This recipe for light-as-air angel food cupcakes is a wonderful choice if youโre looking for a delightful summer dessert. Topped with fluffy whipped cream and fresh berries, these cupcakes are both refreshing and beautiful.
If weโre talking dessert (and we usually are), we know summer is home to many seasonal favorites. This is the time for key lime pie, peach cobbler, cherry pie, strawberry shortcake, and the list goes on. (Hereโs our full summer recipes section.)
Angel food cake is another popular summertime choice. Topped with whipped cream and served with fresh fruit, it is truly the epitome of light summer sweets. So, can we turn our angel food cake into cupcakes without compromising the taste and texture? The answer, we discovered, is yes.
Angel Food Cupcakes Details
- Texture: These angel food cupcakes are cloudlike puffy and fluffy. Weโre almost certain you could skip the pool floats this summer because youโll float away after 1 bite. Ha!
- Flavor: Youโll enjoy a delicately sweet flavor with a lovely hint of vanilla. If our taste buds are anything alike, weโre confident these will be the tastiest angel food cupcakes you try.
- Ease: These cupcakes are completely made from scratch with just 7 ingredients. But we canโt achieve this perfection for free. We need to get our sugar superfine, sift and aerate dry ingredients, whip the egg whites, and in general, handle our batter with care. Because thereโs a couple finicky steps, we call this an intermediate baking recipe.
Video Tutorial: How to Make Angel Food Cupcakes
Recipe Testing Angel Food Cupcakes: What Works & What Doesn’t
Prepared without any fat like butter, oil, or egg yolks, angel food cupcakes rely on specific ingredients and careful mixing methods.
- Superfine sugar. The first step is to pulse regular granulated sugar in a food processor, grinding it down into a superfine sugar. Larger sugar granules harshly cut into the angel food cake batter, deflating the egg whites in their path. Donโt sabotage your recipe from the beginningโitโs imperative to use superfine sugar.
- Use real cake flour. All-purpose flour produces a dense angel food cakeโit will end up tasting like white bread. In a pinch, you can use this cake flour substitute but the results are more favorable if you use actual cake flour.
- Aeration time. Thereโs another essential step while youโve got the food processor out. Itโs called aerating the dry ingredients and itโs crucial to the outcome of your angel food cupcakes. Aerating (1) fluffs the dry ingredients up and (2) allows them to dissolve quicker and more easily into the egg whites. Both are important!
- Whipping the egg whites. Egg whites, a little water, and cream of tartar make the base of angel food cake. Youโll whip them, along with 1/2 cup of superfine sugar, until light and fluffy. Make sure there are no yolks hiding in the batter as their fat will prevent the egg whites from whipping properly. (You might remember that if youโve ever tried French Macarons.)
- No chemical leaveners needed. Youโll notice that baking powder and baking soda are missing from the recipe. Thatโs not by mistakeโthe air in whipped egg whites give the cupcakes all their rise. (Just like chocolate soufflรฉ.) Since weโre not leaning on a chemical leavener as a crutch, itโs important to handle that air with care so the cupcakes donโt deflate. Meaningโฆ donโt overwork the batter as you add the dry ingredients.
- What does the cream of tartar do? It holds the air bubbles in place, ensuring that angel food cakeโs batter maintains its fluff ball volume when baked. If you leave out the cream of tartar, the egg whites will deflate.And the water? It breaks up the sugar, so the cupcakes arenโt as sticky. Note: We donโt find water necessary in a larger angel food cake.
- Give the batter a break. As mentioned above, we donโt want to overwork the cake batter. Weโll put that into practice when we add the dry ingredients. (Donโt get nervous. Iโm literally asking you to do less work.)
- Sifting is key. Sift the dry ingredients into the egg whites in parts, folding between each addition. Sift a little in, fold together, sift a little more in, fold together, etc. Dumping all the dry ingredients into the delicate egg whites will deflate them. If you havenโt caught on by now, the fluffier and puffier your angel food cake batter, the fluffier and puffier your angel food cupcakes.
- Spoon the batter. The batter is foamy (air!), so you canโt pour it into your cupcake liners. Instead, grab a spoon and spoon the batter into each cup filling about 3/4 full. The cupcakes only take about 18-20 minutes. The tops will be a very pale golden brown and will bounce back if you gently poke them.
Here’s a photo of the whipped egg white mixture:
Now sift in the dry ingredients in stages, gently folding together after each addition to make a foamy batter:
Angel Food Cupcake Quick Tips
We know that was a lot to take in under Recipe Testing just above. Here is a cheat sheet.
- Use superfine sugar and real cake flour.
- Pulse the dry ingredients to aerate.
- Whip egg whites until fluffy.
- Sift the dry ingredients into the egg whites.
- Carefully fold the batter together.
This photo speaks for itself where you can see the deflated and shriveled cupcake vs. the light and fluffy cupcake. Taking a few extra minutes to correctly prepare the recipe makes all the difference.
