This soft and airy gluten free angel food cake is gorgeously tender and sweet. Perfect with whipped cream and fruit, or simply devoured plain, you'd never guess it's gluten free!
An angel food cake is distinguished by its unique crumb, which is light, soft, and fluffy. Its texture comes from egg whites whipped until they are airy and light, with a bit of sugar and starch folded in for sweetness and structure. In this gluten free angel food cake recipe, adapted from my Flourless cookbook, I use arrowroot starch in place of the all-purpose flour needed in a traditional angel food cake recipe. You can also use cornstarch, like in the original version of my recipe, or use my homemade gluten free flour blend. Angel food cake may be flavored with citrus, chocolate, poppy seeds, and more, but I've kept it beautifully plain in this rendition.
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Is Angel Food Cake Gluten Free?
A traditional angel food cake is not gluten free, however, this recipe is gluten free! Angel food cake is a sponge cake that differs from many other cakes because it doesn't need any butter, oil, or leavening to make it. Instead, egg whites create loft and structure. Angel food cakes can be made with cake flour, which is a fine, lower-gluten flour, or easily made gluten free using a gluten free starchy flour.
What You'll Need
This gluten free angel food cake recipe is deliberately simple - you can certainly make more complicated recipes calling for more ingredients, but in this recipe, you'll rely on a few basics to create spongey, airy perfection. Here's a look at what you'll need to make it - and make sure to check the recipe card at the end of this post for the full ingredient amounts.
- Egg whites - You will need 1 dozen (12) egg whites to make this recipe!
- Cream of tartar - Cream of tartar, available in the spice aisle, is a powdery substance that helps to stabilize meringue and other egg white preparations by keeping the proteins in the whites from sticking together. This helps to create a pillowy, glossy meringue (an angel food cake is basically a meringue plus flour).
- Vanilla extract - A little pure vanilla extract brings out the flavor of the egg whites and balances the sweetness of the sugar.
- Granulated sugar - You can use finely ground sugar or regular sugar. Many recipes advise using fine-ground sugar, but if you don't have it or don't have time to make it, you can use regular sugar.
- Arrowroot - This starchy gluten free flour replaces all-purpose flour beautifully in angel food cake. You can substitute cornstarch or a gluten free flour blend.
How to Make GF Angel Food Cake
The main focus of an angel cake is the egg whites, and you should bring them to room temperature before making the cake for the best results. I've tried to give a fairly detailed overview below of how the batter should look during each stage of the process, and you'll find the full instructions in the recipe card.
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350℉ and have a clean 12-cup tube pan ready.
- Begin beating: Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites until foamy.
- Add cream of tartar: Beat in the cream of tartar.
- Add vanilla: Beat in the vanilla until the egg whites hold soft peaks.
- Add sugar: Beat in the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Firm peaks: The whites will become glossy with firmer peaks.
- Add starch: Have the arrowroot ready.
- Sift: Sift the arrowroot into a bowl.
- Combine: Add the arrowroot to the egg whites.
- Fold: Gently fold the arrowroot and egg whites together.
- Bake: Pour the batter into the tube pan and bake until the cake is puffed and its surface is lightly browned.
- Cool: Remove the cake from the oven and invert the pan onto a wire rack to cool for at least 1 hour. Gently remove the cake from the pan and place it on a serving plate.
A Few Tips
Whenever I make a meringue or a meringue-like dessert, there's always a bit of worry that I have under- or overwhipped the egg whites. But don't worry! A few of the tips below will help to take away any of the angst when making this gluten free angel food cake.
- Room temperature egg whites. Bringing the egg whites to room temperature will help them to whip up faster and airier.
- Cool the cake upside down. I know, this sounds funny! But, you want to let the cake cool - completely! - inverted in the pan so that it doesn't sink while it's cooling. You can use a wine bottle to balance the cake tin if it doesn't have "feet" on it.
- Use finely ground sugar. If you want to achieve the finest texture for your angel food cake, use fine ground sugar or grind your sugar in a food processor until it's very fine. Note that you don't have to do this step - your cake will still taste great with regular sugar.
- Make-ahead: Angel food cake can be prepared the day before you plan to serve it (it keeps well!). Cool the cake completely, cover it with plastic wrap, and store it at room temperature until you're ready to serve it.
And About Those Eggs:
Similar to a gluten free souffle, eggs are the star of an angel food cake. Unlike a souffle, you don't want to use super fresh eggs. In fact, eggs that are at least 3 days old will give you the best results! Bring the egg whites to room temperature before whipping them - they will froth up much quicker and will retain more air. Save your egg yolks and make pots de creme!
Serving Suggestions
Angel food cake is delicious plain - the sugar and vanilla are enough to give it interest while not taking away from its amazing texture. You can also dress it up with a variety of toppings or tuck it into a gluten-free trifle or tiramisu. Here are a few suggestions for this cake:
- Add whipped cream. I love serving an angel food cake with lightly sweetened homemade whipped cream. You can dollop individual slices of cake with whipped cream or spread whipped cream over the top and sides of the cake for a more dramatic presentation.
- With fruit. All throughout summer, take advantage of good fruit season and serve gluten free angel food cake with fresh fruit! All kinds of berries like blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries are perfect with angel food cake. Or add sliced stone fruit like peaches, cherries, nectarines, and plums.
- Sauce. Drizzle a little chocolate or caramel sauce over slices of angel food cake.
Variation Ideas
- Add citrus. A bit of citrus zest is a fantastic way to add flavor to an angel food cake (for example, use lemon zest for a lemon angel food cake). Gently fold in lemon, lime, or orange zest to the egg whites along with the arrowroot. See this recipe for brown sugar blood orange angel food cake for more ideas.
- Make it a chocolate angel food cake. Go chocolatey and substitute half of the arrowroot for unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Add poppy seeds. A few tablespoons of poppy seeds added to the batter will give the cake a wonderful, slightly nutty crunch. Poppy seeds are especially good when paired with added lemon zest.
Proper Storage
Store gluten free angel food cake, covered or well wrapped in plastic wrap, on the counter for up to 5 days. As noted, you can make it the day before you plan to serve it.
More Gluten Free Cake Recipes
Gluten Free Angel Food Cake
Ingredients
- 12 egg whites
- 1 ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup arrowroot or cornstarch, or gluten free flour blend
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Have a clean 12-cup tube pan ready.
- In a large bowl, using an electric hand or stand mixer, beat the egg whites until foamy, then add the cream of tartar and vanilla and beat until the egg whites hold soft peaks.
- Continue beating and add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. The whites will become glossy and will hold firmer peaks, but don't overbeat and let them get stiff or they will dry out.
- Sift the arrowroot or cornstarch over the egg whites, then use a rubber spatula to gently fold them together until all the arrowroot is incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the tube pan, then draw a spatula or a knife through the batter to eliminate any large air pockets. Place in the oven and bake until the cake is puffed and its surface is lightly browned, up to 1 hour. Check the cake at 45 minutes and keep baking if it doesn't look done.
- Remove the cake from the oven and invert the pan onto a wire rack. Let the cake hang upside down for about 1 ½ hours (use a wine bottle or other bottle with a thin neck to hold the cake upside down if your tube pan doesn't have feet) until completely cooled. Gently remove the cake from the pan and place it on a serving plate.
- Use a serrated knife to cut the cake. Store the cake at room temperature, wrapped in plastic wrap.
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