angel food cake loaf;
Angel food cake is a light and airy white cake full of fluffy sweetness and the perfect summer dessert. The traditional angel food cake is made in a bundt pan–which is a lot of cake for a small family!
So this angel food cake loaf is made instead in a loaf pan and the perfect size to get 10-12 slices for a small get-together, or a few sweet treats through a week of summer nights! I love pairing the angel food cake loaf with light and fresh ingredients–like berries (strawberries are my favorite) and fresh cream.
The key to angel food cake is air. The actual recipe for angel food cake loaf is pretty simple: sugar, flour, egg whites, vanilla, salt, and a couple of stabilizing ingredients. Beaten egg whites give volume and make everything light and fluffy. The sugar and vanilla keep things sweet, and the flour holds the loaf together.
Because you’ll want to whip egg whites to soft peaks, you’ll want a hand or stand mixer to do the heavy lifting. I’m sure somebody could whip them by hand and get the same consistency, but it ain’t me. When it comes to soft peaks, that means you’re looking for glossy, white, and opaque egg whites.
The key to angel food cake is air. It starts by whipping egg whites to ‘soft peaks’.
Secret to success
When you lift a beater out of the mixture, it should cling to the beater. It should form a “soft” peak, think the top of an ice cream cone. As you pull away it retains shape, but the peak itself should fall over or droop. The alternative is a “hard” peak which is pretty rigid and retains it’s shape as you pull the beater away.
Honestly, that’s probably the hardest part of the recipe–otherwise, be gentle when you fold in the rest of the ingredients. You don’t want to deflate the air you just spent minutes whipping into your egg whites!
Another way to ensure the loaf stays light and fluffy after baking is to let it rest upside after removing it from the oven. I kept coming across this instruction as I was researching, and immediately went “huh?”. Apparently this helps keep the angel food cake loaf light and fluffy and prevents deflation.
But I went “okay, whatever” and proceeded to not think about the calculus of how to actually turn the thing upside down until the hot loaf came out of the oven. Lucky for you, you read my secrets to success and won’t have to panic make a makeshift rig to cool your cake upside down!
Let the loaf rest upside down to keep it light and fluffy and prevents deflation.
Secret to success
Since a traditional angel food cake uses a bundt pan, there’s usually a hole or protrusion in the middle to work with. You can turn it upside on a bottle, or rest the pan on it’s open top pretty easily. However, a loaf pan is a brick. The best way I found to let the angel food cake loaf rest upside down is to get 4 equal height and rest each corner of the pan on one can.
You can actually still see the imprints of the can edges in the corner of my angel food cake loaf. But I think it gives a little character to the cake!
Since you want the cake the rest upside down, you’ll actually don’t want to over-prep your loaf pan. You want it to adhere to the sides of the pan enough that you can flip it upside down without fear of the cake sliding out. I find that the best option for me is to cut a piece of parchment exactly to the bottom of the loaf pan enough make sure it doesn’t come up the sides. This is the best of both worlds in my opinion.
Since the cake needs to rest upside down, make sure to prepare your loaf pan the right way.
Secret to success
That way the sides of the loaf provide the sticky structure to hold the angel food cake loaf upside down. But once you run a knife around the edges, your bottom comes off clean and easy.
Once your angel food cake loaf is rested and ready, get your toppings ready! My favorite is homemade whipped cream and strawberries, and maybe a little drizzle of chocolate sauce. But you could do a mixed berry topping, or make your own lime or lemon curd, or a sprinkle of powdered sugar, or a chocolate caramel drizzle.
secrets to success;
Want all the best tips and tricks to make this recipe a success? Check out the blog post above to find out more!
more recipes;
Looking for other recipes to go with your angel food cake loaf? Look no further!
- Another favorite recipe that’s perfect for the summer is sweet corn mochi cornbread
- For a fun twist on a classic, pair this perfect little angel food cake loaf with more berries in this reverse strawberry shortcake or strawberry pound cake parfait for light and airy options.
- Another quick and simple summer dessert is chocolate icebox cake–chocolate cookies layered between fresh cream. Letting it sit overnight softens all the cookies and makes a surprisingly cake-like texture.
angel food cake loaf;
Ingredients
- ¾ cup sugar divided (¼ + ½ cup)
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch (or rice flour)
- 1 cup egg whites (roughly 7 large egg whites)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract extract
- ¾ tsp cream of tartar
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- Prepare your loaf pan. And for this recipe, prepare actually means do nothing. Do not spray or butter the sides of your loaf pan; do not line it with parchment paper. We want the cake to stick to the sides of the pan so it can rest upside down. More to come on this later.
- In a medium bowl, combine ¼ cup sugar, ½ cup flour, 1 Tbsp cornstarch, whisk lightly and set aside.
- Meanshile, in the bowl of a stand mixer, or alternatively, a large bowl, add 1 cup (7 individual) egg whites, 2 tsp vanilla, ¾ tsp cream of tartar, and ¼ tsp salt.
- Using the whisk attachment on your stand mixer or a hand mixer, beat on medium speed until foamy, approximately 30 seconds.
- Turn the mixing speed up to high, then slowly add the remaining ½ cup sugar, 1 Tbsp at a time, over roughly 4-5 minutes. The egg whites should become glossy and smooth and form soft peaks. This means it has enough structure that if you pull the beater out, it will hold a little bit of shape, but the tip will quickly droop back into the bowl.
- Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and/or set aside the beaters. Gently add the dry mix in thirds, gently stirring and folding in the flour mixture with a rubber spatula. Make sure the mixture is smooth and has no lumps, but try not to overmix as this will take some of the air out of the batter.
- Pour batter into a loaf pan and bake for approximately 40 minutes or until the top and sides are a golden brown. The top should no longer be sticky when removing the loaf from the oven.
- While the cake is baking, prepare your "upside down" station. To keep the freshly baked angel food loaf from deflating, you'll want it to rest upside down straight out of the oven. Place four cans of even height at each corner of your pan. Remove the loaf from the oven and invert, so the top faces down, and rest each corner of the pan on a can to keep it aloft.
- Allow to cool for at least 60 minutes. Once cooled, remove to a normal position, and run a knife around the edges of the pan. Gently remove the loaf from the pan.
- To serve use a serrated knife to cut slices and top with lemon curd, fresh whipped cream, berry compote, and/or a drizzle of chocolate sauce.