Toppings
We use and recommend homemade whipped cream as the frosting. You donโt want anything to weigh down or take away from these light cupcakes. Something just as light, or even lighter, keeps the spotlight on the angel food cupcakes themselves.
You could also spoon lemon curd on top or serve them with strawberry sauce.
Brand Recommendations
- Blender/Food Processor. You need a food processor or blender to make this recipe possible. My team and I always use and recommend this ninja blender.
- Fine Mesh Strainer. Remember that the sifting step is imperative. We use and love this fine mesh sieve. You can use a hand crank sifter if you have one, but we prefer using a mesh one.
- Egg separator. The more diverse your baking becomes, the more youโll find yourself separating eggs (Pavlova, French Macarons, Banana Cream Pie, and Swiss Meringue Buttercream for example.) Eggs are a truly magical ingredient in baking because they can do so many things when whole and even more when separated. Anyway, this is our favorite separator.
Angel Food Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: 14-16 cupcakes
- Category: Cupcakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This recipe for light-as-airย angel food cupcakes is a wonderful choice if youโre looking for a delightful summer dessert. Prepared without any fat like butter, oil, or egg yolks, angel food cupcakes rely on specific ingredients and careful mixing methods. For best success, follow this recipe closely.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (59g) cake flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 6 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon warm water
- 3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Homemade Whipped Cream for topping
Instructions
- Adjust the oven rack to the lower position and preheat oven to 325ยฐF (163ยฐC). Line a 12-count muffin pan with cupcake liners. Line a second pan with 2-4 liners – this recipe makes about 14-16 cupcakes. Set aside.
- Make the cupcakes: In a food processor or blender (I use this one), pulse the sugar until fine and powdery. Remove 1/2 cup and set aside to use in step 3; keep the rest inside the food processor. Add the cake flour and salt to the food processor. Pulse 5-10 times until sugar/flour/salt mixture is aerated and light.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whipย egg whites, water, and cream of tartar together on medium low until foamy, about 1 minute. Switch to medium-high and slowly add the 1/2 cup of sugar. Whip until soft peaks form, about 5-6 minutes. See photo above for visual. Add the vanilla extract and beat just until incorporated.
- In several additions, slowly sift the flour mixture into the egg white mixture using aย fine-mesh strainer, gently folding after each addition. To avoid the cupcakes from deflating or tasting dense, don’t add the flour mixture all at once. Sift and very slowly fold in several additions. This is important! Spoon batter into liners,ย filling only 2/3 fullย to avoid spilling over the sides.
- Bake the cupcakes until very lightly browned around the edges and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. For aroundย 3 dozen mini cupcakes,ย bake for about 10-12 minutes, same oven temperature.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove and place on a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Spread or pipe homemade whipped cream onto cupcakes. I used a small icing spatula for some, but a Wilton 8B tip looks wonderful (see picture above!). Garnish with fresh berries.
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions:ย Cupcakesย canย be made ahead 1 day in advance, covered, and stored at room temperature. To freeze, wrap unfrosted cupcakes individually in aluminum foil or plastic wrap, and freeze in a large container. Thaw on the counter before frosting and serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-count Muffin Pan |ย Cupcake Liners | Food Processor/Blender | Egg Yolk Separator | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Fine Mesh Sieve | Cooling Rack |ย Wilton 8B Star Icing Tip | Piping Bags (Reusable or Disposable) | Icing Spatula
- Egg Whites: 1 large egg white is about 2 Tablespoons, so if using carton egg whites, use around 12-13 Tablespoons. For the best accuracy and texture, I strongly recommend using egg whites from eggs you crack yourself. For the leftover egg yolks, here are all of my recipes that use egg yolks.
- Be sure to check out myย 10 tips for baking the BEST cupcakesย before you begin!
Reader Comments and Reviews
Can I add cocoa powder to this and make chocolate angel food cake?
Hi Brooke, we havenโt tested a chocolate variation of these cupcakes. If interested, you could serve with chocolate ganache for a chocolate touch!
Can this be used in mini cake molds? If so, should you just grease the mold?
Hi Cassandra, we haven’t tested this in mini cake molds, but for around 3 dozen mini cupcakes, you could bake for about 10-12 minutes, same oven temperature! Hope this helps!
Would these be good for pull apart cupcakes? I want to make them for the 4th of July, and want to make them look like the flag sheet cake with the blueberries and strawberries.
Hi Caroline, that shouldn’t be a problem!
I was so excited to make these until I read all the comments! I had made ice cream last night using all my yolks and have the whites leftover. Sadly, eggs are too expensive to risk the fail. Back to another recipe search!
I made the recipe twice & neither one worked. Wasted so many eggs. I followed the directions to no avail. They shriveled up to half their size, tasted ok not great . I won’t be using this one again.
I did my best and followed all instructions but mine turned out like the shriveled cupcake in the picture…They tasted good though! The bottoms got really dark but when you take them out of the paper, the dark part stays behind, so it it was okay. I just had a lot a egg whites to use up. I won’t make these again because they were too small to be a true cupcake after the shriveling.
