Gluten Free Ube Angel Food Cake

Ube got me through one of the weirdest days of 2020. Now, I know what you’re thinking: what day WASN’T a weird day in 2020. Touché. But the 9th of September 2020 was a particularly bad day. The 8th of September, a fire started at the north end of Ashland, Oregon, where Kendra (the other half of SSG), my parents, my grandmother, dear friends, and a few aunts and uncles and cousins all live, and tore through most of the Rogue Valley like, you guessed it, wildfire, demolishing thousands of homes in its path. From 10am to 10pm that day, I was getting Twitter updates to track the fire’s spread, worried about my mom stuck at home with the cats and dogs, packing the car in case she needed to evacuated, and about my dad and sister, both stranded in Medford in the fire’s path. September 8th can rot in hell for all I’m concerned. September 9th started with more terror, additional spot fires, and thousands of displaced families, and my dad and sister stuck up in Canyonville in the ONLY tiny motel that had any room after all those displaced families evacuated Jackson County. It wasn’t until 3pm on the 9th that my dad and sister managed to be allowed back into the Rogue Valley and got home safe and sound.

September 9th was also the day we decided to film our very own apocalypse movie in San Francisco. Dark pumpkin orange skies at 8am turned to burnt umber haze by 10am, requiring the use of ever light I had in the apartment to even walk around without bumping into things. But, September 9th also was the day that Meryienda, a local gluten free online bakery specializing in Filipino treats, delivered an order I’d placed just a couple of days prior. And BOY did I need those boxes of treats! And that’s how ube saved September: those coconut ube bars were a balm on a horrendous couple of days, and I ended up sending a few up to Ashland for the family to try once things settled down after the fires. If you live in the SF Bay Area, order one or ALL of the treats Meryienda has to offer, you won’t be sorry!

So here you go: my first personal baking project involving ube, and a success! This is my brand new ube angel food cake, topped with heaps of ube whipped cream, for the most whimsical, perfectly-fluffy treat that’s sure to bring a smile to your face. If you’re into colorful desserts, you definitely have to make this Vietnamese pandan honeycomb cake, or these lemon ricotta cupcakes, or these pink lemonade bars, or these browned butter blueberry cupcakes, or our matcha tres leches cake!

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Gluten Free Ube Angel Food Cake

This incredibly fluffy and light angel food cake is flavored, and colored, with ube – or purple yam – and topped with ube whipped cream!

Prep Time1 hour hr

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Cooling time2 hours hrs

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, Filipino

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: angel food cake, cake, chiffon cake, easy, purple yam, ube, whipped cream

Servings: 12 people

Calories: 500kcal

Author: Amelia Farber

Equipment

• 10-inch Angel Food Cake Pan (tube pan)
• Electric mixer

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 1 1/2 Cups white sugar
• 12 large egg whites NO egg yolk
• 1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 2 1/2 tsp ube extract
• 3/4 Cup gluten free 1-1 flour mix with xanthan gum added (if it doesn't have xanthan gum, add 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum)
• 1/4 Cup sweet rice flour
• 2 Tbsp ube powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

For the topping:

• 3 Cups heavy cream
• 3 Tbsp powdered sugar
• 1 tsp ube extract

Instructions

• First, make your cake! Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Do NOT grease your angel food cake pan! You actually want your cake to stick to the pan so that you can let it cool/dry upside down once it comes out of the oven. First, pulse the white sugar in a food processor until fine and dusty. Remove one cup of the sugar and set aside, then add the flour, sweet rice flour, ube powder, and salt to the food processor with the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, and continue to pulse for 30 seconds.
• Then, separate your egg whites into a large bowl. I recommend separating one egg at a time into a small bowl in case any shell or bits of egg yolk get into the whites (if egg yolk does get into the whites, you have to throw them out – they will not whip correctly). Once all of your egg whites have been separated into a large bowl, let them sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes (if your eggs are already room temp, skip this step). Once the eggs whites are room temp, use an electric mixer to beat the egg white on medium speed until foamy. Add in the cream of tartar and continue to beat until very soft peaks form. At this point, get the 1 cup of the fine sugar you set aside and start sprinkling it into your egg whites (while still beating with the mixer), 2 Tbsp at a time (do not pour sugar all in at once or it will deflate the eggs). Continue to beat and sprinkle in sugar until all sugar has been combined, and until stiff peaks form (this will take about 10 minutes). Add in the ube extract and beat to combine.
• Once stiff peaks form, slowly fold in the flour+sugar+ube powder+salt mixture 1/4 cup at a time until all of the mixture is combined into a voluminous cake batter. Do not mix, as this will deflate the eggs. Carefully scoop the angel food cake batter into your un-greased pan and then shimmy the pan on the counter to even out the top of the cake batter. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of one side of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and immediately turn the cake, in the pan, upside down. Let the cake cool completely upside down for about 2 hours (or longer). This will preserve the height of the cake – if you let it cool sitting right side up, it will settle and not be fluffy.
• Finally, construct the cake! Once the cake is cool, in a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the cream on medium speed until thicker. Add in the ube extract and powdered sugar and continue to beat until medium-stiff peaks form.
• Once the cake is completely cool, turn right side up and run a butterknife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake. Push the cake out of the pan and plate on a serving dish either right side up or upside down (I like upside down). Decorate with floofs of your ube whipped cream and then serve!

Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your cake!

Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber