Angel Food Cake
Pillowy soft Angel Food Cake! This cake is perfection. Fluffy as a cloud and perfectly sweet.
Nutrition Facts
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a food processor add the granulated sugar. Spin the sugar for 2 minutes until the sugar is very fine.
Sift half of the superfine sugar with the salt and cake flour. Set the other half of superfine sugar aside.
In a large bowl combine the egg whites, water, vanilla extract, and cream of tartar. Using a balloon whisk, thoroughly mix the ingredients together for 2 minutes. The egg mixer should become frothy.
Now switch to hand beaters; beat the egg mixture on medium speed, slowly adding the remaining sugar (that you set aside), until soft/medium peaks form.
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Continue Reading at Saltandbaker →Chef's Notes
Egg Whites
Be sure to use fresh egg whites you’ve separated. Store bought egg whites that are previously separated won’t be as fresh and can affect the texture.
Separate the egg whites individually. We don’t want a drop of fat (yolk) in the egg whites because it will prevent the whites from forming peaks at all.
Whip to soft/medium peaks. A big secret to getting the fluffy angel food cake is the egg whites. The egg whites are mixed until soft/medium peaks form. Be careful not to over whip the egg whites (soft/medium peaks, not stiff). If you over whip the egg whites, the dry ingredients will require extra mixing, which will result in the batter losing some of its precious volume.
Soft Peaks
Soft peaks don’t hold a firm shape, instead they wilt back into themselves after a few seconds. When beaters are lifted, medium peaks hold their shape fairly well except the tip of the peak folds over onto itself (think of a curved bird’s peak). Stiff peaks stand straight up when the beaters are lifted without any movement after — no bent peaks, just stiff peaks.
Soft/medium peaks will continue to expand in the oven (allowing our cake to grow and get nice and fluffy, whereas stiff peaks are generally classified as over whipped for angel food cake and will most likely collapse in the oven. If you can get a happy-medium between soft and medium peaks, your cake will turn out fabulous!
Dry Ingredients
Using a lighter flour such as cake flour, aids in the light and airy texture. If in a pinch, you can use homemade cake flour.
Sift the dry ingredients over the egg whites in several additions. Do not pour the dry ingredients over the egg whites all at once, doing so will quickly deflate the egg whites. Our goal in making a fluffy angel food cake is to keep as much volume in those egg whites as possible.
Tube Pan
Do not grease the tube pan! The batter needs to stick and cling to the edges of the pan in order to remain tall. You must use an angel food cake pan (aka tube pan). Do not use a bundt pan. If you can find a tube pan with “feet” this will make cooling the cake upside down much easier.
Cool the angel food cake upside down in the cake pan. This prevents the cake from falling in on itself in the pan.
Use a serrated knife to slice the cake.
Storing
Store the angel food cake covered at room temperature for 3-4 days. If you forget to cover it, the cake will become hard and lose its iconic soft texture.
Recipe Source: Adapted from Food Network
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Reviews from the Original Source
I love angel food cake and have to say this is the best one I’ve ever had! So light and fluffy and flavorful. I have never made one from scratch before but the directions were easy to follow and left us with a perfectly cooked cake. Topped it with whipped cream and berries - AMAZING! Thank you for this recipe, I will definitely be using it again!
I love Angel food cake - it's one of my favorites! Yours look so fluffy and airy! YUM!
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