Angel Food Cupcakes.
I spent 21 minutes contemplating the idea that if I licked this whisk and it’s three accompanying spatulas completely clean, I mean like COMPLETELY CLEAN… just exactly how sick could I get? Would the sickness be worth it? If I took my last breath slurping fluffy meringue and choked on raw egg whites, vanilla and sugar, would it be my IDEAL – like, total ideal – way to go?
Because there is a fine line between consuming batter and feeling like garbage (or uhhh… dying?), and I often cross it.
Actually… I always cross it. Repeatedly. Forever. Evermore.
Anyhoo.
I did that batter justice.
Really, in all my 20-something years on this Earth, if I have survived using six-years expired shaker Parmesan cheese from Mother Lovett’s fridge, if my mom has baked a cake in 2012 with Duncan Hines mix that was good through March of ’08 and I ate seven bajillion slices, if I lived after taking a swig of Dawn dish soap thinking it was my water bottle, if I consumed… well, let’s be honest here – inhaled – a piece of coconut cream pie that I found in the back of the fridge behind some congealed substance that had basically grown legs and was waiting to walk away, well then…
… I don’t think the base of an angel food cake is gonna kill me.
Oh! And especially not… because it’s called ANGEL food cake, so there has to be like, angels involved somewhere. Watching over me. As in my guardian angel, which obviously has to have some involvement with cake somewhere.
If not, it’s like they don’t even… know me. And well, that’s just not safe.
Besides one of my life goals being for George Clooney to prank me, another one is to make a mean-ass angel food cake. Mother Lovett used to make one and then top it with some glaze, and it was gooooood. Not my favorite, but every once in a while it was cool to bite down into a spongy layer of vanilla. Oh, but this was before I knew that angel food cake was basically a HEALTH FOOD. After learning that, I just wanted to eat brownies.
Everyfreakingday.
I made my first angel food cake a few years ago and assumed it would be soooosoo easy. Like, embarrassingly easy. I mean, it normally just looks like a plain, fluffy, fat life-size donut. It doesn’t taste like tiramisu layered cheesecake with chocolate mouse filling and graham cracker crust and mascarpone frosting and fresh truffles on top of a bed of creme brulee and… and… yeah. Angel food cake is simple and light and people eat it so they can feel better about themselves ingesting cake. I didn’t expect it to be all “beat the egg whites! watch for stiff peaks! sift the sugar! sift the sugar again! don’t stir the egg whites! fold the stuff in! no, FOLD the stuff in! don’t mix it in circles!” and stuff. I’m much more of a mix-all-this-junk-in-a-bowl-and-who-cares-when-you-add-the-dry-ingredients-and-oh-cracked-two-entire-eggs-plus-their-shells-in-the-batter?-just-scoop-it-out-with-your-fingers-and-move-on kind of person.
Needless to say, I was much more prepared for this angel food experience.
Still, I complicated things a little more and made some cupcakes instead, which ummm… might just be the best thing ever because you can pop them in your mouth like candy. They are everything that angel food cake is, but cuter.
Angel Food Cupcakes
[lightly adapted from mother lovett’s recipe and gourmet]
makes 36 cupcakes
12 large egg whites (1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tarter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups sifted powdered sugar (sift before measuring)
1 1/8 cups sifted cake flour (sift before measuring)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Let egg whites sit at room temperature for about one hour before beginning. While eggs are resting, measure out powdered sugar and flour, then sift powdered sugar, flour and salt together. Set aside. Line a cupcake tin (or two) with cupcake liners.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in the bottom third of oven.
Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until frothy. Once frothy, add in cream of tarter, then beat at medium speed until soft peaks form. This took me about 5-6 minutes. Gradually add granulated sugar with the mixer still on medium speed, continuing to beat until egg whites thicken a bit more with opaque, soft, droopy peaks. Once there, beat in vanilla extract.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and sprinkle 1/4 of the dry ingredients over the egg whites. Fold gently with a spatula until combined completely. Continue with the rest of the dry ingredients – I did this in three increments.
