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Strawberry Shortcake with Angel Food Cake

Strawberry Shortcake Angel Food Cake is a fun twist to the traditional Strawberry Shortcake. Angel food cake is used as the base instead of biscuits, and topped with sweetened strawberries and whipped cream. The product is a light, airy, fruity dessert perfect for the Spring and Summer.

Angel food cake topped with whipped cream and strawberries on a cake stand

Some of my other favorite cake recipes on the blog includes Italian Ricotta CheesecakeMolten Chocolate Lava Cake, and Skillet Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Don’t forget to check them out! 

What is Angel Food Cake?

Angel food cake is a very light, fluffy and airy white sponge cake made by whipping up lots of egg whites. It’s called “angel food” due to its lightness in texture – it is supposedly so light that even angels could eat it and fly. 🙂

Strawberry Shortcake using Angel Food Cake

Instead of using the denser cakes, I really enjoyed using angel food cake to make strawberry shortcakes because I love the lighter texture cake combined with cool whip or whipped cream and juicy fresh strawberries.

Strawberry Shortcake Angel Food Cake also a lower carb/fat option compared to traditional strawberry shortcakes. Which means it allows me to indulge guiltlessly and have a second (or third) slice if I want to. 😉 Or at least I like to tell myself so.

Along with Peach Crisp and Banana Pudding, Angel Food Cake Strawberry Shortcake is considered to be a signature summer dessert in our household.

Angel food Strawberry Shortcake on a cake stand, and a few slices on plates

Equipment Needed

Here are a few things that is very handy when making Strawberry Shortcake Angel Food Cake:

  • Tube pan – cake pan with a hole in the middle. This is fairly inexpensive and I highly recommend using this. Bundt pan does not work the same way. It is very hard to remove the light, airy cake from a bundt pan.
  • Food processor – this is needed to pulse the sugar mixture so that your Strawberry Shortcake Angel Food Cake is very fine and light. Blender works too if you don’t have a food processor.
  • Sifter – used to sift pulsed granulated sugar, so that the cake is light and airy!
  • Stand mixer or hand mixture – electric mixers helps with beating the egg whites and making it airy and fluffy. It’s pretty hard to do this with a hand mixer.
  • Cooling rack – helps with cooling off the cake.
  • Egg separator – optional item but nice to have if you have trouble separating egg whites from yolks. I’ve personally never owned these and just use my two hands! 🙂

Ingredients

To make the angel food cake, you will need:

  • Cake flour
  • Egg whites – make sure there’s no egg yolk in the mixture because egg yolk contains fats and will weigh down the cake.
  • Granulated sugar – we will be pulsing it using a food processor so it’s super fine.
  • Cream of tartar – use to stabilize the egg whites
  • Vanilla extract – use good quality pure vanilla extract for the best flavor
  • Salt – just a tiny pinch

As for the Strawberry Shortcake part of the recipe, here’s what you need:

  • Fresh strawberries – they are in season during late Spring and Summer, and taste the best then!
  • Granulated sugar
  • Vanilla extract
  • Whipped cream or Cool whip – or make your own Homemade Whipped Cream!
 Strawberry Shortcake Angel Food Cake on a cake stand

How to make Strawberry Shortcake Angel Food Cake

Step 1: Make Angel Food Cake (or buy it!)

You can get pre-made angel food cake from grocery stores so if you are in a rush – that is a very viable (and still delicious) solution. Doing so will significantly decrease the amount of time needed to make this Angel Food Strawberry Shortcake.

To make Angel Food Cake from scratch, there are a lot of details involved but do not be intimidated! I’m going to walk you through it step and step! It is easier than it seems and once you get a hand of it, there’s really not much to it. And we are only dealing with 6 ingredients.

Start by pulsing granulated sugar in the food processor until it is super fine. If a blender is all you got, feel free to use that! Note that this process takes literally a few seconds using a food processor or blender.

Fine sugar in a measuring cup
Sugar that is pulsed until super fine

Set half of the fine sugar aside, and sift the other half into a medium bowl using a sifter. Then add salt and cake flour to the bowl of sifted sugar.

In a large bowl, combine the wet ingredients – egg whites, vanilla extract and cream of tartar. Whisk to combine.

Then using a sifter again, sift the remaining sugar that you set aside earlier into the wet ingredients. Continue to whisk to combine. A stand mixer or an electric hand mixer is super helpful to whisk together these ingredients.

