Give me a simple, fresh slice of this airy Healthy Angel Food Cake piled with fruit and I am in heaven. It is the perfect dessert to end a warm summer night of grilling and eating outside with family and friends! Not to mention, Angel Food Cake is low in calories and this one is no exception.

Give me a simple, fresh slice of airy Angel Food Cake piled with fruit and I am in heaven. It is the perfect dessert to end a warm Summer night of grilling and eating outside with your family and friends! | Healthy Seasonal Recipes | Katie Webster

I originally shared this recipe on August 5, 2010. I have updated the images and some of the text today.

Why We Love This Recipe For Healthy Angel Food Cake

This angel food cake is such a simple and light dessert when paired with sweet and tart berries and sliced stone fruit. And that’s just for starters. You can use it in place of lady fingers in trifle. It would also be so delicious served with the super yummy Spiced Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote from my Strawberry Rhubarb Shortcakes. There are lots of reasons to get excited about this cake!

Recipe Highlights

  • Serve this airy cake with a bowl of berries and some freshly whipped cream. There’s not a single person who won’t enjoy it.
  • It’s kid-friendly. You could even have them help out with baking it.
  • Angel food cake typically has fewer calories than regular cake. This one has 160 calories per slice.
  • This is a whole grain angel food cake (read: healthier angel food cake) because it uses a blend of whole-wheat pastry flour and all-purpose flour.
Healthy Angel Food Cake next to a bowl of blueberries and strawberries

Key Ingredients For This Healthy Angel Food Cake Recipe

  • Sugar: Regular granulated white sugar is best for this recipe. I wouldn’t recommend switching it out for another type of sugar.
  • Flour: I use a blend of all-purpose flour and whole-wheat pastry flour. I prefer to use whole-wheat flour for added nutritional benefits, but if you only have white that will work fine.
  • Kosher Salt
  • Egg Whites: The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups egg whites, from 10 to 12 eggs.
  • Cream of Tartar: This helps to stabilize the egg whites in the cake.
  • Flavorings: Both almond extract and vanilla extract are staples in angel food cake. Although I would recommend using both, the almond extract is optional.
Overhead shot of Healthy Angel Food Cake next to blueberries and strawberries

Step-by-Step Instructions to Make This Healthy Angel Food Cake

Step 1: Preheat oven

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Step 2: Sift dry ingredients

Sift the sugar, all-purpose flour, whole-wheat pastry flour, and salt into a bowl. Repeat the sifting process two more times and set aside. Sifting the sugar and flour multiple times ensures they are well incorporated and there are no lumps.

Step 3: Beat egg whites

Beat the egg whites and the cream of tartar together with an electric mixer on medium-high until soft peaks form. For the ideal volume and stability of the whipped egg whites, you have to wait until soft peaks have already formed. Once they have, increase the speed to high and very gradually add the sugar to the egg whites and beat them until stiff glossy peaks form. 

Step 4: Bake angel food cake

Gently fold the almond extract and vanilla extract into the egg whites using a rubber spatula. Gently fold the flour mixture into the meringue 1/3 at a time. Make sure to gently fold the extracts and flour mixture into the whites so that you do not deflate the whites. You should never be whisking. Check out how to fold ingredients by Completely Delicious.  Spread the batter into an ungreased Angel Food Cake pan with a removable bottom. Bake the cake until it’s puffed, golden and springs back when lightly touched, about 45 minutes.

Step 5: Allow cake to cool

Once the cake has finished baking, invert the cake over the neck of a bottle and let it cool completely. To remove the cake from the pan, run a knife (a boning knife is best) around all the edges and the middle ring of the cake. Invert it onto a cake stand or serving platter.

Chefs Tip: The main thing to keep in mind when making a good Angel Food Cake is that it’s all about putting (and keeping) as much air as possible into the batter.  An electric hand mixer or stand mixer is a must. It’s also a matter of knowing what to look for when beating the egg whites. You want to see stiff glossy peaks. 

