Instant Pot Angel Food Cake is light, moist, and perfectly sweet and I do believe knocks the socks off of any oven-baked version. Serve it with Strawberry Sauce and whipped cream for a truly “heavenly” dessert.
Yes, I'm going there, I'm using ALLLL the puns, because this Pressure Cooker Angel Food Cake is out of this world, heavenly, and touched by an angel.
I'll admit, I love the browned bits of an oven-baked angel food cake just as much as the next person, but my goodness, the texture of this Instant Pot version is as incredible as it is unique and this is confirmed by not one, but 6 people in my life who don't sugar coat their reviews of my food.
I originally wrote this recipe for my cookbook Instantly Sweet that I wrote with Barbara from the blog Pressure Cooking Today. Once I created this Instant Pot Strawberry Sauce, I knew it was time for this cake to make an appearance on my blog for the whole world to see!
What is your opinion of Angel Food Cake? It doesn't seem to be a hot ticket item at many parties and I just can't understand why.
It's a beautiful, unique, light dessert that (in my opinion), deserves to be just as popular as the more common, overly sweet, and heavy chocolate and white cakes.
If you think of Angel Food Cake and you think, “meh”, “dry”, or “boring”, you absolutely must try this version!
And if you are already a dedicated member of team Angel Food Cake, well then I'm even more excited for you to try out this Instant Pot version!!!
You all are in for a serious treat!
WHY YOU WILL LOVE INSTANT POT ANGEL FOOD CAKE
- This is not the standard bakery version that you can pick up at the grocery store. This pressure cooked Angel Food Cake is moist, perfectly sweet, and has the most wonderful, soft chew. Seriously, the texture is just so unique and delightful!
- Fun to make! I, for one, find the whipping and folding of peaked egg whites to be so incredibly fun. So pretty, so white, so . . . angelic.
- This cake is the perfect pairing for nearly any type of fruit. Strawberries and vanilla whipped cream are standard for Angel Food Cake, but don't stop there! Peaches, raspberries, blackberries, sauteed apples, plums, blueberries, etc, they all work!
- A mix of almond and vanilla extract give this cake an interesting, stand-out-from-the-crowd, type of flavor you won't soon forget.
- This version does it's “angel” name proud by staying so perfectly white and pretty. I promise you won't miss the browned crust one bit!
HOW TO MAKE ANGEL FOOD CAKE IN THE PRESSURE COOKER
- Whisk flour and sugar together
- In a different bowl, beat egg whites, salt, cream of tartar, vanilla, and almond extract until just barely frothy
- Sprinkle in the sugar
- Beat until stiff peaks form
- Gently fold in dry ingredients
- Spoon the batter into pan; it will be FULL
- Cover with foil and place inside the pot to cook
- When done, invert pan and let cool for 90 minutes
- Remove cake by pulling the center tube out of the base pan
SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR DETAILED COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
TIPS FOR MAKING THE BEST ANGEL FOOD CAKE
- DO NOT GET EGG YOLK IN YOUR BATTER! This will make it so the whites don't whip as stiff as we need them to be. If you're worried, crack the eggs in a separate bowl before adding the whites to the main bowl.
- Make sure to whip the egg whites to a “stiff peak”. You'll know you've achieved stiff peaks when the whites stand straight up when the beaters are lifted.
- To avoid deflating the whites, gently fold in the dry ingredients. Use a spatula and fold from the bottom over the top until incorporated.
- Use the right pan. Because most people likely don't own one, I cringe a little telling you that this Tube Pan is the best pan possible . . . but it really is. Angel Food Cakes do best in pans that are NOT NON STICK and have a center tube to climb. Second best would be this 6-inch bundt cake pan. You can also use a springform pan, but the nonstick surface and lack of center tube results in a slightly more dense cake. Still yummy, just not quite the perfection I want you to enjoy.
- The cake pan is going to be full. This is absolutely okay, don't stress it!
- Cover the pan with foil to cook it. I don't stress this as much with other cakes and cheesecakes, but for Angel Food Cake, I don't want extra moisture dripping into the cake.
- Reserve the egg yolks for this incredible Instant Pot Lava Cake. Two indulgent desserts in one week? Sounds like a good week to me!
- Let it cool UPSIDE DOWN for a full 90 minutes. This step is important for achieving the light texture we all want, DON'T RUSH IT!
HOW TO STORE AND FREEZE ANGEL FOOD CAKE
- Store: Place in an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Freeze: Wrap slices in plastic wrap and place inside a freezer safe ziptop bag for up to 3 months. To eat, let thaw at room temperature for an hour or so.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH ANGEL FOOD CAKE
- Instant Pot Strawberry Sauce and Vanilla Whipped Cream: The ultimate Angel Food Cake topping.
