to make this recipe, but I only have an electric hand mixer , not a standing mixer. The hand mixer worked fine when I was making cake mix angel food cakes, but I am wondering if it will work in this instance? Any alterations to your recipe that I should make if using a hand mixer?
Yes a hand mixer will work fine! As long as you get the egg whites to the right consistency everything should be the same. Good luck!
Can you tell me what you mean by “11/2 cups of egg whites”? Is that a typo? Do you just mean 2 cups of egg whites?
It means 1 + 1/2 cup egg whites. I hope that makes sense!
This recipe is perfect for my family because we need gluten free & dairy free. This is my second time serving this cake & everyone loves it! It is even popular with those who do not have any dietary restrictions.
I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks for the comment!
This is just mind blowing it is soooooo good! No one has any idea that it is a gluten free cake! I just finished “cutting” my second Angel Food Cake out of the tube pan and this one came out with a few little problems unlike the first one. The cake came out super easily but this time it has sunk in on one side of the top (the bottom when filled over on the serving plate) and there are a couple of deep gouges on the sides. Just wondering if there is remedy to these problems. Now saying all this, makes no difference to me! I will eat it and serve it regardless! . I make a lemon/whipped cream topping to go with it.
I am absolutely thrilled that this cake recipe worked out! My husband and I just looked at one another with big grins on our faces after tasting our first Gluten Free Angel Food Cake. I have recently been diagnosed with Celiac Disease and quickly realized that I will be facing a few bumps in the road. I will certainly be checking out any and all of your recipes! Thanks so much!
Fantastic! Yummy and light. Perfect for my gf family.
This is my go to cake recipe!! Even my non-gluten free friends say it’s the best Angel Food cake they ever had and request It all the time. It truly is perfect every time.
I’m so happy you love it! Thanks for the comment 🙂
Is it really 1 TABLESPOON vanilla or 1 teaspoon? Thanks
This recipe turned out amazing. I couldn’t find my tube pan since my move so I used to glass bread pans. They cooked evenly, but the recipe was too much for the two pans.
I make my own rice flour mix. Does the cake require any xanthan gum? Have never attempted angle cake but can’t wait to try! Also I assume this fits into regular size angle food cake pan? Thanks, Linda
This cake doesn’t require xanthan gum since it gets most of its structure from eggs. So the rice blend should work!
Made this recipe last night and it’s fantastic! However, my question is regarding the calories… it says 199 per serving, but how much is one serving? The whole cake? 1/8th of the cake?
That is for 1/8 of the cake! I’m so glad the cake turned out for you!
I don’t have an angel food pan. Can I use several loaf pans? What would my baking time be?
Thanks
Hello! I had a craving for angel food and this did not disappoint! However, my cake came out of the pan about 3 minutes into cooling and smooshed itself ☹️ Any tips, tricks, or suggestions to prevent this? Followed the recipe, didn’t grease… any help appreciated.
Thanks!!
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?