A party without (angel food) cake, is just a meeting.
-Julia Child
What is my favorite things about spring time you ask? Well, I love everything about it. But more specifically: 1) I love that its cool enough to walk your dogs outside without sweating to death, 2) patio weather! Hello cold drinks with friends on the back porch! & 3) it’s just warm enough for shorts but cool enough for a comfy long sleeve shirt.
During this season of the year, I love to make light and airy desserts to match the weather. My all time favorite light & airy dessert comes from my Aunt Beth. Growing up, every 4th of July, she made a red, white & blue angel food cake flag (mainly for America..but also for Averys birthday that happened later in the month).
Now as an adult I love making my Gluten Free Mini Angel Food Cake when we have dinner with friends. It is sweet enough to satisfy my dessert cravings & light enough to not make me feel overly full. Making angel food cake is much easier than you would think, there are a few simple steps you need to follow to ensure that your cake comes out with that light spongey texture that makes it so delicious!
How to make my easy GF Mini Angel Food Cake:
First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Next, grab a sifter & flour.
Gluten Free Baking Tip: [Making a recipe gluten free is really simple with Bobs 1:1 Baking Flour. It has xanthan gum already incorporated into it flour so you don’t have to worry about calculating the conversion or how much gum to add in to your recipe!]
The key to fluffy angel food cake is to make sure you don’t have any clumps in your batter. You will want to sift your flour at least 3-4 times before progressing to the next step.
Yes, it takes a minute to do but it is worth it for the airy cake in the end!
Once you are finished sifting, add salt to the flour and set aside until it is needed.
Now it is time to make your meringue.
To do this, add room temperature egg whites, water, cream of tartar and vanilla extract to your stand mixer. Beat on medium speed the ingredients together while gradually adding in the remaining sugar.
When all of your sugar is added, beat on high for 2-3 minutes until stiff peaks form and your meringue is glossy.
Next, and this is very important, add the flour/salt mixture to the meringue and FOLD the flour into the mixture until well combined.
You want to keep as much air in your batter as possible so that it will bake into that light spongey cake you are looking for.
Gently add your batter to your angel food cake tin. Take a knife and run it through the batter to capture any air pockets.
Place your cake tin in the oven & bake your cakes for 30-35 minutes until the outsides are browned.
You can’t physically see it but these little cakes were crispy on the edges & beautifully spongey on the inside!
Place your freshly baked cakes on a cooling rack UPSIDE DOWN and allow them to cool for 1 hour.
When your cakes have completely cooled remove them from the cake tins, they are now ready to eat!
How to serve your GF Mini Angel Food Cake:
Top your little cakes with a thick layer of homemade whipped cream & fresh berries.
These mini angel food cakes are perfect for parties & get together with friends. They also work great for a just because dessert, because you deserve it!
ENJOY!
- 6 egg whites (room temperature)
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 6 tbsp gluten free baking flour
- 3 tbsp warm water
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- stand mixer/ hand mixer
- angel food cake baking tin/mini cake tin
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
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Into sifter add 1/2 of your powdered sugar (6 tbsp of sugar) & gluten free flour. Sift through 4 times. Add salt & mix together. Set aside.
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To make meringue: Add egg whites, water, cream of tartar and vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed while gradually adding in the remaining 6 tbsp of sugar.
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When all sugar is added beat on high for 2-3 minutes until stiff peaks form and your meringue is glossy.
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Gently fold flour mixture into meringue in 4 batches. Do this quickly so meringue does not loose shape.
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Spray mini cake pan with baking cooking spray so your angel food cake does not stick to sides when complete.
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Add meringue mixture into mini cake pan. Fill to top. Run a knife through your mini cakes to remove air pockets that may have formed & smooth out the top of the cakes.
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Bake in oven for 30-35 minutes until the cakes are spongey to the touch & light brown on top.
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When completely cooked place your cake pan onto cooling rack upside down. Allow to cool for 1 full hour before removing from the pans.
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When cakes have cooled remove from cake pan. Garnish with whipped cream and fresh fruit. Serve & enjoy!
I don’t see where to add the corn starch in the instructions?
I believe you will be sifting the corn starch and GF flour to create a GF cake flour. 🙂
I see corn starch in the ingredients but don’t know where to add it in the recipe. It isn’t mentioned in the directions. Please advise.
I had a similar problem :/
This recipe turned out amazing! The only thing that I have to add is maybe try whipped the meringue for 10 minutes? 2-3 didn’t seem to work for me even on my mixers highest speed. I know my mom will absolutely love it for Mother’s Day❤️