Strawberry Angel Food Cake is an unbelievably light and fluffy cake made with fresh strawberries for real strawberry flavor - and it has a cute pink color to boot!
When I decided to make this strawberry angel food cake, I researched to see what was already out there and was shocked that I couldn't find any recipes that actually had real strawberries in them! I always try to develop my recipes to use real and simple ingredients that are easy to find in your local grocery store. In my opinion, if you're making a strawberry cake, the main ingredient should really be strawberries!
So this strawberry angel food cake recipe is made by turning fresh or frozen strawberries into a concentrated strawberry puree that makes the most fresh and flavorful strawberry angel food dessert without a box mix in sight! I use this method to get punchy, authentic flavor from fresh berries in many of my recipes, including my Raspberry Cupcakes and my Strawberry Brownies.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- A simple recipe using real strawberries
- The cloud-like texture makes it the perfect dessert for summer-time
- Pretty pink color and an effortlessly impressive final look
Ingredients
- Strawberries - You can use fresh or frozen strawberries. I like to use frozen strawberries when it's not strawberry season, as they often have better flavor.
- Sugar - Use superfine sugar (caster sugar in the UK). If you can only find regular granulated sugar, pulse it for a few seconds in a food processor to make it extra fine.
- Egg Whites - It's best to use fresh eggs rather than carton ones, as they will whip up better. Use large eggs and always free-range if you can. If you're in the UK, you only need 10 eggs instead of 12 as large eggs are bigger there than in the US. I find one of the best ways to separate eggs is to do it when they are still cold, then leave the egg whites to come to room temperature and store the egg yolks away for use in another recipe, like my Custard Cake.
- Cream of Tartar - Cream of tartar helps to stabilize the egg whites, which is important to get a nice airy angel food cake. It's usually easy to find in grocery stores or online, but if you can't find it you can use 1tsp lemon juice instead in a pinch, but the results may not be the same.
- Cake Flour - I like to use cake flour for best results with angel food cake as it offers a much lighter, finer crumb. If you can't find it, you can make this recipe with all-purpose flour instead.
- Vanilla - A touch of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste never goes amiss in any dessert recipe.
See recipe card for quantities.
How To Make Concentrated Strawberry Puree
The trick to this strawberry angel food cake is to get as much real strawberry flavor as possible without affecting the texture of the cake. We do that by making a concentrated strawberry puree so we can get all the delicious strawberry flavor without adding too much liquid.
I use this method in almost every strawberry dessert recipe on the blog, so if you'd like a more in-depth view of this step you can read my strawberry puree post here.
- Add the strawberries, fresh or frozen, to a high-sided saucepan, along with the sugar and a small splash of water. It doesn't really matter if they are whole strawberries or sliced strawberries as they are going to be mashed up anyway.
- Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally until the strawberries start to break down and the mixture begins to boil. Use a wooden spoon or potato masher to help squish them down. Stir regularly. Keep boiling until a lot of the liquid has evaporated and the mixture looks slightly gelatinous, about the thickness of jam (about 10-15 mins).
- Remove the strawberry mixture from the heat and let it cool for about 10 minutes before transferring to a food processor and blitzing until it is completely smooth.
- Pass the strawberry puree through a fine mesh sieve to remove any remaining lumps or seeds.
- Set aside and let cool completely before beginning your cake mixture.
How to Make Strawberry Angel Food Cake
This easy dessert recipe is a lot simpler than it might seem at first. Just follow these step-by-step instructions and you'll have a flawless strawberry angel food cake in no time!
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C (or 160°C fan assisted).
- Place egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment fitted and whip on medium speed. Make sure the egg whites are at room temperature. You could use an electric mixer and a large bowl if you like, but we will be whipping for a long time so your arm might get sore!
- Once the eggs begin to get frothy, add the cream of tartar and turn the speed up to medium-high until soft peaks form.
- Turn the mixer up to high speed and start adding the sugar to the mixer bowl, one tablespoon at a time, letting it whip for about 15 seconds in between each addition. Do this until all the sugar is incorporated and the meringue makes stiff peaks. Feel a bit of the meringue between your fingers, it should be smooth - if it is gritty continue to whip for another couple of minutes.
