Gluten Free Angel Food Cake with Fresh Whipped Cream and Strawberry Coulis

take me to the recipe! print the recipe!

This angel food cake is SO light, fluffy, and actually pretty simple to make! It’s hard to believe, but half the battle really is separating the eggs.

This recipe consists of a few main ingredients – sugar, strawberries, gluten free all purpose flour, and lots of eggs. But, before we get started talking through the process of actually making the cake, here are just a few tips from me to make sure your cake turns out the best it can!

#1: Separating the eggs…

This recipe uses 12 egg whites, and while everyone will tell you it is of the UTMOST importance that absolutely no egg yolk gets into the white, I’m here to calm all of your separation anxieties :). Separating 1 dozen eggs can be daunting… one bit of yolk and you may need to start over. While I was making this cake, however, one of the yolks broke, and while yes, I was able to remove most of it, I could see one little droplet of yellow yolk remaining in the full bowl of egg whites.

I was faced with a choice: start over, and possibly waste the 6 eggs that already were in the bowl, or, crack the rest of the eggs into the bowl and try to continue the recipe as planned. I was hoping that the ratio of 12 egg whites to a tiny fraction of an egg yolk would work… and it whipped up into a perfect meringue! It didn’t matter!

So, if you get some egg yolk into the whites, do EVERYTHING you can to remove it. I used a spoon to get it onto the side of the bowl, then wiped it away with a paper towel, but there was still some in there, no matter how hard I tried. But, a tiny bit of egg yolk in the whites for this recipe can turn out OK!

#2: Mixing in the flour mixture

Be careful when mixing in the flour mixture! Because it should be folded into the whipped egg whites, it can be easy to beat the air out of the meringue and leave the mixture more flat than it should be. To really make sure no air is beaten out of the meringue, you should NOT vigorously mix the flour in, but instead FOLD it in one spoonful at a time. This way, the egg whites will stay fluffy, and the cake will properly rise.

#3: Making the Strawberry Compote

This part is actually the most challenging part of the recipe. Because the boiling water and strawberries get immersion-blended, it can be really easy for the hot liquid to splash up and possibly burn you. When this happens, it hurts… a lot. So… be careful! Stand as far away as you can from the pot, and make sure the blender stays flat. Tilting it while it is blending can cause the liquid to be splattered towards you.

Part 1 – The Cake

The cake’s ingredients are egg whites, caster sugar, gluten free all-purpose flour, cornstarch, cream of tartar, vanilla extract, and salt.

For the all-purpose flour, it HAS to have xanthan gum in it. If you use a gum- free flour blend, the cake will end up being an awful texture. It just won’t work out. The good news is, almost all popular gluten free all-purpose flours have xanthan gum! I use either Cup 4 Cup or Better Batter, and they both have xanthan gum.

Mixing the Dry Ingredients –

When it comes to making the cake, the first step is to mix half the sugar with the flour, cornstarch, and salt.

Then, separate the eggs and put the egg whites in a large bowl of a stand mixer. You can cook whatever you want with the unused egg yolks, but some of my favorite things are making a lemon curd (or any kind of fruit curd!) custard cream, or carbonara.

The Egg Whites –

Whisk the egg whites until foamy, add the vanilla and cream of tartar, and whisk until fluffy. Add the sugar a spoonful at a time, whisking in between. After it’s done, the meringue should be glossy and white.

And here’s the age old meringue trick. I learned this from Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry on the “Great British Bake Off” show – it’s a way to test if your meringue is properly whisked. Basically, it includes tipping the bowl upside down. If the meringue starts to fall out and is too thin, it needs to be whisked more. If it stays in the bowl and doesn’t budge, it’s done! The point is, the meringue should be so secure that you should be able to confidently flip it over on top of your head, like this:

Mixing the Batter –

Then, fold in the dry ingredients 1/4 of the mixture at a time until incorporated…

Fill the cake pan (use a bundt loaf tin!)…

And bake the cake for approximately 30 minutes at 325 degrees.

Part 2 – Strawberry Compote

This recipe is 1 part sugar and water to 2 parts strawberries. I used 1 cup of strawberries, 1/4 cup of water, and 1/4 cup of sugar. It also calls for 2 tbsp of cornstarch to thicken it.

For a compote or coulis, I find it is PERFECTLY okay to use frozen fruit or berries, which actually comes in handy during quarantine. I was able to get fresh strawberries, but I didn’t want to waste them on a compote when I knew I also had plenty of frozen ones.

Start by adding the sugar, water, and strawberries to a small saucepan on high heat. The goal to to get the water to boil. Once boiling, let it go for about 5 minutes, then remove from the heat. The “mixture” should look like this: some of the strawberries will have broken apart, but the bigger ones probably stayed as one piece.

Once the compote looks like this, blend it with an immersion blender until smooth. Cook down for about 15 more minutes, until thickened. At this point, it’s important to stir every few minutes to make sure the compote doesn’t burn to the bottom of the pan. After it’s been boiled down for 15 minutes, add the cornstarch 1 tbsp at a time and stir quickly and vigorously with a spatula or whisk (either works fine!).

Then, remove from the heat and push through a strainer or sieve to make it as smooth as could be, and easier to drizzle onto the cake.

Part 3 – The Whipped Cream

Making a homemade whipped cream is easy and simple. It’s literally just whipping cream, and confectioner’s sugar. It’s best made in a stand mixer, but if you’d prefer, you can do it by hand! It just takes longer and it’s pretty tiring. I personally like to make it with an electric mixer on a stand so I can multitask. You can TOTALLY make the compote while making the whipped cream.

I also want you to know that you can add as much confectioner’s sugar as you’d like! I don’t like a very sweet whipped cream, so I only add one tablespoon or two (but it’s completely to taste.) If you do like your whipped cream a bit sweeter, you can add as much confectioners sugar as you’d like! However, I do recommend adding around 1 tbsp at a time, just to make sure you don’t accidentally make it too sweet all at once.

Part 4 – Decorating!

First off, I start by covering the entire angel food cake in whipped cream. It’s probably controversial, because I know so many people like the looks of the exposed outside, but I LOVE the clean white look of whipped cream around the entire bundt cake with drizzles of compote down the edges.

After I have covered the cake in whipped cream, I like to chill it for approximately 15 minutes, to make sure the whipped cream is set before drizzling the compote on top. If it isn’t set, the compote will blend with the cream, causing a pink and white mess. It tastes the same, it just isn’t as pretty.

Then, drizzle the compote over the top of the cake stemming out from the middle of the cake and reaching towards the outside. Then, chill for another 10 minutes so the compote sets. If you’re trying to drizzle but your compote is too thick, mix in one tbsp of water to make it looser and easier to drizzle. It’s all about finding the middle ground where it hold it’s shape but drips down the sides.

After chilling, pile some whipped cream around the middle circle of the top of the cake, similar to the picture. Cut a few large strawberries into cubes the way I did, and pile them on top of the whipped cream.

NOW! Here’s the fun part! Chop some fresh mint, if you have it, and sprinkle it on top of the cake. After, grate some dark chocolate over the whole cake.

I hope you enjoy! Here is the recipe!

Happy cooking people! I hope you love this springtime dessert as much as I do! <3