With a few family members on low-sugar diets, I often try to integrate desserts with sugar substitutes into our get-togethers when I bring something sweet for after dinner.
For Mother’s Day, I decided to try out a recipe for a sugar-free angel food cake for that purpose.
Now, let me give a disclaimer that while this recipe is dubbed “sugar free,” it’s not really 100-percent free of sugar. It uses vanilla extract, which has sugar in it, and if you’re like me and pair it with some fresh fruit, you’ll get natural sugars from that, too.
But it’s extremely low in sugar, which makes it not only a bit healthier as desserts go but also a good option for someone who needs to keep their sugar intake to a minimum.
Another thing to note is the sugar substitute I used converts cup for cup with regular sugar, so I used the full amount listed in the recipe. Some sugar substitutes are a lot sweeter than the real stuff, so they recommend using a fraction of the amount. I’d recommend reading the package of whatever substitute you buy to make sure you’re not overdoing it on the sweetness.
I used a recipe from the blog “Living Sweet Moments” by Tiffany Bendayan. You can find it at https://livingsweetmoments.com/sugar-free-angel-food-cake/. I decided not to mess around with the flavoring on this one, because angel food cake is all about the chemistry, and I didn’t want to screw up the consistency.
Sugar-free Angel Food Cake
Ingredients
- 12 egg whites at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 1/2 cups sugar substitute
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Whip the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. Beat in the vanilla.
- Sift the flour, cornstarch, sugar substitute and salt together and then add it little by little, folding it into the egg whites very gently (you want to keep it as voluminous as possible).
- Dump the mixture into an ungreased angel food cake pan and bake for about 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the cake springs back when you touch it.
- Invert the cake pan onto the neck of an empty glass bottle (like a pop, wine or beer bottle) to cool.
- Once the cake is cooled completely, run a knife around the outside of the cake to remove it from the pan. Do the same to the bottom of the pan. You may need to trim the cake to make it sit evenly on a plate.
- Make sure to store the cake in an airtight container so it doesn’t dry out, and serve it with your favorite fresh fruit and some sugar-free whipped cream or ice cream, too.
This didn’t rise nearly as much as full sugar angel food cake normally does for me. I’m not sure if that was just how this recipe is or if it was the humid weather making it act up, but if yours doesn’t rise all the way to the top of the pan, don’t worry. It’ll still be nice and fluffy and airy. (At least mine was.)
We enjoyed our angel food cake along with fresh strawberries and some vanilla ice cream on the side. It was a nice way to finish out an amazing meal with some wonderful people—several of whom are the greatest moms to ever walk the planet.
I don’t think bringing them cake was any way to repay all of the support they’ve given me over the years, but it was at least a start.
This piece first appeared in print on May 17, 2018.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.