How to make the best light and airy lemon angel food cake that has the zest of two lemons mixed in. Jump to the Light Lemon Angel Food Cake Recipe or read on to see our tips for making it.
If you have never made angel food cake before, it’s a fun process. A stand mixer is very helpful.
To make the cake, we beat lots of egg whites in a stand mixer until they turn white and have firm peaks. By firm peaks, I mean that when you lift the whisk out of the eggs, the mixture doesn’t fall back onto itself and instead stands tall.
Next we add sugar and beat until thick and shiny and finally we gently fold in flour. The cake bakes for about 35 minutes and becomes light and airy. It’s hard to wait until it’s completely cool, but once it is, a slice dusted with powdered sugar and served alongside whipped cream and berries is divine.
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Recipe updated, originally posted April 2011. Since posting this in 2011, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear. – Adam and Joanne
Light Lemon Angel Food Cake Recipe
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
Since we want to keep the cake as light and airy as possible, use superfine sugar. If you do not have this in your kitchen, place 2 cups of granulated sugar into a food processor or blender and process for about 2 minutes.
You Will Need
2 cups sifted superfine sugar
1 1/3 cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 cups egg whites, at room temperature (10 to 12 eggs)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest from 2 lemons (about 1 1/2 teaspoons)
Powdered sugar, whipped cream and berries for serving
Directions
1Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2Add 1/2 cup of the sugar and the flour to a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl. Sift then repeat 3 more times.
3Add the egg whites, salt and cream of tarter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until the egg whites make firm peaks, 1 to 2 minutes.
4Turn the mixer to medium speed then slowly sprinkle in the remaining 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar. Continue to beat until the egg whites are thick and shiny, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the vanilla and lemon zest then whisk another minute.
5Switch to a rubber spatula then sift about 1/4 of the flour mixture over the egg whites and fold it into the eggs. Repeat this process, by sifting and folding another 1/4 of the flour mixture until all of the flour is incorporated.
6Spoon the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan and smooth the top. Bake until the cake springs back when lightly touched, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and turn the pan upside down and place on a cooling rack until cool.
7When cool remove the cake from the pan and serve dusted with powdered sugar on top.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- This recipe has been inspired and slightly adapted from Ina Garten’s Lemon Angel Food Cake.
- Firm peaks: By firm peaks, we mean that when you lift the whisk out of the eggs, the mixture doesn’t fall back onto itself and instead stands tall.
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste
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Great recipe! Made it without lemon. Used an electric mixer instead of the kitchen aid. I also used the food processor method to get fine sugar and it worked great. Thank you for sharing…I shared it with everyone too. 😁
This is very helpfull for me to find any inspired recepies
so keep it up … Thanks a lot…!!!!
Had bad luck.. Cake did not raise. Followed recipe exactly. Wonder if it should used powd sugar instead .
Hi Kay, We are so sorry the cake didn’t turn out for you. Did you use superfine sugar? You can turn granulated sugar into superfine by throwing it into a processor and blending for a couple minutes. You could try powdered sugar, but since I’ve never done this myself, I can’t speak to how it will turn out. Good luck!!! – Joanne
Can’t wait to try out this recipe- thanks for sharing!
wow, this is the most beautiful angel cake I’ve seen in a while. And lemony angel cake!. Perfection indeed.
what delicious confection will we be having for the 4th of july?
We will have to think of something that goes well with the drinks we will be having 🙂
delicious and easy on the hips cake, beautiful photography and great blog overall.
Ciaochowlinda, you are so right about the hips, except I have already had 3 pieces … so, I am not so sure it counts 🙂
The cake is delicious and as long as whoever eats it has control (not me!) then it is a great choice!
Clearly you all need to send out Twitter updates to let us know when you have fresh baked treats. What did you decide to do with all the yolks?
Wendi, we ate a lot of eggs for breakfast and made fresh pasta 🙂
It was YUMMY!
Thanks Heather, you definitely chose a good day to visit 🙂