Fluffy Angel Food Cupcakes
My favorite cake gets a mini makeover today. If you’ve never had angel food cake before, it is a delicate and sweet cake with a heavenly, light and airy texture (hence the name!). The cake is typically made in a tube pan, but today we’re making it in cupcake form and topping with whipped cream (though, in retrospect I think this may have been a missed opportunity to use my chocolate whipped cream)! Today’s recipe is similar to my angel food cake, but a few changes were necessary in order to make them successful as cupcakes. If you’ve ever made an angel food cake, you know a critical part of the process is suspending the cake upside down immediately after it comes out of the oven and it must cool that way. But… try doing that with a cupcake tin (please don’t, really!). Doesn’t exactly work! Out of necessity, I’ve slightly modified the recipe to make it work without needing to be flipped upside down. This recipe has a (slightly) sturdier crumb to help the cupcakes hold their shape. It also bakes in a fraction of the time, so if you’re in a rush, definitely make this one! One thing to note before we get started: we will be whipping egg whites to stiff peaks to make these cupcakes. If you’ve made my meringue cookies or macarons before, you already know that it is very important to 1) use the right kind of egg whites 2) make sure you don’t get any yolk–not even a speck–in with the whites and 3) use clean, dry, and grease free bowls and beaters. Meringue is a finicky thing, so this is key for your success!
Why you’ll love these cupcakes:
Much quicker to make than a whole cake. Incredibly light and airy texture ✨ Simple ingredients–mostly pantry staples! Sweet flavor enhanced with a touch of almond extract.
What You Need
You only need 10 ingredients to make my angel food cupcakes with whipped cream! Here are a few worth mentioning before we dive in:
Egg whites. Do not use carton egg whites! These won’t always whip up properly, and this recipe heavily relies on properly whipped egg whites. Instead, separate your own eggs (into a clean, dry, grease free bowl!) and make sure you don’t get even a tiny bit of yolk in with the whites. I include a few recipe ideas below for using up your extra yolks. Cake flour. I prefer cake flour here, but you can use all-purpose flour if that’s all you have on hand. Details on how to substitute all-purpose flour are included in the recipe notes below. Cornstarch. This ingredient isn’t in my original cake recipe. Here, I use it to help make the structure of the cupcake, it makes the fragile crumb sturdier (without compromising the light texture we’re aiming for). Sugar. You’ll need to whip out the powdered sugar and the granulated (or, alternatively, superfine/caster sugar) for this recipe. Powdered sugar is mixed in with the dry ingredients while granulated sugar is whipped into the meringue (much like we do with my macarons) to help stabilize it. Almond extract. Just a tiny splash of almond extract adds a bright, cozy flavor. You can always leave this out if you prefer or if you just don’t happen to have any, but I love the way it works in this recipe.
SAM’S TIP: It’s best to use an electric mixer or stand mixer for this recipe since you’ll need to do a lot of mixing to prepare the meringue. I definitely wouldn’t recommend making this recipe by hand! Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Angel Food Cupcakes
Cake Batter
SAM’S TIP: You must whip your egg whites to stiff peaks! If you don’t, you risk having your cupcakes sink after baking or just turn out with an poor, dense, and sadly deflated texture. If you’re more of a visual learner, it might be helpful to check out my video (in the recipe card) to see what stiff peaks looks like.
Bake + Cool
Whipped Cream
SAM’S TIP: These cupcakes are super light and airy, so much that the cupcake liner actually plays an important role in helping hold their shape. Don’t remove them from the liners until you’re eating them, they’ll shrink up on themselves a bit if you do! Light, delicate, and oh-so good, I’m very excited for you to try these 😍 Enjoy! Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook