How Does Cloud Cake Differ From Angel Food Cake?

While there's a time and place for all kinds of cake, sometimes, the lightest and fluffiest just hit the spot. But if you're familiar with cloud cake, you likely know it's a little different from the beloved classic angel food cake. Both cakes use similar ingredients to achieve a lighter-than-air texture. Angel food cake, however, uses more of one simple ingredient: flour. Let's explore the key difference between the two cakes and how it changes the cake.

One of the biggest differences between angel food and cloud cakes and traditional cakes is that only egg whites are used to leaven the cake, or to give it its rise. No baking powder or soda is used — although cream of tartar is often included in angel food and cloud cakes to help stabilize them. Both cakes also include little to no fat. But if you compare the recipes very carefully, you'll notice angel food cake recipes call for flour, whereas cloud cake does not.

Cloud cake doesn't require any flour. Instead, it tends to be mostly meringue, though the recipes can vary. Some cloud cakes are solely egg white and a sweetener like honey or maple syrup. Tasting Table's two-ingredient cloud cake recipe uses only gelatin powder and strawberry applesauce. Chocolate cloud cake is unique in that it requires additional ingredients such as chopped chocolate, butter, and sugar. But what difference does the use of flour make to angel food cake and cloud cake?

Angel food cake has more of a cake-like texture thanks to the flour that it uses, though it is light and fluffy too. Angel food cake gets its soft, airy texture because of the combination of sugar and egg whites. While this is also true of cloud cake, the lack of flour means this cake has a texture that is closer to that of meringue. 

Regardless of the cake you choose, you'll end up with something airy and sweet. But if you want more of a traditional cake experience, opt for angel food. While cloud cake is a great option for gluten-free dietary restrictions, it has a soft meringue texture that is just as satisfying.