So often those of us who live gluten free elicit sympathy because we have to eat less than stellar desserts. Or so others think anyway. There are many amazing gluten-free recipes that don’t sell any individual short—whether those individuals live gluten free or not—and this gluten-free Angel Food Cake from Linda Etherton, who most of us have known as Gluten-Free Homemaker, is one of them.
Linda recently closed her site after providing so many years of friendship and outstanding support to the gluten-free community. She will be greatly missed!
Luckily for all of us, she is graciously allowing me to share some of her most beloved recipes here on gfe. Let’s start with her famous gluten-free Angel Food Cake!
Linda says: “Angel food cake was always a favorite of mine when I was a kid. If you’ve always loved this dessert too, or even if you’ve never had it, this gluten-free angel food cake truly is heavenly. In fact, I think it’s one of those recipes where the gluten-free version is better than the version with gluten!
It goes great with berries, and since the cake itself is so light, it’s ideal for summer. If you serve it with strawberries and blueberries, you have a perfect red, white, and blue dessert for the 4th of July. It’s also delicious with lemon curd, which my husband particularly loves.
You need a tube pan (not a bundt pan) to make angel food cake. One with “legs” sticking out the top of the pan is nice because the cake cools inverted in the pan. If it doesn’t have legs, you can invert the pan onto a bottle. The pan should not be non-stick (and it should not be greased). If it is, the cake may fall out when you turn it over to cool. Mine looks like this one.
It’s also nice to have a two-piece pan where the metal tube and pan bottom fit into the round part of the pan. Because the cake sticks to the pan, this allows you to loosen the sides after it cools and remove the tube.”
I also think of Angel Food Cake as a spring cake and I love Linda’s simple presentation year-round. Perhaps you would like to try my very favorite way of eating this cake—a more indulgent and decadent way—sliced into chunks for dipping in this Chocolate Fondue.
I’m not just “waxing poetic” here; I’m speaking from personal experience on this cake and its heavenly fall into chocolate grace!
Dipping Angel Food Cake Into Chocolate Fondue (Thanks to Heather, formerly Gluten-Free Cat, for this photo!)
If you think Angel Food Cake is too much for any reason (e.g., need for a special pan, need for so many eggs), consider making Linda’s Gluten-Free Angel Food Cupcakes instead! They taste exactly the same and you get individual portions. They’re perfect for a celebration!
Last, if you need more angel food cake options—perhaps grain-free, refined sugar-free, and keto options or flavored angel food cake recipes—check out this collection of the best Gluten-Free Angel Food Cakes!
Gluten-Free Angel Food Cake Recipe
Gluten-Free Angel Food Cake
Angel Food Cake is considered the “Food of the Angels” because of its airy lightness, and I'm happy to tell you that this gluten-free Angel Food Cake is even better than the original, gluten-full version. Trust me; I'm not wrong on this!
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup potato starch
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch or flour
- 1/4 cup millet flour or (very finely ground white rice flour)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum (see notes)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 12 large egg whites (1 1/2 cups), room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 teaspoon almond extract)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- Separate the eggs and let the whites sit in your mixing bowl (glass or metal, not plastic) for about 30 minutes so they come to room temperature.
- Be sure your bowl is very clean and there is absolutely no yolk in the whites. It is best to separate each egg into a small bowl, then add it to the rest of the whites. That way if a bit of yolk gets in with the white, you can save the egg for another purpose and not ruin the whole batch.
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, potato starch, tapioca starch, millet flour, xanthan gum, and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the egg whites, cream of tartar, and vanilla extract until foamy. (I used my KitchenAid whisk attachment.)
- Slowly add the granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Do not overbeat.
- Fold in the flour mixture about one-fourth at a time, making sure you scrape the bottom of the bowl when you fold. Do not mix, just gently fold until all the flour mixture is moistened.
- Spoon the mixture into an ungreased angel food cake pan (one without a non-stick coating) and smooth the top.
- Remove air pockets by gently cutting through the center of the batter with a thin metal spatula (icing spreader) or knife.
- Bake for 35 minutes, then check for doneness. A wooden skewer inserted in the center should come out dry. Also, the cracks in the top of the cake should be dry and the top should spring back when touched. Mine took 45 minutes.