- Instant Pot Healthy Chocolate Syrup: If you haven't had Angel Food Cake with Chocolate Syrup, you are missing out!
- Instant Pot Cinnamon Cream Syrup: This syrup would be lovely with a side of fresh berries or sauteed apples
VARIATIONS OF ANGEL FOOD CAKE
- Angel Food Cake Trifle: Chop the cake into bite size cubes and layer in a clear bowl with strawberry sauce and whipped cream.
- Peach Melba Angel Food Cake Trifle: Chop the cake into bite size cubes and layer with sliced peaches, raspberries, and whipped cream.
- Lemon Angel Food Cake: Add lemon zest to the Angel Food Cake batter and serve with a scoop of lemon sorbet or lemon curd.
In conclusion, this Angel Food Cake will, without a doubt, blow you away, and never again will you be able to settle with the store-bought bakery angel food cakes.
Smiles, hugs, and squeals of delight – that is what to expect at your dinner table very, very soon. Get ready to be swept off your feet by this beloved Angel Food Cake! Report back when you try it, I'd love to know how you think it compares!
MORE INSTANT POT CAKE RECIPES
- Instant Pot Brownie Pudding
- Instant Pot Molten Lava Cake
- Instant Pot Peaches and Cream Coconut Tres Leches Cake
TOOLS/INGREDIENTS USED TO MAKE INSTANT POT ANGEL FOOD CAKE
Instant Pot Angel Food Cake
Light, perfectly sweet, heavenly Instant Pot Angel Food Cake.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 27 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- ¾ cup cake flour
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
- 9 large egg whites
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
For serving: Strawberry Sauce, whipped cream, fresh berries or peaches
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk the cake flour and ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar; set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the egg whites, salt, cream of tartar, vanilla, and almond extract (if using). With a handheld electric mixer, beat on medium speed until barely frothy.
- Sprinkle ¼ cup of sugar over the egg whites. Beat again just until incorporated. Add the remaining ¼ cup of sugar and continue to beat until the mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks.
- Gently fold half of the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites. Once combined, add the remaining dry ingredients and gently fold them into the batter until combined.
- Spoon the batter into an ungreased 7 inch tube pan (AKA angel food cake pan). It will be full. Cover with foil and lightly crimp it around the edges of the pan.
- Pour 1 cup water into the pressure cooker and place a trivet in the bottom.
- Carefully center the filled pan on a sling and lower the pan onto the trivet. Fold the sling down so the lid will close.
- Secure the lid and turn pressure release knob to a sealed position. Cook at high pressure for 27 minutes.
- When cooking is complete, turn the pressure cooker off. Let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes, then manually release any remaining pressure.
- Use the sling to carefully remove the tube pan and set it upside down on a heat-safe surface to cool for 90 minutes. (This step is important! Don’t rush it).
- Once cool, run a knife around the sides and the center of the pan to remove the cake. If using a tube pan, simply remove cake by pulling the center tube away from the outer pan.
- Serve immediately with Strawberry Sauce and vanilla whipped cream.
- Store at room temperature in a sealed container for up to a week.
Notes
- Angel Food Cake doesn’t work as well in nonstick pans because it needs to adhere to the sides in order to “climb” the pan and become light and fluffy. In a pinch though, use what pan you have and do not spray it with nonstick spray.
- It’s very important that no egg yolk gets into the batter. Crack eggs 1 at a time into a small bowl, adding them to a larger bowl when you are sure they have no yolk in them.
- A tube pan is best, but a bundt pan is a great second choice. Again, just be sure not to spray it with nonstick spray.
- To freeze Angel Food Cake, wrap it tightly with plastic wrap, then place in a freezer safe zip-top bag for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, thaw at room temperature for 2-3 hours.
Keywords: Instant Pot Dessert, Angel Food Cake, Strawberry Sauce
Welcome! I’m Marci, wife to my motorcycle dream man and mother of 3. I have a passion for creating and cooking delicious masterpieces in my kitchen and am ecstatic to share my discoveries on TIDBITS! I like my food tasty, wholesome, memorable, and always, ALWAYS followed by dark, salty chocolate.
It was a complete disaster. It look fine in the cooker but when I turned it over to cool. The entire cake fell out in pieces. It was partially cooked. It was cooked for 27 minutes and I allowed the pressure to release on its on without any outside help. I don’t know what went wrong. It was looking great prior to cooking.
★★
Margaret, that is so strange! Was there air leaking while it was cooking perhaps? Poor seal? Was it on high pressure?