Whisk until soft peaks are formed. Peaks should not be stiffed (which means it’s been over-whisked).

soft peaks forming in whisk attached to stand mixer
Soft peaks (that is fairly malleable) formed

Next, bring the sugar + cake flour + salt mixture into the wet mixture, and gently fold it into the wet mixture using a spatula.

Add the flour mixture a little bit at a time and avoid dumping it all into the wet mixture in one go. Avoid over-mixing because we don’t want to remove all the air from the mixture.

Transfer mixture into an ungreased tube pan.

Angel food cake mixture in tube pan, unbaked

Send it to the oven to bake!

When it is done, cool upside down on a cooling rack for an hour, then slide a spatula between the cake and the tube pan and gently release cake from pan. Let it cool for another 30 minutes.

Step 2: Make Strawberry Mixture

Making the strawberry mixture is super simple, simply mix sliced strawberries, granulated sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl. Then refrigerate for at least an hour.

I like to do this once I’ve sent the angel food cake into the oven, this way it has time to sit in the fridge while the cake bakes and cools.

strawberry, sugar mixture in a bowl before refrigerating
Before
strawberry, sugar mixture in a bowl after refrigerating
After

After sitting in the fridge for an hour, flavors will merge together and strawberries will be sugary sweet and delicious.

Step 3: Assemble Strawberry Shortcake Angel Food Cake

Angel food cake, a tub of cool whip, and a bowl of strawberries

Now here comes the fun part – putting the Strawberry Shortcake Angel Food Cake together!

Once the cake is cool, spread the top of the cake with a thick layer of cool whip or whipped cream, then top with strawberry mixture!

Angel Food cake topped with cool whipped
Angel food strawberry shortcake, with cool whip and strawberries

You will most likely have leftover cool whip and strawberries if you follow the ingredients measurements I provide below. I highly recommend serving the leftover cool whip and strawberry mixture on the side so people can add on to their cake.

I always like my slice of Strawberry Shortcake Angel Food Cake with extra cool whip and strawberries. 🙂

The beauty of this recipe is that you can make it from scratch by making your own angel food make or even whipped cream, or you can take the easy way out and make it super simple and grab a cake from the grocery store and just assemble it.

However you do it, the soft and airy sponge cake pairs perfectly with the juicy sweet strawberries and cool whip/whipped cream. So yum!

We all can probably agree that Strawberry Shortcake Angel Food Cake is one of those desserts that begs to be showcased.

The bright red strawberries brings gorgeous colors to a simple cake, and it just beautiful to look at, thus making it a lovely centerpiece for Mother’s Day, Easter, showers, parties, cookouts, or any Spring and Summer gathering.

Tips and Tricks

A couple things to keep in mind when making Strawberry Angel Food Cake:

  • Avoid skipping the step to pulse up granulated sugar – we need the sugar super fine in order for the cake to be light and airy!
  • Avoid any egg yolk in the mixture. Egg whites only! 🙂
  • Do not over-mix mixture when adding flour into the wet ingredients
  • Do not grease tube pan – it will make the angel food cake heavier
  • Let cake cool completely before adding whipped cream and strawberry mixture.
Two tiny plates of two slices of Strawberry Shortcake Angel Food Cake

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use a bundt pan instead of a tube pan?

Unfortunately you cannot. You’ll want to use a tube pan to ensure a smooth removal of the cake after baking.

Can I make Strawberry Shortcake Angel Food Cake ahead of time?

Absolutely! You can make it ahead of time and store it in an airtight container/bag in room temperature for up to 2 days or fridge for up to a week.

How do I make Strawberry Shortcake Angel Food Cake if I am short on time?

Get a store-bought angel food cake, make the strawberry mixture and assemble! It’ll be super straight-forward and easy! Just remember to let the strawberry mixture rest for 1 hour in the fridge before layering it onto the cake. Other than that, it shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes!

