Thanks be to Whomever Created Angel Food Cake!

September 13th is my Mom's birthday. It is a tradition in my family, on each person's birthday every year, to have Angel Food Cake.


Now, I'm not a horribly religious person, but I definitely give thanks to whomever came up with the recipe for Angel Food Cake. It is deliciously light, melt-in-your-mouth airy, and contains WAY fewer calories than most of it's siblings in the dessert category. Angel Food cake takes the edge off of one's sweet tooth without initiating those post-dessert self deprecating thoughts of "why did I just eat that?!?"

You can buy Angel Food cakes at most grocery stores and many bakeries around the world. In my opinion, pre-bought doesn't come close to the level of "yum" that comes with home baked Angel Food Cake. Any great cookbook will provide you with an easy to follow Angel Food Cake recipe. Below is the one I used for my mom's birthday, courtesy of The New Best Recipe cook book.

Angel Food Cake


1 cup (3 oz) sifted plain Cake Flour
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 oz) Granulated Sugar
12 - 14 large Egg Whites (1 3/4c +2 TBSP) at room temperature*
1 tsp Cream of Tartar
1/4 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Almond Extract

*The # eggs will be determined by the size of the eggs. Measure the amount of whites you have as you separate to make sure you have the correct amount.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Make sure the oven rack is on the lower-middle position. Have ready an ungreased large Angel Food Cake pan (9-in diamater/16-cup capacity). Whisk flour & 3/4 cup sugar together. Place the remaining 3/4 cup sugar in another bowl & set aside. Sift mixture through a standard kitchen mixer 4-5 times.

Separate egg whites from the yolks. This can be a bit of a challenge. For tips & tricks, check out the "how to" section of the Creative Confectionery blog. Don't know what to do with the egg yolks? Try my Bearnaise Sauce recipe!

Beat the egg whites until just broken up and beginning to froth.


Add the Cream of Tartar and salt and beat at medium speed until the whites form very soft, billowy mounds. Continuing the mixer at medium speed, add the remainder of the sugar, 1 TBSP at a time, until all the sugar is added and the whites are shiny and form soft peaks.


Add the Vanilla and Almond Extract and beat until just blended.

Sift the flour-sugar mixture into the egg white mixture about 3 TBSP at a time, folding it into the egg white mixture. **Very Important!: Make sure to FOLD, not MIX. Mixing will cause the air bubbles in the egg white mixture to dissipate and your cake will not come out correctly!**


Gently scrape batter into the Angel Food Cake Pan & even out. Give the pan a few raps on the counter to make sure there are not big air pockets.


Bake until the cake is golden brown and the top springs back when pressed firmly, about 50-60 minutes. When the cake is done, invert pan & allow cake to cool IN the pan for at least 1 hour.


When you're ready to serve, remove cake by cutting around the edges and bottom of pan. Enjoy with light whipped cream, strawberries, or whatever else you love on top!

Normally, this is how my family enjoys Angel Food Cake. However, being it a special birthday for my mom (come on, a girl never tells her age) I decided to give the cake a classic twist: the way my Mema (my Mom's mom) used to make the cake. I made Whipped Cream from scratch (not light, but sometimes you have to splurge - everything in moderation), frosted the cake & quartered Merishino Cherries, scattering them around the cake.

Huge hit, very delicious, happy birthday for Mom.

Have a great Angel Food Cake recipe or story? Share it with me & you may be featured in a follow up blog post!