Angel Food Cake doesn’t have to be made in a bundt cake pan, ring mold, or fluted pan like you usually see. Here, you make one of the fluffiest, heavenly layer cakes you’ll ever experience.

Cream of tartar is a byproduct of wine, that sediment left over in barrels. It’s gathered, cleaned and powdered. It’s stabilizes whipped egg whites used in meringue, angel food cake, and soufflé. It allows the whipped eggs to maintain their texture when whipped into stiff peaks, but it also increases their tolerance to heat, which is handy when you baking it.

Have a light meal beforehand, such as our Snapper Fillet with Asparagus Salad recipe or our Broiled Tilapia with Brava Sauce recipe.

  • Yield: 6 to 8 servings
  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Total: 1 hr, 25 mins 
  • Active: 1 hr 

Ingredients (11)

  • 1 cup flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 12 egg whites
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1⁄2 cup store-bought lemon curd
  • 1 cup blackberries
  • salted caramel sauce

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line three 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray.
  2. In a small bowl, sift together the flour and salt; set aside.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the egg whites on low until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and mix on high until soft peaks form. With the mixer on high, slowly add the sugar into the egg whites and continue to beat on high until stiff peaks form. Add the vanilla and lemon zest.
  4. Fold 1⁄4 cup of the flour mixture into the egg white mixture at a time, being careful not to deflate the egg whites.
  5. Divide the batter evenly between cake pans and bake for 23 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely.
  6. When ready to assemble, make the whipped cream by whipping the heavy cream in the bowl of a stand mixer on high until soft peaks form. Fold in lemon curd.
  7. Assemble the cake by laying one layer of the angel food cake on a cake stand. Top with 1 1⁄2 cups whipped cream. Repeat two more times, finishing the cake with all of the whipped cream.
  8. Top with blackberries and a drizzle of caramel sauce. Serve immediately.