Gluten Free Angel Food Cake

This light, airy gluten free Angel Food Cake is a showstopper! Filled with sweetened whipped cream and fresh berries, then garnished with vibrant purple and yellow pansies, it’s perfect for birthdays, showers, or any special occasion. Special cakes like this are best made by measuring individual gluten free flours. Get your pantry organized and stop passing up on recipes like this.

this gluten free recipe

Gluten free cooks want to make all the desserts their family loves, and eat them too! If you're brand new to gluten free baking I guarantee it gets easier once you adopt a learning mindset, anything is possible.

Ingredients

All purpose gluten free flour blends, homemade or store bought, work in some recipes but not all. That's why you see blends for cookies and pancakes, pizza dough and bread, and the list goes on. For a light, airy Angel Food Cake, you need a different combination of flour.

• Cake flour blend (cornstarch, tapioca starch, brown rice flour, non fat dry milk powder, potato starch and xanthan gum)
• Icing sugar
• eggs
• cream of tartar
• vanilla
• whipping cream
• fresh fruit and/or edible flowers

See recipe card for exact amounts.

What Flowers Are Edible

Some occasions simply call for cake and for me, it's going to be homemade and it should have a gourmet presentation. Using edible flowers is a simple way to do that.

To learn more about what flowers I plant and how I use them check out this post, How To Use Edible Flowers in the Kitchen.

Get The Tools

Angel Food Cake is a light, airy sponge cake made with a dozen egg whites whipped full of air. Egg whites from real eggs are essential. Do not use egg whites from a carton which have been heated in processing.

For the classic look this cake should be cooked and cooled in an Angel Food Cake pan with tall sides. Modern versions include Angel Food Cake pans with a removable bottom, which would be nice to have but for a once-a-year cake I borrow my sisters pan. If you like the idea of making Angel Food Cake then purchase a good quality pan, and lend it to your sister if you have one.

Two essential steps for baking an Angel Food Cake are to bake the cake in an ungreased pan and cool it upside down. Yes, really. Not greasing the pan allows the cake to stick to the sides of the pan and climb up it as it bakes. Cooling it upside down helps maintain the light, airy texture. I remember my mom cooling her Angel Food Cake upside down balanced on an inverted drinking glass. I wonder if that is the pan my sister now calls hers.

Baking By Weight

Serious bakers bake by weight for accuracy and best results. I measure all my flour blends by weight using a digital scale yet most of my everyday recipes using cup measurements. For this recipe I wanted it to work the first time so I measured the flours by weight.

If you're interested in learning to bake using weight measurements check out this post called Baking By Weight.

Filling For Angel Food Cake

If you've ever made an Angel Food Cake then you've thought about what to make with the twelve egg yolks you have leftover. My mom always made this homemade lemon curd so that's what I make. Include it in the filling for this cake or make it the next day. I'm sure you'll have no trouble thinking of ways to enjoy it.

Thanks to Nicole over at Glutenfree On A Shoestring for her homemade cake flour blend recipes. She's a master in the kitchen and has lots of wisdom to share.

Gluten Free Angel Food Cake

Make a gluten free Angel Food Cake from scratch! It's light and airy, filled with sweetened whipped cream and fresh berries. Garnished with colourful pansies it's an impressive dessert for any special occasion in spring or summer.

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Canadian

Keyword: Angel Food Cake, gluten free angel food cake

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes

Final Assembly: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 people

Calories: 347kcal

Author: Cinde Little

Equipment

• 1 Angel Food Cake pan

Ingredients

CAKE FLOUR BLEND

• ▢ 90g white rice flour
• ▢ 73g cornstarch
• ▢ 43g tapioca starch
• ▢ 40g brown rice flour
• ▢ 30g non fat dry milk powder (substitute soy milk powder for dairy free)
• ▢ 10g potato starch
• ▢ 5g xanthan gum

ANGEL FOOD CAKE

• ▢ ¾ cup icing sugar (first amount)
• ▢ 140 g cake flour blend (recipe above)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 12 egg whites, room temperature
• ▢ ⅓ cup warm water
• ▢ 1½ teaspoon cream of tartar
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon vanilla
• ▢ ¾ cup icing sugar (second amount)

WHIPPED CREAM FILLING

• ▢ 2 cups whipping cream
• ▢ 2 tablespoon icing sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

GARNISH

• ▢ fresh fruit and edible flowers

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Instructions

CAKE FLOUR BLEND

• Make cake flour blend in the bowl of a food processor. Process for one minute to finely grind the milk powder and evenly combine the ingredients. Store in an airtight container.

ANGEL FOOD CAKE

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. DO NOT grease the Angel Food Cake pan.
• Place a strainer over a bowl and add first amount of icing sugar, cake flour, xanthan gum and salt straining it into the bowl. Move the strainer over a second bowl and again sift the mixture into that bowl. Repeat sifting the mixture 4 times.
• In the large bowl of a stand mixer beat the egg whites, water, cream of tartar and vanilla on medium-high speed.
• Gradually add the second amount of icing sugar a few tablespoons at a time. Continue beating on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, 3-4 minutes. Increase speed to high and beat until peaks become stiff and glossy, 2-3 minutes.
• In stages sift the flour mixture onto the egg white mixture and gently folding it in. Pour the batter into the Angel food cake pan. Lightly tap the pan on the counter a few times to settle the batter.
• Bake in preheated oven 30-35 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake upside down on an inverted glass or bottle until completely cooled, about 2 hours.

FILLING

• Whip the cream to soft peaks. Add the sugar and vanilla and continue beating until it forms stiff peaks.

ASSEMBLY

• Remove cooked cake from the pan using a small plastic spatula to loosen the sides if needed. Using a serrated knife cut the cake in half horizontally. Place the bottom half on a serving tray.
• Top with half of the whipped cream and most of the fruit. Place the top piece of cake on top.
• Drop whipped cream onto the top of the cake by the spoonful pushing it close to the edges. Decorate with more fruit and/or fresh edible flowers. Refrigerate until serving.

Notes

HOMEMADE FLOUR: To make a special cake I'm willing to make a special flour blend for a single recipe. I may only make one Angel Food Cake a year so I want it to turn out. Use the remaining flour in any recipe where you want a light texture like muffins, pancakes or waffles.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Gluten Free Angel Food Cake

Amount Per Serving (1 piece)

Calories 347 Calories from Fat 135

% Daily Value*

Fat 15g23%

Saturated Fat 9g56%

Polyunsaturated Fat 1g

Monounsaturated Fat 4g

Cholesterol 45mg15%

Sodium 189mg8%

Potassium 232mg7%

Carbohydrates 46g15%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 19g21%

Protein 7g14%

Vitamin A 638IU13%

Vitamin C 0.4mg0%

Calcium 64mg6%

Iron 0.4mg2%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.