Angel Food Cupcakes
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With just four ingredients these cloud-like Angel Food Cupcakes topped with homemade whipped cream will become your new favorite dessert!
These angel food cupcakes are seriously angelic. They’re so light with just enough sweetness and a great way to use up extra egg whites! You can eat them plain or pile them high with homemade whipped cream and fresh berries.
What Is Angel Food Cake?
Angel food cake is an American cake that is made by creating a meringue with egg whites and a little bit of sugar then folding sifted cake flour and sugar into it. All of the leavening comes from whipping air into the egg whites as you make the meringue. It has a very light and fluffy texture – it feels like eating a cloud!
Ingredient Breakdown
Granulated Sugar – sweetens cupcakes and strengthens the meringue. The sugar gets pulsed until very fine to prevent it from weighing down and deflating the meringue.
Cake flour – the low protein helps gives the cupcakes their light and fluffy structure. You can’t substitute any other flours.
Egg whites – provides most of the structure for the cupcakes and makes them rise.
How To Make Angel Food Cupcakes
1. Make the angel food cupcakes: begin by pulsing all of the granulated sugar in a food processor or blender until very fine. Set aside about 1/3 of the sugar.
2. In a small bowl sift together the cake flour and the remaining 2/3 of granulated sugar.
3. Add the egg whites and salt to mixing bowl then place on a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whip on medium high speed until the mixture begins to get foamy. Then add in the remaining 1/3 of sugar a little bit at a time. You want to take your time with this to create a strong meringue. Add the vanilla extract and stop mixing when the meringue reaches soft peaks (shown in the photo below).
4. Sift the cake flour and sugar mixture into the meringue a little at a time then carefully fold (about 3 additions).
5. Immediately scoop batter into prepared cupcake pans 3/4 full. Be gentle as to not deflate the batter. Bake at 325°F for 20 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.
6. Make homemade whipped cream: To a mixing bowl add heavy cream, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla extract. On a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment whip on medium high until stiff peaks form (this happens very quickly so don’t walk about from it). Be careful not to over whip or the texture will be grainy. Decorate cooled cupcakes with whipped cream as desired. I used Wilton 1M to pipe the whipped cream and the smallest heart cutter from this set for the heart shaped strawberries. Store Angel Food Cupcakes in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Pro Tips For Fluffy Angel Food Cupcakes
- Weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale! Measuring ingredients by volume is not accurate; baking is a science after all!
- The presence of even the tiniest bit of yolk or fat will prevent your egg whites from whipping up so be careful not to get any yolks into your whites. You can also clean your mixing bowl and whisk attachment with a little bit of vinegar if there’s any grease on them.
- Keep a close eye on your meringue, you don’t want it to pass soft peaks or it will throw off the texture of the cupcakes.
- Make sure you sift your cake flour and sugar. You want them to be super light so they don’t weigh down and deflate your meringue.
- Scoop and bake batter immediately. It can’t sit for long or it will deflate.
My Favorite Cupcake Tools
- Kitchen scale I love this scale, I’ve been using it for years!
- Stand Mixer
- 12-count cupcake pans. I like having two of them so I bake off the whole batch all at once.
- Cupcake liners
- Cookie scoop. This one makes it so easy to scoop the perfect amount of batter for each cupcake.
- Mini offset spatula
- Piping tips and piping bags
- Wilton 1M I used this tip to pipe the whipped cream onto the cupcakes
- Heart Shaped Cookie Cutter Set I used the smallest cutter in this set for the heart shaped strawberries
What To Make With Leftover Egg Yolks?
Try my Easy Lemon Curd, Lemon Sweet Rolls or Blood Orange Bars!
If you try this recipe then please leave a rating/comment below to let me know how you liked it and feel free to ask any recipe questions you may have! 🙂
Angel Food Cupcakes
Equipment
- Fine mesh sieve
- Stand mixer or handheld mixer
- Food processor or blender
- Two 12-count cupcake pans
Ingredients
Angel Food Cupcakes
- 240 g (1 cup + 2 tbsp) granulated sugar, finely ground
- 80 g (3/4 cup) cake flour
- 8 (240g) egg whites save the yolks for another recipe!
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Homemade Whipped Cream
- 240 g (1 cup) heavy cream
- 30 g (1/4 cup) confectioners' sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Angel Food Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 325°F and line two 12-count cupcake pans with paper liners.
- Pulse granulated sugar in a food processor or blender until very fine and almost powdery. Set aside about 1/3 of the sugar.
- In a small bowl sift together the remaining 2/3 of sugar and all of the cake flour. Set aside.
- Add the egg whites and salt to a mixing bowl then place on a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whip on medium high speed until the mixture begins to get foamy. Add the remaining 1/3 sugar a little at a time then add the vanilla extract. Continue to whip until the meringue reaches soft peaks.
- Sift the cake flour and sugar mixture into the meringue a little at a time and carefully fold (about 3 additions).
- Gently scoop batter into prepared cupcake pans 3/4 full then bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool for 5 minutes in pans (the cupcakes will shrink a little bit) then remove and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
Homemade Whipped Cream
- To a mixing bowl add heavy cream, confectioners' sugar and vanilla extract. On a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment whip on medium high until stiff peaks form. Pipe or spoon onto cooled cupcakes.
Notes
- Weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale! Measuring ingredients by volume is not accurate; baking is a science after all!
- Store angel food cupcakes with homemade whipped cream in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2-3 days.
- Cupcakes can be made 1 day in advance and stored in an airtight container at room temperature. Make homemade whipped cream and frost the day of serving.
