I modified my grandmother’s recipe for baking at high altitude. It is the easiest, lightest, and tastiest angel food cake ever!
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 28 mins |
| Total Time: | 38 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cups sifted cake flour
- 1 ⅛ cups white sugar
- 1 ½ cups egg whites
- 1 ¼ teaspoons cream of tartar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 330 degrees F (165 degrees C).
- In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites with cream of tartar and salt until soft peaks form. Gradually sprinkle in the sugar while continuing to whip to medium peaks. Since this is a high-altitude recipe, whip them only until they form a peak that falls over. Stir in the vanilla and lemon extracts. Use a rubber spatula to fold in flour a fourth at a time. Spoon into a clean and dry 9 inch tube pan.
- Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, then increase the temperature to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Continue baking for another 3 minutes, or until the cake begins to shrink down a bit. Invert pan over a wire rack to cool. When cool, run a thin spatula or knife around the outer edge, and tap out firmly.
- This recipe works great at 5,280 ft. I have already altered this for Denver, but if you live higher than that, consider this: Using less sugar, more flour and a higher baking temperature will strengthen the cell structure of the cake.
Reviews
My mom and I followed this recipe to the letter, with the exception of swapping out cake flour for the standard substitution (AP flour with corn starch). The cake came out ghostly white and raw on top, with none of the golden brown color or crackling on top that you expect. It also never rose above halfway up the pan, the same height as the batter that got spooned into the angel food pan. So. It went back in the oven for about 10-15 more minutes at 375 until it was light golden brown on top. The finished cake tasted meh/okay but the the texture was awful: dense and more like a bad biscuit. My husband joked that it would be great with sausage gravy.
I live at 9,605 feet so I thought I’d try it. This is truly high-altitude baking! I should have added more flour other than just 2T and definitely have increased the temp to 350° than 400° I’m guessing. It didn’t rise like it should or brown, it’s about half the height. Seems heavier than what I usually buy made at our local grocers. Disappointing but I will try again! I was making it for my son’s birthday party but will need to pick up one instead.
I live at just over 6000 feet. Despite ever website I could find insisting that you MUST use a tube pan, I wanted a layered cake, so I decided to try using regular pans. (I am a rebel like that!). I baked the recipe in three 6” heart-shaped, ungreased pans lined with parchment. I also put an ungreased large piping tip in the center of each pan (note — the filler tip works the best. I also used 1M tips). I filled each pan 3/4 full. I otherwise made the recipe EXACTLY as written, down to the number of minutes baked. It worked perfectly!!!! I inverted the pans onto a cooling rack straight out of the oven, like you would with any cake. I would absolutely make this again!
I’ve never made an Angel Food Cake before, but had whites from 10 eggs left over after making a flan, so I thought I’d give it a try. I’m in Aurora CO and was pretty happy to find a recipe the I wouldn’t have to do all the math myself to adjust for altitude. I made the cake exactly as instructed, except for the cake flour & lemon extract… I didn’t have either. For the four, I used 1 1/3 all purpose flour minus 2 tlbs and 2 tsp ( that’s 1 tsp short of 3 tlbs), and replaced it with cornstarch. I then sifted the flour/cornstarch mix 4 times (one short of the instructions I found on JoytheBaker’s blog). Instead of the Lemon Extract, I used almond. I baked it in a tube pan with no lining or grease. I ran a knife along all the edges before removing the cake. It came out beautiful and delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
I haven’t made this recipe yet… but I want to! I have only ever made one angel food cake and it was out of a box. We just moved to Colorado Springs from Nebraska and the cake did not turn out ha! I never thought about the altitude … SO! We are around 800 feet higher. What do you recommend me to do to alter the recipe?! Thanks! Happy Baking!
The cake wasn’t done after the prescribed cooking time, and I checked my oven to confirm the temperature. I think you might want to cook the cake until it is brown and cracked on top.
I live at 7,300 ft in northern NM and made the recipe with just a bit more flour. I should have upped the temp to 350F, then 400F because it didn’t rise as much or brown as quickly as it should. Needed an extra 10 min. Will try again, though.
This recipe worked wonderfully! It didn’t *deflate*. It does use a LOT of egg whites though…
I live in Wyoming and this was a great, I added some lemon zest and it made the cake even better. I used a butter cream to top it.
recipe worked well for me, although i did over bake it slightly the first time! my bad, not the recipe. the second time it came out perfect.
Absolutely delightful! This is my first stab at angel food cake baking. I researched and tried a recipe two nights ago from Allrecipes.com and it was a huge dud. Coarse texture, almost tough and not good taste. I then made this recipe the next night and oh the difference. I live in Thornton, Colorado, a north suburb of Denver, so the high altitude is always a challenge for cake baking. This recipe, however, has been adapted for our altitude and was amazing. Rose well, light texture, amazing taste. I took it for my friend’s birthday cake and the 5 of ate and ate. I also used a recipe from Allrecipes for buttercream icing that was incredible. It is now our new favorite cake recipe, bumping dark chocolate cake out of first place!
It turned out great! I am not a huge fan of the lemon extract but it still tasted good.
I have been baking for many years and I did not care for this recipe. If you want a good recipe for angel food keep looking
This is a fool-proof recipe! I finished the batter and stuck the cake in the oven and while cleaning up the dishes, I came across 1/2 cup of egg whites that I had accidently omitted from the recipe!! It still came out great. I’m sure with the appropriate amount of egg whites, the cake would have been even lighter and fluffier; but, like I said it was still great. I did use almond instead of lemon, but I’m sure either would’ve been wonderful.
Wonderful recipe! I live in Loveland, Colorado, on the front range of the Rockies. I have never had angel food cake made from scratch turn out for me. This one was perfect and Yummy! I used almond extract in place of orange and it was soooooooooooo good.
I love this cake. I live in Fort Collins Co just outside the Foot hills and this worked perfectly for me. I did increase the sugar to 1 1/4 cup and it was perfect
Excellent recipe! This was the first time i have ever made angel food cake and it came out absolutely perfect- a beautiful cake with great texture and flavor.
We raise chickens so I make a lot of angel food cakes with all the egg whites, and this is by far the worst ever! I double checked to see if I omitted any ingredients, but found I’d followed the recipe to the letter.
Amazing cake! I live in the Denver area and this turned out great at our high altitude. I used A.P. flour and almond extract instead of lemon, and it’s light, fluffy, and delicious! Wonderful recipe.
It was pretty good. It kind of had a sour flavor to it so it would probably be better to add a little more sugar. Also, make sure you sift the flour into the batter because it will stay clumpy when you put it into there. Have a lot of eggs on hand!
I also live in a high altitude area, one hour north of Denver. Baking desserts is sometimes precarious. Thanks for this exceptional recipe for Angel Food Cake. The directions were easy to follow. I was surprised how quicky the batter came together. The only little change I made was using 1/2 teaspoon almond extract rather than the lemon. Lo and behold this cake was moist, flavorful, and much more substantial than boxed or store bought Angel Food. I cooked up a cup of frozen raspberries, 1/2 cup sugar, and a tablespoon of cornstarch making a sauce to pour over the cake. My family loved it. This should do well in lower altitudes if the egg whites are whipped longer, and 1/4 cup less flour is used. This was my first attempt at home made Angel Food, and it turned out great!