Pumpkin Angel Food Cake Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to a good angel food cake? ›

Egg Whites: The star of the show! They provide all of the leavening for angel food cake. Using only whites (no yolks) gives this cake a super light texture. Be sure to use only fresh eggs; liquid egg whites in a carton have been pasteurized, which can prevent them from whipping into stiff peaks.

Two types of sugar are used for this recipe, as they serve different purposes. The granulated sugar, which you'll add while whipping the egg whites, helps stabilize the foam and give the cake its structure. Powdered sugar is added in later for additional airy sweetness, tenderization, and flavor.

The egg whites are actually the sole leavening ingredient providing all the cake's rise. Use freshly separated eggs because they aerate the best. Carton egg whites or egg whites that have been frozen won't expand as much during the whipping process, which will negatively affect the rise of your cake.

Remember - your batter will not be as stiff as a meringue. Do not grease the angel food cake tube pan (one in which the center tube is higher than the walls of pan and the bottom is removable.) You want the batter to cling to the side while it is rising. A greased pan will not allow the batter to rise.

Cream of tartar is an acid and helps to stabilize the whipped egg whites. There is really no substitution for cream of tartar. If you don't use cream of tartar in this recipe, the cake will collapse.

Give your boxed angel food cake mix a summery twist by adding a can of crushed pineapple to it. Gently fold it into the whisked batter, careful not to deflate the mixture. If you over-whisk it, the cake will turn out chewy and dense.

In delicate sponge-type cakes (like chiffon or angel food cake) there are two moments for concern. First, when you're whipping the egg foam, and second, when you're incorporating the flour. An overmixed egg foam will be slack, wet, loose, and unable to hold peaks.

1 rule is to follow the recipe. Use cake flour in recipes where you want an extra-light, extra-fluffy texture, like Angel Food Cake, Cream Cheese Pound Cake, or Buttermilk-Chocolate Cake. You can also use cake flour to bring a more tender crumb to other sweets, like Chocolate Crinkle Cookies.

The perfect egg temperature for angel food cake is about 60 degrees. Eggs that are too cold won't whip as well, so take a dozen eggs out of the refrigerator about an hour before you bake.

Because of this, when consumed in moderate amounts, Angel Food Cake does not affect blood sugar levels. People with diabetes can safely eat Angel Food in moderate amounts because it doesn't have simple carbohydrates and sugars, meaning that it won't cause a sudden or significant spike in blood sugar levels.

How to tell when angel food cake is done? ›

An angel food cake is finished baking when the cake is golden brown and it springs back when touched. If the cake stays pressed when you touch it, it isn't finished baking and needs a few more minutes.

Second, most tube pans have a removeable bottom, where bundt pans definitely do not. The one thing bundt pans and tube pans have in common is their hollow center tube. It's generally advised to bake an angel food cake in a tube pan, but I have always used a bundt pan, and it works very well.

Vanilla and almond extracts: A combination of vanilla extract and almond extract gives angel food cake its signature flavor that's delicate and almost marshmallow-like.

Every angel food cake has to be cooled upside down in the pan. Why? Until the cake is completely cooled, its spongy structure hasn't set. Flipping it upside down makes sure it doesn't collapse during that process.

Greasing the pan can result in a flat, dense cake. Always flip the cake pan to cool your angel food cake with the open side down. Angel food cake will continue to set as it cools, and it can sink down in the pan and collapse if you don't flip it to cool.