Light & Airy Gluten-Free Angel Food Cake

recipe by: Sarah Menanix

yields: -14 slices

prep time: 20

cook time: 1

total time: 1 20

This gluten-free angel food cake is light and airy, while still incredibly moist. With a slight nuttiness from almond flour and almond extract, this gluten-free sponge cake is so flavorful and the perfect cake to pair with whipped cream and strawberries.

5 from 8 reviews

Ingredients

325 g (1½ cups + 2 tablespoons) granulated sugar
35 g (¼ cup + 1 tablespoon) Bob's Red Mill Super-Fine Blanched Almond Flour
35 g (¼ cup + 1 tablespoon) Bob's Red Mill Tapioca Flour
40 g (¼ cup) Bob's Red Mill Sweet Rice Flour, different from white rice flour or brown rice flour
34 g (¼ cup) Bob's Red Mill Cornstarch
½ teaspoon xanthan gum
½ teaspons kosher salt
380 g (1½ cups) egg whites, room temperature (from about 11-12 whole large eggs)
1½ teaspoons cream of tartar
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
Powdered sugar, whipped cream, and berries, for serving (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a food processor or blender, pulse the sugar until super fine and powdery, 1-2 minutes. Remove 200g (1 cup) and set aside.
To the remaining sugar in the food processor or blender, add the almond flour, tapioca flour, sweet rice flour, cornstarch, xanthan gum, and salt, and pulse 10x until the flour is light and fluffy. Set aside.
Add the room temperature egg whites and cream of tartar to the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip on medium-low for about a minute until the eggs are foamy.
Increase speed to medium-high and very slowly pour in the 1 cup of fine sugar you pulsed. Whip for about 5 minutes, until soft (but not firm!) peaks form. When you lift the mixer, a peak should not stand up at a point, but instead, fall back onto itself (see photo above). Just before it's done, add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix into the egg whites.
Using a fine mesh sieve, sift the flour and sugar mixture you set aside into the egg whites in four batches, using a silicone spatula to fold the dry ingredients in slowly and carefully after each addition until just mixed.
Spoon or pour the batter into an ungreased 9 or 10-inch tube pan for angel food cake, ensuring the batter hits all the corners. Gently shake the pan to smooth the surface and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 325°F and bake for an additional 43-47 minutes (for a total of 58-62 minutes), until a toothpick in the middle comes out clean.
When the cake comes out of the oven, immediately invert the pan onto the counter to cool completely upside down, 1.5-2 hours. If the middle of your tube pan does not touch the counter, support it with an upside-down bowl or cup while it cools (see picture). This ensures the cake maintains it structure while it cools.
Run a knife around the edge of the pan before removing it from the pan. Dust with powdered sugar. To slice, use a sharp serrated knife and gently saw back and forth to avoid deflating/smashing the cake. Serve with whipped cream and strawberries, if desired.

Video

Notes

If your angel food cake collapses or turns out gummy:

While super simple to make once you get the hang of it, angel food cake can be a bit more finicky than cakes that use chemical leaveners and fats. Here are the most likely culprit for an angel food cake that collapses or is gummy.

- Over or under whipped egg whites. Under aerating your egg whites won't give you cake the lift and structure needed. On the same note, overwhipping your egg whites can make it so the egg whites have no room to continue to rise and puff in the oven. See the section above about how to whip your egg whites and watch the video to see it in action.

- Underbaking. Underbaked angel food cake will collapse and turn out gummy, as too much moisture is retained in the cake. As mentioned above, I have yet to overbake this gluten-free angel food cake, so when in doubt, err on the side of overbaking the cake.

- Not cooling completely or upside down. It's important to invert the cake while it cools and to cool it completely so it can maintain its structure as it cools. Cooling it right-side up can cause it to collapse before the structure sets. Likewise, cutting into it too soon before the structure of the cake sets, can cause it to collapse.