- Turn the cake upside down and cool for at least an hour in the pan. Most tube pans have legs to keep the top of the cake off the counter. If yours does not, invert onto a bottle inserted into the tube. (See notes.)
- When cool, run your metal spatula or a knife around the sides to loosen. Remove the outer part of the pan. Run your spatula under the cake to loosen it from the bottom and remove cake to a cake plate.
Notes
Linda reported that she has made this cake successfully without the xanthan gum. She said the egg whites provide enough binding power for this cake.
Originally published January 11, 2103; updated May 13, 2023.
InTolerant Chef says
Just heavenly! 🙂
Shirley says
InTolerant Chef–I can vouch for this one. It truly is heavenly! I had never been excited about Angel Food Cakes UNTIL I tried Linda’s version. 🙂
Shirley
Melanie says
Hey Shirley, Do you know if the angel food cake is just as good two days after baking? I would love to make this for my grandmother for her 85th birthday, but I only have time to make it today. B-day celebration is on Tuesday. Do you think it will still work if I do not cut into it and wrap it super well once cooled? I’ve never made an angel food cake before so any help would be appreciated.
I love the new site by the way!! 🙂
Shirley says
Hey Melanie–Thanks for the sweet feedback on AGFD! 🙂 How wonderful that you want to make this for your grandmother’s special birthday! I know that we enjoyed this cake the day after Linda made it when she visited this summer and it was every bit as good. Then after everyone left, Son showed up and had his share and flipped over it. He was enjoying it at least two days, maybe three days after Linda made it. So I think you will be fine with your plans! Fingers crossed! And happy birthday to your grandmother!
xo,
Shirley
Melanie says
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly,Shirley! It’s in the oven now, I’ll let you know how it goes after the party on Tuesday. 🙂
Melanie says
This cake has had its praises sung all week long! I served it at my grandmothers 85th birthday party to a crowd of gluten eating family and friends. They could not believe how delicious it was or the fact that it was gluten free! Literally, this cake has been talked about for three days. Thank you so much for sharing it with us, Shirley! I would have not known about it if you had not posted it here. I’m going to let Linda know how much everyone liked it too!
Shirley says
Oh, Melanie, this feedback is simply fantastic! Thank you so much for coming back to share with us all. I told you that cake was amazing! 🙂 I know Linda will be thrilled to hear your and your family’s review!
xo,
Shirley
Mary says
Hi Shirley;
Thank you for sharing Linda’s recipe! I made it yesterday and it’s AMAZING! First time making an Angel Food Cake from scratch and it turned out perfect…so very good. The batter is light as a cloud and it was fun to watch it puff up in the oven and stay beautiful and airy. I used half vanilla and half almond extract and the flavor was perfect. YUM!!
Shirley says
Hey Mary–That’s fantastic news! Everyone needs to make this recipe, don’t you think? 😉 It’s a pure delight! I like the idea of using half vanilla extract and half almond extract, too. 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing with us!
Shirley
Claudia says
Can you suggest a substitute for xanthan gum? I know it’s in a ton of GF products, but I found out the hard way that it’s not advisable for people who are truly gluten-intolerant. Nor is carrageenan. Dr. Joann Tobacman at University of Illinois has done a couple decades of research on the latter. She feels it should not be in our food supply as it adversely affects the intestines. So far, the FDA is ignoring the warnings and is still permitting its use. As to X gum, here’s one article:
Shirley says
Hi Claudia–Welcome to All Gluten-Free Desserts. 🙂 There are lots of folks who can’t or won’t eat xanthan gum, and there lots of different substitutes. I think that subbing for the gum in a cake like this one might prove difficult. You might try Dr. Jean Layton’s Pixie Dust xanthan gum replacer. It’s a mix of flax seeds, chia seeds, and psyllium husk powder. You make it yourself. You can find the recipe here. Of course, I really have no idea if this gum replacement will work in this recipe. You will have to do some experimenting and you might want to try the replacement first in another recipe that requires less ingredients and less effort like a cookie recipe to see if you like the results. Good luck!
Shirley
Susan Short says
Can this recipe be made into cupcakes?
