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Angel Food Cake

There's a reason angel food cake is a favorite dessert -- it's tender, light as air, and tastes, well, divine. What's more, it's virtually fat-free and uses just six ingredients.
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Angel Food Cake

No need to buy a mix to make angel food cake. See Everyday Food editor Sarah Carey use just six ingredients to make the lightest, fluffiest cake imaginable.

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    Everyday Food, January 2008
    • Prep Time 30 minutes
    • Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes plus cooling
    • Yield Serves 8
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    Ingredients

    • 1 cup cake flour (spooned and leveled)
    • 1/4 teaspoon salt
    • 12 large egg whites, room temperature
    • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
    • 1 1/4 cups sugar
    • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
    • Berries and Cream, for serving

    Directions

    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place flour and salt in a sieve set over a bowl; sift into bowl, and set aside. With a mixer, beat egg whites on medium-high until foamy, about 1 minute. Add cream of tartar; beat until soft peaks form. Continue to beat, gradually adding sugar; beat until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla; beat to combine.

    2. Gently transfer egg-white
      mixture to a large,
      wide bowl. In four batches,
      using the sieve again,
      sift flour mixture over
      egg-white mixture. While
      turning the bowl, use
      a rubber spatula to fold in
      the mixture by cutting
      down the center and coming
      up the sides.

    3. Gently spoon batter into
      an ungreased angel food
      cake pan with a removable
      bottom; smooth top.
      Cut a knife or small spatula
      through batter to
      release air bubbles. Bake
      until cake is golden and
      springs back when lightly
      pressed, 35 to 40 minutes.
      Invert pan; let cool
      in pan, 1 hour. Run a
      knife around the inside of
      the pan and around the
      tube to release cake, and
      unmold. Use knife to
      release cake from bottom
      of pan, and remove.

    Variations

    Craving chocolate? Replace 1/4 cup cake flour with 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder; reduce vanilla extract to 1 teaspoon.

    Recipe Reviews

    Reviews (15)

    • Yao14
      8 Jun, 2013

      Have a question for Sarah: where could I get the spice jars you have? Love stainless steel spice jar! But never fund the perfect one...
    • KT556
      8 Jun, 2013

      Regarding HARD TO CUT - - - ALWAYS cut angel food cake with a serrated / bread knife -- very easy -- very clean!
    • binnur
      6 Jun, 2013

      :) hey Martha
      I tried the recipe and the result was perfect. Thank you, I got a lot of compliments.
    • DeniseAnnePeckowych
      7 May, 2012

      Within the past month, I have made 2 angel food cakes. A Betty Crocker box mix, and Martha's. The box one was sweeter, a more vanilla taste, a lot easier to make, with less clean up. A mix costs about $3.00 and I purchased a dozen of eggs for $1.70 and had the other ingredients at home. If you have the time and want to make something with the kids, go for it! It will be fun to make, with close results.
    • Carolinamendez
      16 Mar, 2012

      love it
    • Tasis
      17 Feb, 2011

      First effort at making an Angel Food Cake from scratch, and it turned out so well! I'll never buy another mix again. I did have to cook it abou 15 min. more - watch for the golden brown finish.
    • Tasis
      17 Feb, 2011

      First effort at making an Angel Food Cake from scratch, and it turned out so well! I'll never buy another mix again. I did have to cook it abou 15 min. more - watch for the golden brown finish.
    • JulesUK
      16 Jan, 2011

      Ooops. Just read the helpful hint.....that's what happens when you are trying to research recipes with a wriggly child on your lap. ;)
    • JulesUK
      16 Jan, 2011

      Can you add cocoa powder to make this chocolatey for a children's birthday party? My son can't eat dairy.
    • JulesUK
      16 Jan, 2011

      Can you add cocoa powder to make this chocolatey for a children's birthday party? My son can't eat dairy.
    • abusybee4u
      3 Jan, 2011

      Yummy, lowfat and delicious! you can't go wrong with this recipe! Will definetely be making this one again! for a cheap topping I used the chocolate redi-whip in a can. All my guests loved it! And once you have all of the ingredients, it's alot cheaper than buying the cake in a store! Thanks Martha!
    • jehmammy
      20 Jul, 2010

      I tried to make this gluten free and I too found it to be tough. I am not sure if it was the flour or the fact that I may have also folded too much but next time I am going to try both adding xantham gum and folding less. I love martha but I am allergic to gluten so I keep trying to do things my way and some recipes work better than others.
    • ANACE
      14 Apr, 2010

      how much flour i can use if i don?Ǭ
    • ancesu
      16 Feb, 2010

      I must have overmixed the batter since my cake turned out a little tough and hard to cut. I will try mixing in the flour in only two batches next time. But it was still delicious, especially with raspberries and whipped cream!
    • Daisy_Mae
      4 Oct, 2009

      Very easy and very very good!

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