Angel Food Cupcakes
Everyone’s favorite light and airy cake has been transformed into cupcakes! These angel food cupcakes are topped with sweetened whipped cream and fresh berries to create the perfect spring or summer dessert.
Like my classic angel food cake, these angel food cupcakes are incredibly light and soft in texture. There’s also no baking powder or baking soda in this recipe. Instead, whipped egg whites provide the signature texture and mile-high rise.
Because they are so delicate, I opted to top them with an easy homemade whipped cream instead of a heavier buttercream frosting. If you love chocolate though, my chocolate whipped cream would be delicious as well.
These cupcakes can also be made for any occasion, but they’re especially perfect in the spring and summer. I love to garnish them with fresh raspberries and blueberries, but you can use any fruit or berry that’s in season to add a pop of color!
Recipe Ingredients
These angel food cupcakes are made with just a few basic ingredients, so there’s no room for substitutions or omissions. Here’s an overview of some of the key ingredients you will need:
- Cake Flour: Contains less protein than all-purpose flour, which helps create the airiest angel food cake cupcakes possible. If you don’t keep cake flour on hand, you can use my homemade cake flour instead.
- Powdered Sugar: The powdered sugar disperses more easily within the flour, which makes it easier to fold into the whipped egg whites.
- Egg Whites: To ensure the egg whites whip up fully, bring them to room temperature before starting the recipe. Be careful not to get any egg yolks in your egg whites as well! If even the slightest bit of egg yolk gets mixed into the whites, it will prevent them from whipping to stiff peaks.
- Cream of Tartar: Helps to stabilize the egg whites and is a must for this recipe. Do not omit!
- Heavy Whipping Cream: Should be at least 36% fat for best results. Unlike the egg whites, the heavy cream should be cold and straight from the fridge.
How To Make Angel Food Cupcakes
- Sift together the flour and powdered sugar: I recommend doing this twice over a large mixing bowl. You don’t want any lumps in your cupcake batter!
- Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks: Do this in a separate clean mixing bowl. Start by beating the egg whites until foamy, then add the cream of tartar and salt. Increase the speed of your mixer and add the granulated sugar (1 tablespoon at a time) until the egg whites form stiff peaks. Add the vanilla last and mix it in on low speed until just combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the whipped egg whites: Sift one-fourth of the flour mixture over the whipped egg whites and gently fold to combine everything together. Repeat this process three more times until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated into the egg whites.
- Bake the cupcakes: Divide the cupcake batter between 17 cupcake liners. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the whipped cream frosting: In a clean mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until stiff peaks form.
- Assemble and serve: Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, pipe the whipped cream on top and garnish with fresh berries.
Frequently Asked Questions
The cream of tartar stabilizes the egg whites so they hold their stiff peaks and don’t deflate.
There could be a couple culprits behind deflated cupcakes. Omitting the cream of tartar can cause the egg whites to deflate and make the entire cupcake collapse in the center.
Another issue could be that you didn’t sift the dry ingredients into the egg whites gradually enough. Dumping all of the flour mixture into the egg whites at once can cause them to deflate. Over mixing the egg whites can also cause them to deflate, so be careful not to fold in the dry ingredients too much.
Another reason could be that the cupcakes were underbaked. Avoid opening your oven door as much as possible and don’t remove them from the oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
No, unlike regular angel food cake — which must be inverted during the cooling process to prevent it from collapsing in the middle — angel food cupcakes are small enough that they won’t sink very much as they cool.
This recipe wouldn’t be enough to make a full cake, but you can use my angel food cake recipe instead.
Baking Tips
- Make sure to use room temperature egg whites, they will whip up much better! If you need to bring your eggs to room temperature quickly, place them in a bowl of warm water for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Don’t omit the cream of tartar. It stabilizes the egg whites and ensures that the cupcakes will rise properly as they bake.
- Don’t grease your cupcake liners! The cupcake batter needs to cling to the liners so that they rise properly in the oven.
- Let the cupcakes cool for about 10 minutes in the pan before removing them. This will allow them to cool down a little slower and prevent them from shrinking too much.
Angel Food Cupcakes
Ingredients
Angel Food Cupcakes
- ½ cup cake flour spooned & leveled (60 grams)
- ¾ cup powdered sugar (90 grams)
- ¾ cup egg whites at room temperature (175 grams; about 5 large egg whites)
- ¾ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Whipped Cream Frosting
- 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream (360 ml)
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar (40 grams)
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- To make the angel food cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C). Line two 12-count standard muffin pans with 16 to 17 cupcake liners and set aside.
- Sift the cake flour and powdered sugar together two times. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, add the egg whites and beat on low-medium speed until foamy.
- Add the cream of tartar and salt then increase the speed to medium-high. Gradually add the granulated sugar, about one tablespoon at a time, and continue beating the egg whites until stiff glossy peaks form. Add the vanilla extract and mix on low speed until just combined.
- Sift one-fourth of the dry ingredients over the beaten egg whites and gently fold it in. Repeat, folding in the dry ingredients one-fourth at a time. Make sure not to over mix the dry ingredients, you don’t want to deflate the egg whites!
- Evenly distribute the cake batter between all of the cupcake liners, filling each one only about ⅔ of the way full.
- Bake for 17 to 22 minutes or until the tops are lightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then carefully remove them and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the whipped cream frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer, add the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Start mixing on low speed. Once the mixture starts to increase in volume, increase the speed to medium-high until stiff peaks form.
- Pipe the whipped cream on top of the cupcakes.