Shirley Braden says
Hi Susan–It looks like this is your first time commenting–welcome to gfe! 🙂 Yes, Linda shared that this recipe can be made as cupcakes. I actually plan to do another post for the cupcakes version but the basics are that you halve the recipe (although if you use xanthan gum, you still use one teaspoon of that); spoon the mixture into paper-lined muffin cups, filled about 3/4 full; and bake at 350 for 15 – 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out dry. The top of the cupcakes should be golden brown and the cracks should be dry. Cool completely and top with whipped cream or meringue frosting if desired. Can be served with fruit. Enjoy!
Shirley
Janet says
This is so wonderful of Linda! She will be missed. I will need to give this a try. Thanks for posting this Shirley. Question, are you posting on Instagram at all? I found your feed there but didn’t know if it was new. Requested to follow. 🙂
Shirley Braden says
Hi Janet–I agree! It’s so lovely of Linda to allow me to share some of her recipes on gfe. 🙂 I can’t wait to share some others in the future! Oh, and I guarantee that you will love this cake!
As far as Instagram, I specifically got an account to be able to see and comment on family members’ posts. I thought I might share gfe stuff on there as well later so I called my account Shirleygfe and initially made it public. However, to date, I really have not had any desire to post anything there and I made the account private because kind of creepy accounts started following mine. Now I immediately delete any requests to follow my account. Hope you understand. Rest assured that anything of consequence regarding gluten-free living, I will be sharing here and on Facebook so you won’t miss anything! 🙂
Shirley
Athena says
Oh thank you so much for making this recipe available! I have made it so many times over the years and it always turns out great! I just have the link for it saved in my email and almost had a heart attack when the link didn’t work haha
Thankfully a quick search and your site came up!
I will have to actually right it down so I have it for good.
Shirley Braden says
Hi Athena–Welcome to gfe!! 🙂 I’m so glad that Linda gave me permission to share this incredible Angel Food Cake recipe and some of her other favorites. And I’m thrilled that Google brought you to her amazing recipe here!! I don’t plan on going anywhere but having the recipe in your possession and not needing to access it online will give you some peace of mind that I completely understand. 😉 Enjoy!
Shirley
lisa says
hi there! I am in search of the gluten free homemaker recipe to make my daughters all time favourite cherry chocolate cake. I had it written in a cookbook but it was lost and I searched my bookmarks and found that the website has been discontinued. Do you happen to know how I could find it or know how I could reach Linda for it. It seems silly and I should know this recipe by heart as I have been making it every year for her birthday but I do not. I know I need a can of cherry pie filling and other than that I am hooped! I tried to search if it had been copied to other sites and came back to no avail!
Shirley Braden says
Hi Lisa–It looks like you are new here. Welcome to gfe! 🙂 Yes, my good friend Linda retired her site a while back. I found the recipe for you via the internet archive, aka The Wayback Machine. Here’s the link: https://web.archive.org/web/20220118164455/https://glutenfreehomemaker.com/cherry-chocolate-cake/ I’d suggest printing it out and also maybe saving it to PDF on your computer. Enjoy!
Shirley
Julie says
Thank you so much for your post about Linda Etherton. So nice of her to share her recipes with you and for you sharing with us. I have used many of her recipes for many years and saddened to not be able to find online. So was overjoyed when I found your site and why I could not find, I have always included website address when I print a recipe to give to a friend. I will now refer them to your site. Thank you so much.
Julie
Shirley Braden says
Hi, Julie. Welcome to gfe! 🙂 I miss my good friend Linda being online with all her delicious recipes and helpful info as well but I am so glad that she has given me permission to share some of her most beloved recipes with you all! In fact, I’ll be sharing another one of her recipes very soon! I’m so glad you’re here and thanks so very much for sharing my site with your friends, too. I really appreciate it and hope you all find lots of recipes that you enjoy—Linda’s and mine!
Shirley
Donna J Cook-Knight says
hi there 1st timer here… l was wondering if you could use a rectangular cake pan for this cake and if so would you put parchment paper in pan first … thank you Donna
Shirley Braden says
Hi, Donna–Welcome to gfe! 🙂 No, angel food cake requires an angel food cake pan. It is critical to the cake rising properly. If you don’t have this kind of pan, I would suggest that you make the angel food cupcakes instead, assuming you have a muffin/cupcake pan of course.
Shirley