Once batter is smooth, use a 1/4 cup measure to pour heaping scoops of batter into each liner. Bake for 18-19 minutes, or until tops are golden brown. Let cool completely, then frost as desired. I frosted mine with a simple fresh vanilla whipped cream, using 1 pint of whipping cream, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and beating until thickened.
Much cuter.
184 Comments on “Angel Food Cupcakes.”
oh my goodness. i love angel food cake. but have never made it. and now i shall. maybe topped with a fresh strawberry whipped cream (i think if i filled it was a strawberry mixture, it would get too mushy)
I’ve had the raw meringue before and I’m still here ;)
These look amazing, and the raw meringue sounds even more amazing…nothing wrong with a little raw egg every now and then! I always cross that line too.
i love angel food cake! i haven’t had it in ages but this recipe has inspired me to make these delicious cupcakes.
Angel food cucakes are my face of all time. I am excited to try homemade recipe because I have always made mine from a box mix. I love to make a little hole in the cupcake and fill with sugar and vanilla soaked strawberries and top with whipped cream, it is so good my taste buds are giving each other high fives.
Wow, those look and sound amazing. Yum!
They look amazing. I love angel food cake and I love love love frosting and this looks like some of the BEST frosting I’ve seen around in ages. I’d have gone to town on that wire whisk, too :)
I love how sticky + light angel food cake is and a simple whipped cream topping is basically my favorite kind of frosting ever. The color of the sprinkles are perfect!
I’ve never made angel food cake and these cupcakes seem like the perfect recipe to remedy that! I plan to make these this year and top with whipped icing, strawberries and blueberries. Yum!
The little cupcakes look positively amazing! I love angle food, but haven’t thought to drop the dough into cupcake papers! I will definitely need to make these soon!
Cheers,
Christi
I’m definitely a mix-all-this-junk-in-a-bowl-and-who-cares-when-you-add-the-dry-ingredients-and-oh-cracked-two-entire-eggs-plus-their-shells-in-the-batter?-just-scoop-it-out-with-your-fingers-and-move-on kind of person as well. I’m okay w angel food.. i want to like it more than I do… I once made some angel food cupcakes via Martha Stewart and they were loooooovely.
What kind of frosting is this? Looks pretty!
Licking the frosting (batter/dough/whatever) off of the whisk (or paddle attachment) is one of my greatest joys in life. I’ll never NOT do it. Never.
Your posts always make me laugh! I also wish for George Clooney to prank me one day. Or at least be someone he mockingly trash-talks in interviews.
Raw eggs no longer scare me – I always taste doughs/batters. Woops.
These are gorgeous!
These turned out beautifully. I’m trying angel food cake for my first time for Valentine’s day. Your recipe sounds delicious! I would also like all the spatulas…they looks dangerous.
you could always used pasteurized egg whites then you could go wild!
I never thought about making angel food cake cupcakes that’s fabulous.
These look lovely! (such cute polka dot papers too!) I’ve eaten raw batters and doughs many times in my over 40 years….and I’m still alive to talk about it. Taste on!!! :) Have a great Tuesday.
Oh my god! I was watching how to make angel food cake last night on Joy of Baking, and thought how awesome it’d be to make them into cupcakes because a) i can eat them and still fit into my wedding dress since they’re “healthy” and b) future-hubs wouldn’t get pissy about a giant cake sitting around and no one eating it. AND YOU DID IT. It’s destiny, I tell you… delicious destiny!!!
These are soo cute! Will have to try them :)
Ack I freaking LOVE angel food cake. You’re a genius to think of cupcakes…
Please share the icing recipe!
It’s at the bottom of the recipe.
ooo angel food cake! if thats not a flashback to my childhood I dont know what that is! These are a must!!
I actually just liked my screen. Seriously.
Hello again! :)
Do you think it would work out if I baked these in a mini cupcake tin?
Thanks for your help!
Christi
Most likely, yes!
Pretty! Love the generous amount of frosting…And sprinkles :)
Oh my gosh, I’m such a weirdo I can’t even eat anything with raw eggs. I have missed out on years of cake and cookie batter sampling.
It looks so light & fluffy! Delish!
Jessica, you make me laugh hysterically. You are such an incredible writer, and I love how you write from the heart. Are you this hilarious in person? Seriously, we need to get you a contract with the Food Network! Great work! And the cupcakes look DIVINE!
