This mixed berry angel food cake is a simple home-made version of the grocery store staple. With only a handful of ingredients, this fluffy, marshmallow-y cake pairs perfectly with a quick mixed berry compote for a cheery summer celebration cake.
Angel food cakes are an amazing feat of baking engineering. With no egg yolks, butter, oil or leaveners like baking soda, we can still make an incredibly light and fluffy cake with just egg whites, sugar and flour.
My first attempt at making this cake yielded this stumpy and coarse cake. A few adjustments later, and I got this tall-as-a-giraffe cake with a very fine crumb texture. It’s as if a marshmallow and a white cake had a little bundt cake baby. So, what did I adjust?
I actually decreased the amount of flour so the egg whites wouldn’t be too weighed down (I know, less flour means more cake in this case!) I switched to a finer sugar for a smoother texture. And I increased the oven temperature to get that spring in the cake rise and those quintessential cracks on top of the cake.
Looking for other berry desserts?
Try these on for size!
Ingredients
With just a few ingredients, this angel food cake is a naturally fat-free (maybe not healthy per se, but fat free) cake. And with some berries on top, you’re coming out way ahead in the health scale. That’s girl math, friends.
Angel Food Cake
- Egg whites. And a lot of them! I don’t recommend using carton egg whites when making these types of meringues. I will, however, store up fresh egg whites in the freezer as I use the yolks for other recipes. Defrost them in the fridge when you have enough for this cake.
- Granulated sugar. We are actually going to blitz this into a superfine or caster sugar to get the best texture. If you are able to get caster sugar where you are, that’s amazing, go ahead and swap out the granulated sugar! But because it’s hard to come by and isn’t so cost-effective, a food processor is our friend.
- Cream of tarter. This makes for a more stable meringue.
- Cake flour. Cake flour is very light and fine, and really makes a difference in the texture. I usually say you can make your own cheat cake flour at home, but for this cake, it’s a worthwhile investment and readily available in most grocery stores.
Mixed Berry Compote
This quick compote is a fantastic accompaniment to this simple vanilla cake.
- Mixed Berries. Use your favorites! Fresh or frozen both work. I used a mix of blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries, with a few leftover cherries that needed a home.
- Granulated sugar. Feel free to adjust on your sweetness preference. This is a good baseline amount, but you can add more or less depending on your mood and the sweetness of the berries.
- Lemon. A little zest and juice really perks up the berry flavor.
- Cornstarch. We have less sugar in the recipe than a traditional jam, so this will not set into a spreadable consistency. Instead, we are keeping it saucy for drizzling over the cake slices. The cornstarch will help thicken the juices into a glossy, pourable sauce.
Variations
More of a chocolate fan? Try topping the cake with chocolate syrup instead of berries. You can also use a lemon curd or whipped cream topping
Tips for a Great Angel Food Cake
While this cake only requires a handful of ingredients, anytime a meringue is involved, things can get a little finicky. But if you play by the egg whites rules, you will get a fantastic cake!
Start with a clean bowl. A really clean bowl! Wipe down your mixing bowl and whisk with a little white vinegar on a paper towel. This will ensure there’s no bits of leftover grease or fat on the bowl. Egg whites despise grease.
Make a superfine sugar. Noted above, if you have easy access to a superfine or “caster” sugar, you can totally skip this step. But I don’t really feel like driving the 30 minutes to the speciality food store and paying $15 for a thimble sized bag because it’s not a common ingredient in my town.
Instead, I blitz regular granulated sugar until its texture is much finer and will soak into the egg whites better. This will give us that fine, light crumb texture in the final cake.
Use the 3-bowl trick for eggs. Separating eggs is a high-stakes situation. Any spots of yolk and it can ruin a meringue in a flash. To combat this, use the 3-bowl method for separating eggs – 1 bowl for yolks, 1 bowl for whites, and 1 small bowl to crack the egg open before transferring over.
This way, if you crack a yolk, or have a bloody egg, you don’t ruin all 10 eggs. Crack the egg over the small bowl, allowing the egg white to fall. Place the yolk in the yolk-bowl. Transfer the clean egg white to the egg-white bowl before cracking the next egg.
