Angel Food Cake with Frosting
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Here’s a recipe our daughters made for the County Fair and also for birthdays. When you want a really delicious Angel Food Cake with Frosting, try this. The cake is light and airy with a hint of vanilla and citrus, and the 7-Minute Frosting is so marshmallowy good!
(Post modified on 9/15/23.)
Growing up as a girl, our family always celebrated birthdays with an Angel Food Cake. I’m not sure why or where that tradition began, but it always brings a smile to my face when I see one. I made this cake for my mom’s birthday last week and enjoyed seeing her smile after we sang Happy Birthday to her.
Of course, you may buy a boxed cake mix, and they are quite good and easy to make. However, if you’ve never made one from scratch, I encourage you to give it a try. It’s really delicious and you’ll see and taste the difference. If you’re not ready for a homemade version, be sure to make this easy frosting for your boxed cake to give it a special fluffy appearance.
Remember to save those separated yolks for use in other recipes, such as a Chiffon Cake, for making Lemon Curd, or even Creme Brulee.
More Party Cakes to Enjoy
- Vanilla Pound Cake
- Moist Butter Cake with Chocolate Frosting
- Lemon Cake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting
- Easy Fudge Cake with Ganache Icing
Ingredients for Angel Food Cake with Frosting
(See the full recipe at the bottom of this post.)
- cake flour, sifted
- powdered sugar, sifted
- large egg whites
- cream of tartar
- salt
- Princess Flavoring Emulsion
- granulated sugar
7-Minute Frosting
- large egg whites (at room temperature)
- cream of tartar
- granulated sugar
- light corn syrup
- vanilla extract
Instructions for Making This Recipe
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Gather all your ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table.
On a sheet of waxed paper or bowl, sift together the cake flour and powdered sugar, three times. Set aside.
Using 3 bowls, carefully separate the egg yolks from the egg whites, making sure not to get any yolk in the whites.
I use a third bowl when separating each egg white, and then I’ll dump it in with the rest of the whites to ensure there is not any yolk in each separation.
Prepare the Cake
In a large mixing bowl using a whisking attachment, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, salt, and Princess Flavoring Emulsion on medium high until foamy.
My original recipe used a combination of 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, but I think the Princess Flavoring gives this cake an extra-special flavor. Try it and see what you think!
Add the granulated sugar, two tablespoons at a time, beating continually until stiff peaks form.
Fold in by wooden spoon, the prepared cake flour mixture until well blended.
Spoon the batter into an ungreased angel food cake pan and cut the batter with a butter knife to remove any air pockets. Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes until golden brown on top.
Turn upside down on a bottle or on 3 cans to cool. (I like to use 3 of the same-sized cans for this.) When cool, slide a sharp knife along the outside and inner edges to dislodge the cake from the pan. Carefully turn over onto a flat plate.
If desired, brush excess crumbs from the cake before frosting.
Prepare the 7-Minute Frosting
To make the frosting, using a wire whisk, beat the separated egg whites and cream of tarter until frothy.
Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue beating until soft peaks form, about 2-3 minutes. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, heat the light corn syrup on medium high heat and bring just to a boil, about 1 minute. Slowly stream the hot syrup into the egg whites.
I like to stream the hot syrup onto the side of the mixing bowl to avoid any hot splashing.
Add vanilla extract and beat until mixture has cooled and is thick and glossy, about 4-5 minutes.
**While risks are low, consumption of raw or undercooked eggs, shellfish, and meat may increase the risk of foodborne illness.
Frost the cooled cake with this 7-Minute Frosting. This recipe will serves 10-12 people.
If desired, place a pretty flower (artificial or real) in the center of the cake for decoration. You might also find hard candy decorations to cover the hole, or craft your own with a pretty cut-out from a card or calendar.
See more Cake Recipes Here. Browse Desserts Here. View Recipes that use Egg Whites Here.
Angel Food Cake with Frosting
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup cake flour sifted
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 12 large egg whites 1 1/2 cups
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons Princess Flavoring Emulsion
- 1 cup granulated sugar
7-Minute Frosting
- 2 large egg whites room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 2/3 cups light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Gather all your ingredients so that you have everything close at hand on the counter or table.
Prepare the Ingredients
- On a sheet of wax paper or a large bowl, sift together the cake flour and powdered sugar, three times. Set aside.
- Using 3 bowls, carefully separate the egg yolks from the egg whites, making sure not to get any yolk in the whites.
Make the Cake Batter
- In a large mixing bowl using a whisking attachment, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, salt, and Princess Flavoring Emulsion on medium high until foamy.
- Add the granulated sugar, two tablespoons at a time, beating continually until stiff peaks form.
- Fold in by wooden spoon, the prepared cake flour mixture until well blended.
- Pour into an ungreased angel food cake pan and cut the batter with a butter knife to remove any air holes. Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes until golden brown on top.