- Add ¾ cup (180g) of the prepared strawberry puree from earlier into the meringue along with the vanilla extract. Save the rest of the puree to spoon over the finished dessert later. Turn the mixer on low speed and gently whisk it in.
If you want to add a pop of pink food color to your cake, add it in now. Once the strawberry puree is totally mixed in, turn the mixer back on high speed for 1 minute.
- Mix the salt with the cake flour in a medium bowl, then sift ⅓ of the mixture into the strawberry meringue. Use a regular whisk to gently fold the sifted flour into the meringue until it is almost completely incorporated. Repeat with half of the remaining flour mixture, then again with the last of the flour and fold it in completely.
- Gently spoon the cake batter into an ungreased angel food cake pan. It is really important the pan isn't greased as the cake needs to climb up the side of the pan. Smooth it out gently, but don't fret too much about getting it perfect as you don't want to overwork the batter.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes. When the cake is done, a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake should come out clean. The top should be golden brown and springy to the touch.
- Remove from the oven and immediately turn the entire cake upside down. If your angel food cake pan has little feet on the bottom, rest it on those. If it doesn't, place the pan upside down over a wire cooling rack. Let it cool completely.
- Once the cake is completely cool, use a spatula or knife to run around the sides of the pan to help release it, then give the bottom a few taps and the cake should come out.
How to Decorate Strawberry Angel Food Cake
You could just eat this wonderful fluffy angel food cake on its own and it would be absolutely delightful. But for a little extra something, I like to put some freshly whipped cream and juicy strawberries on top of the cake, along with a drizzle of the leftover strawberry puree. This makes it extra special! Try my Chantilly Cream recipe for the softest, most delicious whipped cream.
You really can't go wrong with this kind of decoration as it doesn't have to be neat and tidy, you can just pile it on.
Alternatively, you could just use a dusting of powdered sugar, or just drizzle the strawberry puree on the cake with some berries - whatever combination tickles your fancy!
Tip: How to Make Perfectly Pillowy Whipped Cream
For the softest, dreamy whipped cream, start your mixer on a slow speed and build it up slowly. Once it starts to thicken, add the vanilla and a tablespoon of powdered sugar (if desired) and whip it on medium-high - not high speed. Watch it l like a hawk and have patience.
The trick is not to overwhip the cream. Once you start to see defined lines forming in the cream as it whips, check it, and only whip for a couple of seconds at a time until it reaches the perfect consistency. It should be soft and smooth - don't let it get to stiff peaks!
Also, it's important to use heavy cream or heavy whipping cream with a fat content of at least 36%.
See my Chantilly Cream post for more info.
Shortcuts
Skip the strawberry puree: If you are just looking for a tasty way to spruce up a plain angel food cake, you can still get the strawberry flavor by using a strawberry extract or strawberry emulsion.
I like to develop my recipes to use real, easy-to-find ingredients first and foremost to make them more accessible to everyone, but you can absolutely just use strawberry extract or emulsion instead of making your own strawberry puree. Strawberry emulsion is stronger so you will need less of it, but you can find both online or in specialty stores.
Common Mistakes
While this is a relatively simple recipe, there are a couple of things that I see people frequently doing that may mess up your end result.
Getting fat in the egg whites - If you are not really careful when separating your eggs then you could jeopardize the whole recipe. If your egg whites have even a small trace of egg yolk in them, or any other kind of fat for that matter, they won't whip up properly.
Make sure you separate the eggs carefully and completely clean down your mixing bowl before beginning. I find it helpful to separate each individual egg into a small bowl first, then add the egg white into a bowl - this means if one yolk breaks it won't ruin the whole batch of egg whites.
Knocking the air out of the meringue - When you are folding the flour mixture into the meringue, it's important that you do it gently or you could knock out all the air we just worked so hard to incorporate into it. This is why we add the flour in stages, so the weight of it doesn't crush the air out. Fold gently and only mix just as much as needed to incorporate the flour.