This is SUCH a great idea, I love the idea of personal angel food cakes! Definitely trying this one!
Bodybuilders down egg whites like crazy which just confirms your theory: angel food cake is TOTALLY health food.
LOVE these!! You haven’t figured out the caloric value of each cupcake, have you??? You make such yummy, beautiful food…so happy I happened upon your blog!
agh I ALWAYS cross that line when I make chocolate chip cookies from scratch. I like the beaters, I like the leftovers in the spoon, I dip into the batter while Im baking (ONLY if the cookies are for myself- Im SO strict if I am making them for other people- than I dont lick anything at all and just leave myself a good portion left in the bowl to eat at the end ;) )
and then after eating it, Im always like, oh CRAP, what if there was salmonella in that batch??
then worry for about 1-2 days then insist Im ok and repeat the cycle. Its worth it,, isnt it?? :)
Somehow I fail at all things egg white related. These are so pretty I would love to have them sitting at my house when people come over. Oh these I just whipped them up. But I am pretty sure that mine would look more brick-like than your light and fluffy creations.
Holy. Freaking. Cow. Get these in my mouth now!!
Angel food cake is one of my faves. I remember as a kid I would just break off hunks of it all the time.
Ok so nothing to do with angle food cake…. ok sortta…. I agree meringue always looks so dreamy and airy and heavenly. You would think I would love a pie topped with the stuff but I don’t. I hate the way it tastes and every time I see a pie topped with a gorgeous meringue topping I want to dive right in head first and eat it and then I am reminded of the taste. But I LOVE angle food cake! And everything is cutter in cupcake form! : )
Not gonna lie..i think i love you ;)
All good honey, all good, and i have never even made angel food cake let alone these stunning little morsels. What would Daisy my cow say if I gave her one of these! She would say give me more probably!! celi
I have never made angel food cake but this makes me want to run to the store and pick up all the ingredients I’m missing.
i’ve been meaning to make an angel food cupcake & you just reminded me! yours look perfect and so dang cute. i can’t wait to make these… if i remember :) so pretty!
Ooooo these are so pretty! I too have been wanting…. okay, procrastinating horrible (like since last December horribly) to make Angel Food Cupcakes. These might finally get me off my butt to make them.
Also, I too have that addiction to licking/shoving into my mouth anything meringue related. I usually don’t even think about the fact that you’re really not supposed to until the things come out of the oven. Also also, this whole egg eating thing reminds me of a Good Eats episode I watched a little while ago where Alton Brown said something like, “Rocky downed a bunch of raw eggs and he got consecutive movie deals!”. This is true. That must mean eating raw meringue might lead to a movie deal someday. Right?
Can’t wait to try these out! :)
– Eve
These look sooo good. Now, how much powdered Cocoa can I add to make chocolate angel food cake. It’s my favorite. My grandmother used to make them all the time, but noone ever found her recipe. They were the best!!
What does the cream of tarter do? And if you don’t use it, what would happen (taste wise, how it cooks, etc)?
Holy moly!! That looks incredible!! I grew up celebrating my birthdays with angel food cakes. Love it ;)
Is it possible for batter to look fun? This one does – it’s all bouncy and adorable. I love it!
you read my mind! I was thinking of making angel food cupcakes the other day and voila! thx :) I have a question for you. Have you ever tried freezing them? If so, how’d it work?
I have not. I’ve never put any cupcakes in the freezer, but I’m sure they’d work without the frosting.
I had another thought – Do you think you could pipe these out like macaron batter (except into mini cupcake cases)? I don’t know if that would deflate the air out too much but for minis it would make life a lot easier.
– Eve
Haha. Thanks for the laugh! I have the same inner battle when it comes to baking and licking all of the utensils! I guess that is a major perk of vegan baking!!!
~Emily~
I just found your blog last night and LOVE it! You are really funny! Anyways, just made these for dessert and they are sooooo delicious! I made the mistake of being piggish and making buttercream frosting instead of the whipped cream. Yummy, but way too sweet.
So light! So fluffy! So cute and cuddly looking! I love cupcakes that look like little clouds =)