I just made these and I made them a little more angelic by replacing 1/2 of the sugar with monk fruit sweetener. I just pulsed them them together in the food processor. They came out perfect! The texture of the cake was light and fluffy, just like the picture. I topped them with the whipped cream recipe (using a sugar alternative) and berries. My husband loves them.
I am not sure where I went wrong, but these didn’t turn out for me. They taste good, but the texture is off despite the fact I blended the sugar & dry ingredients and sifted them very gradually (I probably added the dry stuff to the wet in 6 parts). I have to wonder if I maybe over whipped my egg whites even though they looked like soft peaks to me. They are also sticking like crazy to the cupcake liners. It’s impossible to remove them in one piece.
Hi Debbie, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. It could be that your egg whites were over whipped, or even that there were small traces of egg yolk in the mix. When incorporating the dry ingredients with the whipped egg white, be very cautious not to over work the mixture and deflate too much of the air. The lighter and fluffier the batter, the lighter and fluffier the cupcakes will be. Were they overbaked by chance? That could be causing them to stick to the liners. Certain brands of cupcake liners are better than others, so you might try a different kind next time to see if that helps, too. Thank you for giving these a try!
I followed this recipe to an T and Unfortunately it didnโt work out for me. The Cream of tarter clumped in the egg whites it got foamy and I added the sugar, I never got soft peaks to form. I added the sifted dry ingredients slowly and folded but I had a lot of clumps in my badder. I bake the cupcakes and while the tops look good, the bed were gel and gross.
Can you use powdered sugar instead of granulated?
Hi Karen, powdered sugar is too compactโ you need the superfine sugar.
I was prepared to take on the fuss for my MILโs birthday bbq because there are low fat dietary needs in the group. I followed the instructions as closely as I could, and everything seemed to go great, even up to taking them out of the oven (a little more golden on top, but ok). I walked away for them to cool and when I got back, they had contracted like crazy! Luckily there were enough to serve 2 to everyone, and with berries and cream they looked and tasted good (cake was still soft, maybe a bit sticky). Iโm not sure where I went wrong – maybe the sugar not fine enough? I pulsed it for longer than recommended, but it still looked pretty normal to me.
Hi Ria, A little shrinking is completely normal and expected from these egg white-heavy cupcakes. A little more batter per cupcake could help a bit for next time though. If they arenโt light and fluffy they may have been under-baked. Glad they were still a hit!
My husband and I love these cupcakes! Angel cake has been his favorite kind of cake ever since he was a young boy and discovered that he could squeeze a whole piece into his mouth at once. ๐ This recipe is quite sweet. I’ve made it 3 times. Today I only used 2/3rd cup of sugar, instead of 3/4 cup and – for our taste – it was perfect! Other than that, I follow the instructions carefully, including using a food processor to make the sugar grains smaller and sifting the flour mixture before gently folding it into the beaten egg white mixture. Thanks so much for the great recipe and all the guidance in the right technique for making angel food cake!
They were ok. They are REALLY needy. I hate needy cupcakes so these were not my favorite to make. Once they were done they were pretty good.
Is there a reason you turn granulated sugar into powdered sugar by blending it rather than just using powdered sugar?
Hi Elaina, in that step, you’re grinding it down until it is super fine and powdery, but not to the point of powdered sugar.
I made your angel food cake recipe and it turned out perfectly! I tried to make another website’s angel food cake in a loaf pan and had leftovers for cupcakes and I did exactly what you said not to do with adding coarser sugar cutting through the egg whites and it deflated and the cupcakes looked bad and were tough! I will always follow these instructions in the future. Thank you for explaining things so well! I make many of your recipes and they are wonderful.
I loved these cupcakes so much they were so easy and fun to make!
These were fun to make, and they came out delicious! Since the berry selection isn’t so great this time of year I used freeze-dried strawberry powder in the whipped cream and it was yummy. The directions and video were excellent as always, and my cupcakes were beautiful. Thank you Sally!
I followed all the steps in recipe with the food processor and sifting/folding in multiple steps. The cupcakes looked good at first then collapsed and baked very quickly (about 1/2 the recommended time) so burned a bit on the bottom. Hopefully they taste better than they look! Probably my issue and not the recipeโs!
Best angel food cake Iโve had! So much better than store bought. I tried this recipe as part of the Baking Challenge. The first time the cupcakes turned out delicious but didnโt look exactly right. The second time I really paid attention to the sifting instructions. That made all the difference. The cupcakes were full and beautiful. They tasted great either way. Highly recommend you give this recipe a try. It takes some patience but is easier than you think it will be – and it is so worth it!
These turned out great! I even used gluten free flour.
So light and fluffy, but a little sticky on top. Good news is Iโm ready to tackle a whole angel food cake.
These came out pretty good, but mine contracted quite a bit in the oven. I’m not sure why. I may have added the flour mixture too fast. I’m definitely going to try them again because they taste heavenly and once I covered them with whipped cream they looked pretty too.
I will never buy box angel food cake again! I was scared to try it, but it was surprisingly easy to make! And so so good