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I almost gave up on angel food cake entirely after my third failed attempt left me scraping burnt sugar off my grandmother’s tube pan. The thing about angel food cake is that everyone talks about it like it’s this delicate, impossible thing, but honestly, once you understand the egg whites, it’s one of the most forgiving cakes out there.

The pink version happened by accident. I was making a regular angel food cake for my niece’s birthday, and she wandered into the kitchen asking if I could make it “princess pink.” I had some freeze-dried strawberry powder from a smoothie phase I went through last year, and I figured why not. That cake turned out to be the prettiest thing I’d ever pulled from the oven.

What Makes This Cake Different

Most pink cake recipes rely on food coloring or artificial strawberry flavor. Nothing wrong with that, but freeze-dried strawberry powder does something magical here. It gives you that soft blush pink without making the cake taste like a vitamin. And because the powder is essentially just concentrated fruit with zero moisture, it doesn’t mess with the delicate structure of the egg whites.

The marshmallow frosting is the other piece of this puzzle. Traditional angel food cake often gets served plain or with just a dusting of powdered sugar, which is fine but kind of boring. This billowy marshmallow frosting (it’s basically a Swiss meringue) adds sweetness without weighing down the cake. It’s cloud on cloud.

The Egg White Situation

Here’s the thing about angel food cake that took me years to figure out: your egg whites need to be room temperature, and I mean actually room temperature. I used to pull eggs from the fridge, separate them, then immediately start whipping. The cake was always dense in the middle.

Now I separate my eggs and let the whites sit on the counter for at least 30 minutes. Some bakers leave them out for an hour or two. You want them to feel neutral when you touch the bowl, not cold.

The other mistake I used to make was overbeating. You want stiff peaks, yes, but stop the second you get there. Overbeaten whites turn grainy and won’t fold properly into the flour mixture. They also don’t expand as much in the oven.

About That Tube Pan

You need a tube pan for this. Not a bundt pan with all the ridges, an actual tube pan. The center tube helps the cake cook evenly, and angel food cake needs to cool upside down so it doesn’t collapse. Most tube pans have little feet on top for this purpose, or you can balance it on a wine bottle.

I use my grandmother’s old aluminum one that’s probably 50 years old at this point. A new aluminum tube pan from any kitchen store works perfectly. Just make sure it’s ungreased. Angel food cake actually needs to cling to the sides of the pan as it rises. Grease the pan and the batter slides right down.

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided
• 12 large egg whites, room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 3 tablespoons freeze-dried strawberry powder

For the marshmallow frosting:

• 4 large egg whites
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Start by preheating your oven to 325°F. Some recipes go higher, but I’ve found lower and slower gives you a more even crumb without that dry edge.

Sift the cake flour, 3/4 cup of the powdered sugar, and the strawberry powder together three times. Yes, three times. This sounds excessive but it makes a huge difference in the final texture. The flour needs to be impossibly light.

In a large bowl (and I mean the largest one you have), beat the egg whites with a stand mixer or hand mixer until they get foamy. Add the cream of tartar and salt, then continue beating on medium-high. Once soft peaks form, start adding the remaining 3/4 cup powdered sugar one tablespoon at a time. Keep beating until you get stiff, glossy peaks. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and beat for just another few seconds.

Now comes the folding. Sift about a quarter of the flour mixture over the egg whites and fold gently with a rubber spatula. Use big sweeping motions from the bottom of the bowl, turning it as you go. Repeat with the remaining flour in three more additions. You want to fold just until no white streaks remain. Overfolding deflates all those air bubbles you worked so hard to create.

Pour the batter into your ungreased tube pan and run a knife through it a few times to release any large air pockets. Smooth the top.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. The cake is done when the top springs back when you touch it and any cracks on the surface look dry. Immediately flip the pan upside down and let it cool completely, at least an hour.

For the frosting, combine the egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt in a heatproof bowl. Set it over a pot of simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch the water). Whisk constantly until the sugar dissolves completely and the mixture reaches 160°F on an instant-read thermometer.

Transfer to your stand mixer and beat on high until stiff, glossy peaks form and the bowl feels cool to the touch. This takes about 7 to 10 minutes. Beat in the vanilla.

To remove the cake from the pan, run a thin knife around the edges and the center tube. Invert onto a serving plate. Spread the marshmallow frosting all over the cake, using the back of a spoon to create swoops and swirls.

Storage

This cake is best the day it’s made, but it keeps reasonably well for 2 days at room temperature under a cake dome. Don’t refrigerate it. The cold makes both the cake and the frosting weird and dense. If you need to make it ahead, bake the cake and keep it unfrosted, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. Frost it the day you plan to serve it.

A Few Notes

The freeze-dried strawberry powder I use is the Trader Joe’s kind. You can also find it on Amazon or make your own by blitzing freeze-dried strawberries in a blender until completely powdered, then sifting out any seeds.

If you want a deeper pink, add another tablespoon of strawberry powder. Just don’t go crazy or you’ll affect the cake’s structure.

The marshmallow frosting can be tinted pink too if you want to match the cake. A tiny bit of gel food coloring works better than liquid here.

And one more thing I learned the hard way: don’t start this cake when you’re in a rush. The folding takes patience, and the cooling takes time. Put on some music, pour yourself a drink, and enjoy the process. This is a celebration cake, and making it should feel like one too.