This Homemade Angel Food Cake with Berries is an easy-to-make classic, summer dessert that is cut into 2 layers and topped with cool whip and fresh berries! It’s light and fluffy in texture and tastes incredibly delicious!
Happy 4th of July everyone! I hope you’re all having a fabulous day attending picnics, eating great food, and indulging in some dessert! That really is the best part after all, am I right? And speaking of desserts, if you’re looking for the perfect summer treat, I have found you the BEST ONE — my Homemade Angel Food Cake with Berries!
is it easy to make angel food cake?
Yes, I promise it is!
You’ll need either a hand-held mixer or a stand mixer to make this recipe. Other baking tools needed are mixing bowls, offset angled spatula, and a 10 inch tube pan.
Getting the egg whites to the correct stiff peaks consistency is really the only tricky part to this recipe. If you can keep your mixing bowl and whisk very clean (see tip below for this) and your egg whites free of any yolks, you’ll be good! To fold in your whisked dry ingredients, please use a spatula.
The other very minor part to this recipe is cooling it upside down. You read that correctly! Upside down.
I know it sounds weird, but it works! And the cake doesn’t fall out of the pan!
how will I know my angel food cake is ready to come out of the oven?
To check if your cake is done, gently press your finger into the top of it. If it springs back, you can remove it from the oven.
Don’t forget to cool it upside down!
what ingredients will I need?
To make this homemade angel food cake, you’ll need:
- Granulated Sugar
- Cake Flour
- Salt
- Large Egg Whites – this is approximately from 10 large eggs)
- Cream of Tartar
- Vanilla Extract
- Almond Extract – love the flavor this adds to the angel food cake!
- Cool Whip – to have this spread easily onto the cake, make sure it’s thawed.
- Raspberries, Strawberries, and Blueberries – or whatever combination of berries you prefer!
why do you cool an angel food cake upside down?
Cooling an angel food cake upside down (or inverted) allows the cake to keep its volume.
what do I do if my tube pan doesn’t have feet?
If your tube pan does not have feet (like my Wilton tube pan), you can choose to use two cans that are the same height. I used 2 cans of sauerkraut to support the tube pan.
angel food cake baking tips
- The suggested recipe baking times noted do not include cooling.
- Do not grease your tube pan!
- Before beating your egg whites, the mixing bowl and whisk need to be super clean. Any leftover grease or residue can totally derail this part of the recipe!
- You can give your mixing bowl and whisk a little bit of extra cleaning love by running a paper towel with some distilled white vinegar on it.
- A good test to see if your angel food cake is done is by gently pressing your finger or the backside of a spoon into the top. If it immediately springs back, it’s done.
- Cool your angel food cake upside down to room temperature.
- If your tube pan doesn’t have legs, you can place 2 cans of equal height underneath to cool it upside down.
- Use a serrated knife to cut the angel food cake into 2 layers. It will cut much easier this way!
- Adding the cool whip and berries is an optional step. If adding, the angel food cake should be cooled first.
- Add the cool whip and berries if you’re taking this to a party.
recommended baking tools
Homemade Angel Food Cake with Berries
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
- Yield: 10–12 servings 1x
- Category: Cakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Dessert
Description
This Homemade Angel Food Cake with Berries is an easy-to-make classic, summer dessert that is cut into 2 layers and topped with cool whip and fresh berries! It’s light and fluffy in texture and tastes incredibly delicious!
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups Granulated Sugar
- 1 1/4 cups Cake Flour
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1 1/2 cups Large Egg Whites (from approx. 10 Large Eggs)
- 1 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 teaspoon Almond Extract
- 2, 8 ounce containers of Cool Whip (optional)
- Raspberries, Strawberries, and Blueberries (optional)
Instructions
- Adjust the oven rack to 2nd level position and preheat your oven to 350ºF.
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Set aside.
- Using your hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until they are very frothy and can form soft peaks (see notes).
- Add in the cream of tartar, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
- Gently add in the whisked dry ingredients with the beaten egg whites with a spatula. Do not use your mixer for this part.
- Place the batter into an ungreased 10″ tube pan and place in the oven.
- Bake for 45 minutes at 350ºF or until top is a nice golden brown (see notes).
- After the cake is done, cool it upside down using the legs on your tube pan (if your tube pan has these) or on top of two equally sized cans (see photo in notes).
- After it’s cooled completely, take a knife and gently run it along the edges before removing it from the pan.
- (Optional Step) Using a serrated knife, cut cake in half, length-wise. You can create 2 layers or 3 layers. For mine, I chose to only create 2 layers.
- Add a layer of cool whip, then a layer of berries. Place the next layer on top and repeat.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
The suggested recipe baking times noted do not include cooling.
Do not grease your tube pan!
Before beating your egg whites, the mixing bowl and whisk need to be super clean. Any leftover grease or residue can totally derail this part of the recipe!
You can give your mixing bowl and whisk a little bit of extra cleaning love by running a paper towel with some distilled white vinegar on it.
A good test to see if your angel food cake is done is by gently pressing your finger or the backside of a spoon into the top. If it immediately springs back, it’s done.
Cool your angel food cake upside down to room temperature.
If your tube pan doesn’t have legs, you can place 2 cans of equal height underneath to cool it upside down.
Use a serrated knife to cut the angel food cake into 2 layers. It will cut much easier this way!
Adding the cool whip and berries is an optional step. If adding, the angel food cake should be cooled first.
Add the cool whip and berries if you’re taking this to a party.
Recipe adapted from 1987 St. Stephen’s Family Recipe Cookbook and also inspired by Hoosier Homemade’s Angel Food Cake with Berries post.
Keywords: angel food cake, homemade angel food cake, angel food cake with berries, easy angel food cake recipe
for more Beyond the Butter cake recipes, give these a try!
Need more dessert recipe inspiration? Visit my recipe box or follow me over on Pinterest!
I love creating and sharing dessert recipes that are are sweet, simple, and fun to make, and bring me—and hopefully you and your loved ones—wonderful memories!
Kiki says
This looks so delicious and not too difficult! Can’t wait to try it! I was wondering though can you make this the day before serving and if, so what’s the best way to store it? Thank you!
Jennifer says
Yay! I hope you love it as much as I do! To answer your question, yes…you can certainly make it the day before serving! You can leave it out at room temp just make sure it’s covered so it doesn’t dry out. Alternatively, you can also keep it in the refrigerator covered as well. My preference is room temp, especially if you’re serving it the next day.