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
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.
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!
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!
Will the cake work if I reduce the sugar
Unfortunately it won’t work! The sugar is needed for the structure of the cake.
This turned out great! I separated the batter into two separate 6 inch pans. I also swapped arrowroot powder for baking powered and it worked just as well.
Can I use a springform pan, or does it have to be a pan with a hole in the middle like the picture?
Unfortunately a springform pan won’t work for this recipe! An angel food cake tube pan is necessary for the structure of the cake.
Can you substitute something for corn starch? I’m allergic to corn. Thanks!
You could try potato starch! (Be sure it’s starch and not potato flour.)
This cake is absolutely amazing!! First time making angel food cake so I was a little nervous- this recipe is easy to follow and DELICIOUS! Nobody could even tell it was gluten free!
Can this be done in a Bundt pan?
Also, where is the recipe to that amazing sounding frosting ?! Thank you!
Unfortunately this won’t work in a bundt pan! The sides aren’t tall enough and the cake won’t inflate enough. Sorry about that!
OMG. This is my family’s new favorite cake. So light and so tasty. Fresh fruit and a touch of whipped cream made for a decadent dessert. We will be making this delightful cake again, soon!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the comment 🙂
Hello! the angel food sounds yummy but I’d really love your grandma’s 7 min frosting♥️Sounds yummy!
I can’t wait to try this!! Quick question, can I use egg whites from a carton? I don’t know what I would do with that many leftover yolks. If not maybe I can make a lemon curd!
Yes you can use egg whites from a carton! Many people have made this with egg whites from a carton with good results. I hope you like the cake! 🙂
Amazing thanks for the great recipe!! Would post a picture but not sure how to attach.
Hi Erin!
My boyfriend is gluten free and I’d like to make a mini version of this to share with him. any advice for following this recipe but baking in a cleaned and repurposed tomato tin? I guess i’d halve the recipe, and be sure to fill the tins with enough headspace to allow for turning over. Maybe id need a small piece of parchment on the bottom since i won’t be able to lift away the sides like a normal angel food pan? any other advice for me?
Hi Katie. This cake can be baked, cut and frozen. How about surprising him with a whole angel food cake so he can slice pieces and freeze for future meals? Wonderful recipe. Delicious cake!
Thanks for the tip Bev!
Can I use Cup 4 Cup flour or should I buy the brand you recommended?
Cup 4 Cup will work great! That’s a good blend too.
This gluten free angel food cake was amazing. I made a couple of modifications based on food allergies, I substituted tapioca starch for the corn starch, and left out the vanilla and used 1 tsp of almond extract. The cake turned out perfectly, was perfect texture and tasted delicious!
Hi Erin,
Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Quick question: can I use bakers sugar instead of processing white granulated sugar, or do you think bakers sugar is too fine?
Thanks!
Baker’s sugar will work great! Just not powdered sugar. I hope it turns out for you!