Gluten Free Lemon Poppy Seed Angel Food Cake
Sweet and sour come together in a perfect pairing with this Gluten Free Lemon Poppy Seed Angel Food Cake. Light and fluffy angel food cake is mixed with the tart flavor of lemon, nutty poppy seeds, and drizzled with a sweet lemon-sugar icing that takes this twist on the classic angel food cake over the top. You’ll never even know it’s gluten free!
If you’ve never made angel food cake from scratch before, let me be the first to assure you: It’s surprisingly easy to do. I’ve tried to simplify this recipe as much as possible, but the best advice I can give you about this one is to just jump in there and do it!
Especially if you’re starting with this one. Even if you’re a seasoned angel food cake veteran, you’re going to love this version. It’s sweet, it’s sour (in a really good way), and it’s so light and moist that you might even forget the best part: It’s gluten free!
Oh, man, this cake. Let me tell you, it’s just noms. NOMS! I say. So good, that I even had it for breakfast. Ok, so that’s not all that uncommon for me, but it’s still a really good cake.
The icing on this one kind of hardens once it cools down, so you get this amazingly flakey, sugary-sweet topping that just goes with a light cake like this one perfectly. And lemons. Don’t even get me started on the lemons. Let’s just say that I’m a big fan of any baked goods with lemons in it, and this is no exception.
I actually made this cake because I was looking for something lower in calories, while still being a great treat for the upcoming holidays. I know what you’re thinking, “But calories don’t exist on the holidays!“. And you’d be right. There is no such thing as a calorie on a holiday. It’s scientifically proven. The jury is still out on the day after a holiday, too, aka “National Leftovers Day”.
Unfortunately, calories do exist all of the other days leading up to the holidays, when I’ll be working like a mad-lady in my test kitchen getting recipes ready for the upcoming festivities. It’s kind of like a three-week-long Thanksgiving at my place. There will be cakes, pies, and crescent rolls.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
But tonight, I just needed something a bit lighter in my life. And Gluten Free Lemon Poppy Seed Angel Food Cake works perfectly.
I made mine in a bundt pan. You don’t have to, I just think it looks more decorative if you’re planning on making this for a holiday get together, and it stays a little more true to a traditional angel food cake.
Besides, everyone loves a good bundt, right? I think so.
If you like this recipe, be sure to follow me here on Pinterest!
Gluten Free Lemon Poppy Seed Angel Food Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 12 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 cup white sugar, divided
- 2 tbsp poppy seeds
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 3 tsp lemon juice
- 3/4 cup gluten free all-purpose flour
For the Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp lemon zest
Equipment
- bundt pan
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9-inch tube pan and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl add egg whites and cream of tartar. Using an electric egg beater, beat on medium-high speed until egg whites are frothy.
- While beating, reduce speed to just medium and add 1/2 cup sugar slowly. Continue to beat until eggs form soft peaks.
- Still beating on medium speed, add poppy seeds, vanilla extract, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Beat for an additional minute.
- In a separate bowl, mix together flour and 1/2 cup sugar.
- Add half of flour mixture to a sifter and slowly sift into egg mixture, folding ingredients together slowly with a spoon.
- When one half is done, sift in the remaining flour and sugar, still folding ingredients together slowly.
- Pour batter into tube pan. Use a butter knife to cut into batter all the way around to release any air pockets.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and firm.
- Remove from oven and turn over bundt pan immediately to release cake.
- Allow to cool before adding glaze.
For the Glaze
- Whisk together sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest until a thick paste forms. Drizzle on cake once cake is cooled.
Notes
Nutrition
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I love lemon poppy cake and you have done a really fantastic job making one that is light and beautiful . Thanks for sharing this gluten-free recipe. 🙂
Thank you Ramona! This is definitely one of my new favorites. My dad has already requested it for Christmas!
This is a delicious recipe! I made other pastries that used only egg yolks and was looking for a recipe to use up all of the whites that I had left. I will definitely make this again! Thanks for sharing!
I was just wondering if you know any substitute for egg whites? I am a gluten intolerant but I’m also a vegan, I love the look of this recipe but I just don’t know how to get it fluffy without eggs, or any other animal product. Please help, I really want to try this!
I have never known an angel food cake to be baked in a greased tube pan. Is this an typo?
Not a typo. The pan should be greased, unless you have a nonstick pan that specifically says not to. 🙂
I am totally floored that this has no baking soda or baking powder! Within the last month I’ve had a deadly allergy to baking soda finally surface. 1/32 teaspoon is enough for the allergic reaction to be noticeable, and 1/16 teaspoon nearly sent me to the ER when my airways swelled and I was starting to have significant difficulties breathing. Recipes like this make me not feel like I can never have familiar treats from time to time. Making things worse is I have a severe intolerance to corn so I can’t eat yeast either (corn is used in the prosess.) So I was starting to think I’d never have familiar/traditional baked goods again until I started researching what happens if the leavening is left out of cookies. (It is common to do it on purpose for roll-out cookies because they hold their shape better for decorating.) I was researching crepe cakes, then chiffon cakes when I ran across this recipe. Thank you SO VERY MUCH!