- Remove from oven and turn the pan upside down on a bottle or on 3 cans to cool. (I like to use 3 of the same-sized soup cans for this.) When cool, slide a sharp knife along the outside and inner edges to dislodge the cake from the pan. Carefully turn over onto a flat plate. If desired, brush excess crumbs from the cake before frosting.
Prepare the 7-Minute Frosting
- To make the frosting, using a wire whisk on a mixer, beat the separated egg whites and cream of tarter until frothy.
- Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue beating until soft peaks form, about 2-3 minutes. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, heat the light corn syrup on medium high heat and bring just to a boil, about 1 minute.
- Slowly stream the hot syrup into the egg whites (add to the side of bowl to avoid splashing.)
- Add vanilla extract and beat until mixture has cooled and is thick and glossy, about 4-5 minutes.
- Frost the cooled cake with this 7-minute Frosting. Serves 10-12.
Lovely cake perfect for any celebration . The frosting seems very easy to make as well and hope to try this sometime.
Thanks for stopping by, Nisha. The frosting is very easy to make. I love it with this cake.
I love angel food cake but have never frosted one. I will try it this way next time for sure.
Hi Angela, Thanks for stopping by! Yes, please try the frosting and see what you think. It’s very sweet.
I also grew up with angel food cakes as a special celebration dessert – this one looks so good! i am sure we never put ours upside down to cool, I’m fascinated by that. And that frosting looks like the perfect sweet topping.
Hi Beth, Yes, I was taught to turn it upside down to cool. It has to do with allowing it to fully cool without collapsing.
Love angel food cake. I don’t think I have ever had it with frosting. What a great idea. Yum!
Hi LeRena, Thanks for stopping by. A lot of folks eat it with strawberries as a Strawberry Shortcake type of dessert. But it’s good with frosting, too!
My mum used to make us angel food cake when I was young. I’ve never made it myself but yours looks so good with that frosting! On my to make list!
I’m surprised at how many comments I’ve received who said they ate this cake as a child. I guess a good memory. Thanks for sharing.
DONT USE THIS FROSTING RECIPE! IT WILL MAKE YOU SICK!!! So I can’t speak for the cake, but I made the frosting recipe for my cake in order to take a short cut and use the stand mixer for most of the beating of the eggs as this recipe directs. I got EXTREMELY SICK from this recipe! The eggs are undercooked and will lead to FOOD POISONING! I was sick for a few days after eating this. So I HIGHLY SUGGEST you alter the recipe so that the egg whites are cooked the traditional way on a double boiler over the stove. I should have known better but trusted this recipe. The fact is eating undercooked eggs WILL MAKE YOU SICK! DONT RISK IT!
Hi Taura, I’m so sorry that you had a bad experience with this frosting recipe. I will place a food warning on it.
AWE!! the poor egg really got beaten up here! pun intended haha.I am truly sorry Taura that you got sick however I would like to explain the Simplicity and complexity of a chicken egg and I would advise anyone using this recipe or any egg for any recipe read up on how safe a chicken egg really is. the boiling water pouring over the egg whites is a very safe and effective way to kill any Salmonella bacteria it’s only required about 140 degrees to kill the salmonella and we know boiling water is hotter than that, but what most people don’t realize the eggs bought in the stores in the United States are not clean!!! meaning they are washed which is bad for the egg because it removes the protective Bloom please look that up or the word cuticle on the egg if that bloom is removed from washing it leaves the eggs acceptable to every contaminant known to man contaminants in water soap and all the contaminants in the refrigerator and up inside the egg do not wash your eggs!! the bad thing is the United States washes their eggs before reaching the grocery stores but the USDA requires them to be pasteurize as well which will kill salmonella eggs that are unwashed can be left on your kitchen counter in room temperature if they are put in the refrigerator that can add more bacteria to grow inside of the egg and contaminate it they are safer unwashed and left on the counter United States is pretty much the only country that ruins the egg it’s very sad but very true! I too grew up having many angel food cakes that my mother made all of them with royal frosting or with strawberries on top yum!!I too grew up having many angel food cakes that my mother made all of them with royal frosting or with strawberries on top yum royal frosting with the boiling water method is very safe for egg whites and rarely very rarely would you get salmonella poisoning with that recipe in fact raw egg whites taking fresh from the chicken egg is pretty safe if not bought from the store!if it’s too hard for you to eat an egg that is unwashed go ahead and wash it but don’t use anything but warm water and only quickly as that would push out contaminates from the shell don’t use cold water do not soak the egg do not use any soaps only warm water will protect that bloom! good luck everybody with your egg recipes and thank you very much country at heart recipes for putting out this recipe it is amazing!
Thanks so much, Shelli, for responding to this. I appreciate it and agree with your comments about fresh eggs and not washing them or only washing them with warm water.