When you fold the ingredients into the egg whites, make sure to go gently and try not to deflate them too much. I use a rubber spatula or bowl scraper to do that.

A slice of Healthy Angel Food Cake on a plate with berries

FAQs and Expert Tips

Why are my egg whites not whipping up?

Make sure your bowl and whisk are clean when beating the egg whites. Any leftover fat or grease may keep the whites from whipping up.

Why does the cake have to cool upside down?

It’s important to cool the cake inverted on the neck of a bottle and to make sure it’s completely cool before removing it from the pan. This helps keep the cake from collapsing on itself.

Can I make this recipe gluten-free?

I made this recipe a lot for a personal chef client who couldn’t tolerate gluten.  I just substituted 1 cup brown rice flour for the all-purpose flour and whole-wheat pastry flour and it worked great. I also made sure to use alcohol-free extracts when I was cooking for her.

Can angel food cake be made in a bundt pan?

It might sound tempting, but I would recommend you don’t. Since you don’t grease the pan, you need that inner tube to help break up the surface that’s touching the bottom of the pan. Additionally, most bundt pans are non-stick which won’t work for this recipe. If you don’t have a tube pan you can use a tall cake pan and place an empty metal can in the middle to act as the tube.

Storage Instructions

Store the cake, covered at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Can’t I Just Buy One From The Store?

Of course you can… but when you make angel food cake you get a cake that has a better sweetness balance and a much better texture. It won’t be as spongy as those store-bought ones. A homemade cake will also have much more flavor and complexity.

Thanks so much for reading! If you are new here, you may want to sign up for my email newsletter to get a free weekly menu plan and the latest recipes right to your inbox. If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought!

Happy Cooking! ~Katie

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Give me a simple, fresh slice of airy Angel Food Cake piled with fruit and I am in heaven. It is the perfect dessert to end a warm Summer night of grilling and eating outside with your family and friends! | Healthy Seasonal Recipes | Katie Webster

Healthy Angel Food Cake


5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 5 reviews

  • Author: Katie Webster
  • Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
  • Yield: 12 servings 1x

Description

Give me a simple, fresh slice of this airy Healthy Angel Food Cake piled with fruit and I am in heaven. It is the perfect dessert to end a warm summer night of grilling and eating outside with family and friends! Not to mention, angel food cake is low in calories and this one is no exception.


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 1/2 cup sugar, divided
  • 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cup egg whites (10 to12 eggs)
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Sift 3/4 cup sugar with all purpose flour, whole-wheat pastry flour and salt. Repeat 2 more times and set aside.
  3. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer on medium-high until soft peaks form. Increase speed to high and gradually beat in the remaining 3/4 cup sugar and continue beating until stiff glossy peaks form.
  4. Gently fold almond extract and vanilla extract into the whites using a rubber spatula. Gently fold the flour mixture into the meringue 1/3 at a time. Spread into an ungreased Angel Food Cake pan with a removable bottom and bake until puffed, golden and springs back when lightly touched about 45 minutes.
  5. Cool the cake in the pan inverted over the neck of a bottle. To remove from the pan, run a knife (a boning knife is best) around all the edges and middle ring of cake. Invert onto a cake stand or serving platter.

Notes

Cooking Note: It’s important to cool the cake inverted on the neck of a bottle and to make sure it’s completely cool before removing it from the pan. This helps keep the cake from collapsing on itself.

0 mg sodium, 24 g added sugars

  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 45 minutes
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1/12th cake
  • Calories: 160
  • Sugar: 25 g
  • Sodium: 56 mg
  • Fat: 0.1 g
  • Saturated Fat: 0 g
  • Carbohydrates: 35 g
  • Fiber: 1 g
  • Protein: 5 g

Here are the original images associated with this blog post.

A plate of food on a table, with Angel food cake
ingredients for Angel food cake and Flour