More Spring/Summer Desserts

DID YOU ENJOY THIS RECIPE? Please comment below and give us a 5-star rating! This will help others find this recipe on Google and Pinterest. We very much appreciate your help! 🤍

Closeup of Strawberry shortcake with angel food cake

Strawberry Shortcake with Angel Food Cake

A fun twist on the classic strawberry shortcake! Sweet and juicy strawberries and whipped cream are topped on a light and airy angel food sponge cake. Makes for a light and delicious summer and spring dessert!
4.97 from 33 votes
Print Pin
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Resting time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Calories: 191kcal
Author: MinShien

Ingredients

Angel Food Cake

  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2/3 cup cake flour
  • a pinch salt
  • 9 egg whites
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp cream of tartar

Strawberry Shortcake

  • 1 lbs fresh strawberries sliced, stems removed
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 8 oz cool whip

Instructions

Angel Food Cake

  • Pre-heat oven to 350℉
  • Pulse granulated sugar in the food processor or blender until it is super fine. 
  • Set aside half of the fine sugar, and sift the other half into a medium bowl using a sifter.
  • Add cake flour and salt to the bowl of sifted sugar. Mix to combine.
  • In a large bowl, combine the wet ingredients – egg whites, vanilla extract and cream of tartar. Whisk to combine.
  • Sift the remaining sugar that was set aside in Step 3 into the wet ingredients. Use an electric hand mixer or stand mixer to whisk until soft peaks are formed (see Note 1). This will take at least a few minutes.
  • Gently fold the sugar + cake flour + salt mixture from Step 4 a little bit at a time into the egg white mixture, until all the flour mixture is folded into the egg white mixture. Avoid over mixing.
  • Transfer mixture into an ungreased tube pan. Bake for 25-28 minutes.
  • Remove cake from oven, let it sit for 5 minutes. Then cool cake by inverting it upside down on a cooling rack for at least 1 hour.
  • To remove cake, slide a thin spatula between cake and the inside walls of the tube pan, and gently remove cake from tube pan and place on cooling rack.
  • Let cake cool for another 30 minutes.

Assembling Strawberry Shortcake Angel Food Cake

  • Make strawberry mixture by combining strawberries, granulated sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  • Top angel food cake with a thick layer of cool whip and then strawberry mixture (just the strawberries, avoid adding too much liquid).
  • Serve with leftover cool whip and strawberries. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 191kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 66mg | Potassium: 197mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 31g | Vitamin A: 45IU | Vitamin C: 27mg | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 1mg
Did you make this recipe?Take a pic and tag me at @joyous.apron, or hashtag #joyousapron on Instagram!

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4.97 from 33 votes (27 ratings without comment)

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18 Comments

  1. phaedra geerman says:

    this was a total disaster, in my country we dont have cake flour. so a mixed up cornstarch and all purpose just like they instruct pn google. Then there was a itty bitty bit of egg yolk. This never formed
    peaks and i put it in the oven and came put like glue. What is my error?

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      I think the main problem is that you weren’t able to form those peaks, and without it, the cake will not be fluffy (that’s why it came out sticky like glue). You will need an electric mixer to whisk the egg whites thoroughly to form those peaks, and it does take time for that to happen so be patient and keep whisking. 🙂 I have not tried and am not familiar with the combination of all purpose flour with cornstarch to make cake flour, so that might have something to do with the error as well.

  2. 5 stars
    This is so delicious! I made it this weekend and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. I love how light and delicious it is. The combination of the fresh strawberries, whipped cream and fluffy cake is lovely!

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      Thank you so much! Love hearing that!

  3. 5 stars
    I made this for Valentine’s Day and it came out perfect! So tasty and festive with the strawberries. Will be making this again for sure.

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      What a fun treat for Valentine’s Day! Thanks for sharing Julie!

  4. 5 stars
    This light cake is so BERRY delicious, and pretty, too! My whole family devoured it.

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      Haha nice pun there, Eliza! 🙂 I’m so glad you enjoyed it!

  5. 5 stars
    I was so nervous making this, but I really wanted to recreate a cake my fiancé had gotten from Paris Baguette, and this recipe turned out amazing!

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      I’m so glad it turned out so well, Jen! Happy to hear that!

  6. 5 stars
    I had extra berries from the Farmer’s Market to use and this came out great. What a fabulous, fluffy angel food cake recipe too!

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      Thank you so much, Julie! Glad you enjoyed this!

  7. I made this today and it tastes amazing. Great recipe.

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      Thank you very much! Happy to hear you enjoyed it.

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      Thank you, Rafe!

  8. Could I use superfine sugar instead of blending the granulated sugar?

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      Yes!