Angel Food Cake with Vanilla Bean

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Angel Food Cake with Vanilla Bean
Published November 1, 2018. Updated May 11, 2021

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Angel Food Cake is a must have cake recipe! When you make it at home it’s so much better. It’s light and fluffy as a cloud, it has the perfect vanilla bean flavor, and it’s the perfect base to your favorite sauces and toppings.

The Perfect Angel Food Cake Recipe!

Here is a tried and trusted recipe I have been using for years that I absolutely love. The past few years, I’ve used this Angel Food Cake recipe to make cupcakes flavored different ways, and just recently I decided it was finally time to invest in a good angel food cake pan and make a full cake.

I’m really not a fan of the incredibly dry angel food cakes from the grocery store and this recipe is easily a thousand times better. Believe it or not, it’s an angel food cake that is not dry!

Before, I’d have to have my store-bought angel food cakes drowning in some kind of sauce, but this one doesn’t even need anything — although a sweet, rich, vanilla bean whipped cream never hurt anyone either.

I kept going into the kitchen the two days this lasted, slicing off sliver after sliver, and any time anyone else would catch me they had to have one too. This homemade angel food cake really is totally irresistible, which isn’t really a typical way to describe an angel food cake — but this one is totally worthy of your recipe book.

Angel Food Cake Ingredients

For this homemade angel food cake, you’ll need:

Granulated sugar
Salt
Cake flour
Egg whites
Warm water
Vanilla beans
Vanilla extract
Cream of tartar
Sweetened whipped cream and strawberries, for serving

How to Make Angel Food Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Pulse sugar in food processor and until super fine.
In a mixing bowl, sift together half of the sugar, the cake flour and the salt.
In a mixing bowl whisk together egg whites, water, vanilla beans, vanilla extract and cream of tartar.
Switch to a hand mixer and whip mixture on medium speed while slowly adding remaining sugar to mixture, until medium peaks form.
Sift in a thin layer of flour mixture and gently fold, repeat until all flour has been mixed in.
Spoon the batter evenly into an ungreased angel food cake pan.
Bake until set.
Remove cake from oven and cool upside down on a wire rack.

Do I Have to Use Vanilla Bean?

Vanilla beans can be so expensive, so you can just up the vanilla extract to 1 1/2 tsp if desired. It’s also delicious with 1/2 tsp almond extract.

Can I Use Pre-Separated Egg Whites for This Cake?

No, the store-bought egg whites that come in a carton can’t be used for this cake recipe. The egg whites in a carton won’t whip up properly and the texture of your angel food cake will be off.

What Should I Do with The Leftover Egg Yolks?

This recipe calls for 12 egg whites, which will leave you with lots of leftover egg yolks. Definitely don’t throw them in the garbage!

I have a lot of recipes on my blog that use egg yolks — you can check out the full egg yolk recipe archive here. Off the top of my head, I know my Salted Caramel Pots de Creme use 6 egg yolks, but you could also go the easy route and just make scrambled eggs with them!

Tips for the Best Angel Food Cake

I recommend using a heavy, dark coated angel food cake pan for this recipe as it will give the cake the nice golden brown crust and will retain heat and help the cake cook evenly. I bought and used this pan for this angel food cake recipe.
Pulse the flour and sugar for a fine texture.
Make sure there’s not a drop of egg yolk in the whites. I like to crack each one separately into a bowl case a yolk breaks.
Don’t grease the cake pan.
Turn the pan immediately after removing from oven so cake doesn’t deflate.

More Homemade Cake Recipes You’ll Love:

Red Velvet Cake
Lemon Poppy Seed Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Spice Cake
Carrot Cake
Pumpkin Cake
Banana Cake
Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake
Chocolate Sheet Cake