Hint: cold eggs are easier to separate than room temperature eggs.
Mix delicately. Once you have a fluffy meringue, you don’t want to deflate it by smashing the flour in. That whipped meringue is the only leavening our cake has! Sift the flour over the meringue and gently fold – or stir – the flour in. To fold, scoop your rubber spatula straight down the middle to the bottom of the bowl. Pull the ingredients up and fold over. Turn the bowl and repeat.
Use the right pan and cool. Angel food cake needs a straight-sided bundt pan to bake properly. The egg whites need to literally climb up the sides of the pan. This is why you don’t grease or flour the pan either. The cake batter would just slip down.
An angel food cake pan will also have either feet or an elongated center post to allow the cake to cool upside down to prevent deflating. If your pan doesn’t, use a cooling rack or place the pan on a wine bottle to allow air circulation.
Frequently Asked Questions
The whites should be “stiff peak” stage, meaning when you lift the whisk, the eggs whites should stand up on their own with a very slight dip at the very peak.
Cake flour is a fine, bleached flour, very low in protein. This makes for a very light and airy cake.
If you don’t own a food processor, you can either buy superfine sugar (or caster sugar) or skip it all together! Regular granulated sugar does still work, but your final texture will be slightly more coarse.
Any of your favorite berries, or the ones that look the freshest, will work!
Store the cake at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days. The berry compote should be refrigerated and rewarmed or served cold when ready to eat.
I mean, it’s fat free, but I would not call angel food cake technically healthful. Still a part of a balanced diet!
Mixed Berry Angel Food Cake
Equipment
- Angel Food Cake Pan
- Food processor
- Flour sifter
Ingredients
Angel Food Cake
- 350 g granulated sugar*
- 120 g cake flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 350 g egg whites room temperature (about 10 egg whites)
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Mixed Berry Compote
- 450 g mixed berries fresh or frozen
- ½ cup water
- 99 g granulated sugar
- Zest and juice 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Cornstarch slurry 1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Angel food cake. Place rack in lower-third of the oven. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Do not grease or flour angel food cake pan.
- Place granulated sugar in a food processor and let process for 1-2 minutes, or until sugar is finely ground.**350 g granulated sugar*
- Remove 1/2 of the sugar (175g) and reserve for meringue. Add cake flour and salt to remaining 175g of sugar in the food processor. Blend for about 30 seconds.120 g cake flour, 1 teaspoon salt
- Wipe clean the bowl of a stand-mixer, or a large bowl if using a hand-mixer, with a small amount of lemon juice or vinegar on a paper towel to remove any trace of grease. Place egg whites, cream of tartar, and vanilla in clean bowl.350 g egg whites, 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Whip with a whisk on high until egg whites are hold a peak. Add 175g of ground sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Allow each addition to dissolve before adding the next. Continue whipping until a glossy meringue forms and holds a stiff peak when standing whisk upside down.
- Sift 1/4 of the flour mixture over the top of the meringue, and gently fold in using a rubber spatula – careful not to deflate the meringue. Continue sifting in the remaining 3 additions of flour, folding gently each time. It's better to leave a few streaks of flour than to over beat the eggs.
- Transfer into ungreased cake tin, and gently smooth into a single layer. Bake until lightly golden brown and cracks form on top. A toothpick should come out clean when inserted in the center.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool upside down for at least an hour to prevent deflation.
- Mixed berry compote. While cake cools, combine all compote ingredients, expect cornstarch slurry, in a medium pot. Cook on medium for 10-15 minutes until berries have burst and juices start to thicken, stirring occasionally.450 g mixed berries, 1/2 cup water, 99 g granulated sugar, Zest and juice 1 lemon, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Stir in cornstarch slurry and bring mixture to a light boil for 1-2 minutes until mixture is glossy and thickened. Remove from heat.Cornstarch slurry
- Serving. When cake is cool, run a palette knife or butter knife around the edges to loosen cake. Shimmy cake from pan. Slice with a serrated knife and serve with compote and mixed berry whipped cream if desired***.
Notes
- Store leftover angel food cake in airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Refrigerate leftover compote in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Disclaimer: We test all recipes using the metric weights shown, we cannot guarantee outcomes when switching to US measurements.