Not reducing the strawberries enough - The whole point of cooking the strawberries is to remove as much liquid as possible. If you skip this step or don't cook them for long enough, then you will introduce too much liquid into your angel food cake and it may not bake properly. Make sure you cook the strawberry mixture until it has thickened and looks kind of like warm strawberry jam.
Tip: I always recommend weighing your ingredients with a kitchen scale, rather than using measuring cups. It's very difficult to measure accurately with cups and this can mess up your bakes.
Substitutions
- Strawberry Puree - If you don't want to make your own strawberry puree you can use a strawberry extract or strawberry emulsion instead.
- Cream of Tartar - It's best to use cream of tartar in this recipe as it will help to stabilize the egg whites, but in a pinch, you can use 1 teaspoon lemon juice instead.
- Cake Flour - If you don't have cake flour, you can use all-purpose flour instead, but make sure you sift it well. The texture may be slightly less airy.
Variations
Add Citrus - For a refreshing twist on this recipe, add the zest of 1 lemon to the cake batter and use the glaze from my Lemon Drizzle Cake to make a Strawberry Lemon Angel Food Cake.
Different Berries - The method in this recipe of making a concentrated fruit puree and folding it into the batter will actually work with any fruit you like. Try it with raspberries or blueberries instead.
Toppings - Experiment with different toppings on your angel food cake. If you don't want to use whipped cream, you could use Cool Whip instead, or even just dust the cake with powdered sugar instead.
Reader Review:
I don't normally like cake or desserts, but I could eat this whole thing by myself! It takes me right back to my childhood.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Susan
Equipment
- Stand Mixer - While you can technically make this delicious recipe with a hand mixer, I highly recommend using a stand mixer with a whisk attachment fitted. You will need to whip for a long time and your arm could get very tired.
- Tube Pan - You'll want an angel food cake pan for this recipe which is a tube pan with straight sides and bottom - not like a bundt pan. This is because the cake needs to cling onto the sides and climb up as it bakes. The ring in the middle is also important to help the cake bake evenly all the way through.
- Saucepan
- Food Processor
- Sieve - It's super important to sift your flour for this recipe.
Storage
if you won't be serving your homemade angel food cake all at once, I recommend adding the berries and whip cream (or whatever toppings you choose) onto each individual slice, rather than the whole cake. This is because once the cake has cream on it you will need to store it in the fridge, which can dry it out a little bit.
The cake alone will be good in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. You can also wrap individual slices of the cake in plastic wrap. If it has cream or fruit on top, you'll need to store it in the fridge (still in an airtight container), and it should be good for 2-3 days.
Serving Tip
When you are slicing your strawberry angel food cake, use a serrated knife to cut it up (like a bread knife) and saw it back and forth gently. This is because a regular knife will squash the delicate cake, but a serrated knife cuts though easily.
FAQ
Angel food cake is has a wonderfully light and fluffy sponge texture that comes from whipping lots of air into the egg whites. It's soft and springy.
Angel food cake gets its name because the recipe contains no fat, making it an 'angelic' choice.
You could technically use a store-bought angel food cake mix and add the strawberry puree to it, but honestly, the texture and flavor of homemade angel food cake is far superior to anything you can get in a box.
Not to mention the fact that it will have simple ingredients without a long list of additives and chemicals in there.
More Strawberry Desserts
If you love this strawberry angel food cake, you might also enjoy some of these strawberry-flavored recipes:
Recipe
Strawberry Angel Food Cake
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Whisk Attachment
- Tube Pan see notes
Ingredients
For the Strawberry Puree
- 16 oz Strawberries 450g (fresh or frozen)
- ½ cup Superfine Sugar 100g
For the Angel Food Cake
- 12 Large Egg Whites 400g (only 10 eggs if in the UK*)
- 1 ½ cups Superfine Sugar 300g
- 1 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
- 1 ¼ cups Cake Flour 140g
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 drops Pink Gel Food Color (optional)
For Serving (optional)
- 1 batch Chantilly Cream get my chantilly cream recipe
- 2 cups Fresh Strawberries
Instructions
Make the Strawberry Puree
- Place the strawberries and ½ cup (100g) sugar in a high-sided saucepan with a splash of water, over medium heat. For more details on making puree check out my strawberry puree post).16 oz Strawberries, ½ cup Superfine Sugar
- Heat until the strawberries start to break down and begin boiling. Use a wooden spoon or potato masher to help squish them down. Stir regularly. Keep boiling until a lot of the liquid has evaporated and the mixture looks slightly gelatinous, about the thickness of jam (about 10-15 mins).
