Gluten Free Ultra Pink Strawberry Angel Food Cake with Strawberry Whipped Cream
This heavenly strawberry angel food cake is sliced in half and layered with strawberry whipped cream and fresh strawberries!
Servings: 12 people
Calories: 500kcal
Equipment
- 10-inch angel food cake pan (NOT non-stick)
- Electric mixer
- Whisk
- Nutribullet or food processor
- Sifter/sieve
Ingredients
For the angel food cake:
- 1 1/2 Cups white sugar
- 1 Cup minus 1 Tbsp gluten free 1-1 flour mix with xanthan gum added (if it doesn't have xanthan gum, add 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum)
- 3 Tbsp sifted, powdered freeze dried strawberries instructions below
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 12 large egg whites room temp, NO bits of yolk!
- 1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- pink or red food coloring optional
For the construction:
- 4 Cups heavy cream
- 1/4 Cup sifted, powdered freeze dried strawberries instructions below
- 1/4 Cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- pink or red food coloring optional
- 2 Cups sliced fresh strawberries
Instructions
- First, make your angel food 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, blitz up just the freeze dried strawberries that you're using for the cake (wait to do the ones for the whipped cream) into a fine powder, then sift to remove seeds. Then, pulse the white sugar in a food processor or nurtibullet until fine and dusty/powdery. Remove one cup of the sugar and set aside, then add the flour, sifted powdered freeze dried strawberries, 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 vanilla and pink or red food coloring and beat to combine.
- Once stiff peaks form, sift your flour/sugar/strawberry powder/salt mixture again into a separate bowl, then slowly fold in the flour mixture 1/4 cup at a time until all of the mixture is combined into a voluminous cake batter. Do not mix/whisk/stir, 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 30-35 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 3 hours (or overnight). This will preserve the height of the cake – if you let it cool sitting right side up, it will settle and not be fluffy.
- Once the cake is cool, construct! First, blitz up the remaining freeze dried strawberries and sift to remove seeds. Then, in a large bowl, whisk your heavy cream with the food coloring you desire until thicker, then add the powdered sugar, powdered strawberries, and vanilla and continue to whisk until combined and stiff peaks form.
- Then turn the cake right side up and run a butterknife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake. Push the cake out of the pan, removing the inside cake pan piece, and plate on a serving dish. Then, using a longer sharp knife, slice the entire cake into two even layers. Finally, spread whipped cream in a thin layer over the first cake layer, line with sliced fresh strawberries, spread another thin layer of whipped cream over berries, and place the second layer on top, then frost the entire cake with all of the remaining whipped cream! Last decoration - use the remaining sliced fresh strawberries to adorn the outside of the cake, then serve immediately or keep in fridge until ready to serve (I recommend serving immediately for fresh whipped cream).