Using only 6 ingredients, this perfect angel food cake bakes up tall, light, and airy. For best results, read the recipe in full before beginning and have all your ingredients ready to go. Enjoy!
Recipe by Sally on June 1, 2019
Prep time: PT25M
Cook time: PT40M
Total time: PT4H
Rating
4.8 stars ( reviews)
Keywords
angel food cake
Ingredients
1 and 3/4 cups (350g) granulated sugar*
1 cup + 2 Tablespoons (133g) cake flour (spooned & leveled)
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 large egg whites, at room temperature*
1 and 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
optional: confectioners’ sugar for dusting, whipped cream, and berries
Categories
Dessert
Cuisine
American
Steps
Adjust the oven rack to the lower middle position and preheat oven to 325°F (163°C).
In a food processor or blender, pulse the sugar until fine and powdery. Remove 1 cup and set aside to use in step 3; keep the rest inside the food processor. Add the cake flour and salt to the food processor. Pulse 5-10 times until sugar/flour/salt mixture is aerated and light.
In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip egg whites and cream of tartar together on medium-low until foamy, about 1 minute. Switch to medium-high and slowly add the 1 cup of sugar you set aside. Whip until soft peaks form, about 5-6 minutes. See photo and video above for a visual. Add the vanilla extract, then beat just until incorporated.
In 3 additions, slowly sift the flour mixture into the egg white mixture using a fine mesh strainer, gently folding with a rubber spatula after each addition. To avoid deflating or a dense cake, don’t add the flour mixture all at once. Sift and very slowly fold in several additions. This is important! Pour and spread batter into an ungreased 9 or 10 inch tube pan. Shimmy the pan on the counter to smooth down the surface.
Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 40-45 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through baking. The cake will rise up very tall while baking. Remove from the oven, then cool the cake completely upside-down set on a wire rack, about 3 hours. (Upside-down so the bottom of the tube pan is right-side up, see photo and video above.) Once cooled, run a thin knife around the edges and gently tap the pan on the counter until the cake releases.
If desired, dust with confectioners’ sugar. Slice the cake with a sharp serrated knife. Regular knives can easily squish the cake. Serve with whipped cream and fresh berries.
Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Reviews
R. Smith on 2026-06-01 (5 stars): What a wonderful cake!!! I have never had much luck with angel food before, but this recipe is excellent. The detailed instructions and video help enormously and the end result is a tender, evenly structured cake, that is both full of flavor and tastes like a cloud. My cake actually released itself from the pan as I was letting it cool, upside down. It came out beautifully even and snow white. Thank you for a great recipe.
Patty on 2026-06-28 (5 stars): Wonderful and delicious desert everyone loved!! I served it with strawberry’s and hi made whipped cream!!
Trisha on 2026-07-03 (5 stars): Delicious! I’ve made this several times, and it always turns out great. Making today for our 4th of July celebration tomorrow and will pair with blueberries, strawberries, and whipped cream. Yum!
Amanda on 2026-07-05 (5 stars): Taste AMAZINGGG. I made this for the 4th of July, and it was a hit! I cut it into cubes, paired it with homemade whipped cream, berries, and served it in dessert cups. My entire family is asking me to make it again. I bake for my family for almost every holiday, and I've never had something they loved as much as this!
Catherine B. on 2026-07-06 (4 stars): I followed the recipe exactly and after 25 minutes of baking the cake rose to almost the rim of the pan. As instructed, I briefly opened the oven and turned the pan 180°. After that the cake deflated several inches! The final taste was okay but dense.
Melody Slachter on 2026-07-09 (3 stars): I have made many Angel Food cakes over the years and decided to try yours. Everything went well until I inverted the cake - it fell out of the pan onto my counter. I have never had this happen before. Very frustrating. I’m baking two for a party tomorrow and hope the other one doesn’t fall out as well. Ugh!
Riley & Brielle on 2026-08-06 (3 stars): So, we were just bored we wanted to engage in a fun baking activity. But little did we know we would be eating pure slop. We mixed the flour in with the egg whites with a stand mixer because it said to mix them together. We then scroll down to see that in bold writing, it said "THIS IS IMPORTANT, LIGHTLY FOLD THE BATTER WITH A SPATULA TO KEEP IT FLUFFY". After, we watched the video to see what her batter had turned out like. It was nothing like ours. We also heard that you're not supposed to use baking soda, or vinegar, which we used to substitute some egg whites. IT ONLY SAID THAT PART IN THE VIDEO. Yes this is a user error, but please put clearer instructions. It looks like a shrivelled raisin.
Rylee on 2026-08-14 (5 stars): Recipe turned out great, especially for this being my first time making an angel food cake. Everything I needed was either in the recipe or in a side bar/tip. And the cake is very delicious. It’s very important that you read the entire recipe because everything you need is in fact in it!!
Haven on 2026-08-16 (5 stars): HOLY MOLY! All the other commenters who said this wasn't good must've done something wrong. This is soooo good! I made it for my mother-in-law's birthday. Angel food cake is her fav! My husband had 3 pieces when I opened it. I'm sitting here eating the rest of it after the party. Wow it's so good!!! So worth the dozen eggs! This was my first time making angel food cake and it was easy and fun! Thanks for the recipe!