- Let cool for 10 minutes, then add to a food processor and blitz until completely smooth.
- Pass the strawberry puree through a fine mesh sieve to remove any remaining chunks or seeds. (Use a spoon to help push it through the sieve). Let cool completely.
Make the Angel Food Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C (or 160°C fan assisted).
- Place the room-temperature egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment fitted and whip on medium speed.12 Large Egg Whites
- Once the eggs begin to get frothy, add the cream of tartar and turn the speed up to medium-high until soft peaks form.1 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
- Turn the mixer up to high speed and start adding the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, letting it whip for about 15 seconds in between each addition. Do this until all the sugar is incorporated and the meringue is making stiff peaks. Feel a bit of the meringue between your fingers, it should be smooth - if it is gritty continue to whip for another couple of minutes.1 ½ cups Superfine Sugar
- Add ¾ cup (180g) of the prepared strawberry puree from earlier into the meringue along with the vanilla extract. Save the rest of the puree to spoon over the finished dessert later. Turn the mixer on low speed and gently whisk it in. If you want to add a pop of pink food color to your cake, add it in now. Once the strawberry puree is totally mixed in, turn the mixer back on high speed for 1 minute.1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract, 2 drops Pink Gel Food Color
- Mix the salt in with the cake flour, then sift ⅓ of the mixture into the strawberry meringue. Use a regular whisk to gently fold the flour into the meringue until it is almost completely incorporated. Repeat with half of the remaining flour, then again with the last of the flour and fold it in completely.
- Gently spoon the cake batter into an ungreased tube pan.* Smooth it out and then bake for 34-40 minutes. A skewer inserted into the middle of the cake should come out clean and the top should be golden brown and springy to the touch.
- Remove from the oven and immediately turn the pan upside down. If your angel food cake pan has little feet on the bottom, rest it on those. If it doesn't, place the pan upside down over a wire cooling rack. Let it cool completely.
- Once the cake is completely cool, use a spatula or knife to run around the edge of the cake pan to help release it, then give the bottom a few taps and the cake should come out. .
- Serve with chantilly cream, fresh berries, and the leftover strawberry puree.
Notes
- *Egg Whites - If you are in the UK, you only need 10 egg whites. This is because large eggs in the UK are bigger than large eggs in the US. The total amount of egg white needed is 400g. It's better to use fresh eggs than carton egg whites as the carton ones often don't whip up properly. Don't throw away your egg yolks, keep them for another recipe, like my Custard Cake.
- Strawberries - You can use fresh or frozen strawberries for this recipe.
- Cream of Tartar - This helps keep the whipped egg whites stable, which is important for baking. If you don't have cream of tartar you can use a teaspoon of lemon juice instead, but the results won't be quite as good.
It really helps and I love hearing all your feedback!
Shirley Jones
Can you use meringue powder instead
Adelaide Miller
So light and refreshing! I loved the pink color 🙂 If you've ever made angel food cake before, this one is no different, just follow the directions and you'll be fine. The strawberry flavor was light but definitely noticeable. I loved how the lightness of the cake went super well with the light, spring-y strawberry flavor. Definitely an impressive dessert to keep in your back pocket!
Jules Grasekamp
Thanks so much for your kind words Adelaide! I'm so glad to hear you loved the cake!
Jules
Mairi
This is a must-bake cake! Angelically fluffy yet super-moist, and just the perfect amount of sweetness. My new favourite go-to dessert. Thanks