Angel Food Cupcakes Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to a good angel food cake? ›

Egg Whites: The star of the show! They provide all of the leavening for angel food cake. Using only whites (no yolks) gives this cake a super light texture. Be sure to use only fresh eggs; liquid egg whites in a carton have been pasteurized, which can prevent them from whipping into stiff peaks.

Give your boxed angel food cake mix a summery twist by adding a can of crushed pineapple to it. Gently fold it into the whisked batter, careful not to deflate the mixture. If you over-whisk it, the cake will turn out chewy and dense.

The egg whites are actually the sole leavening ingredient providing all the cake's rise. Use freshly separated eggs because they aerate the best. Carton egg whites or egg whites that have been frozen won't expand as much during the whipping process, which will negatively affect the rise of your cake.

Cream of tartar is an acid and helps to stabilize the whipped egg whites. There is really no substitution for cream of tartar. If you don't use cream of tartar in this recipe, the cake will collapse.

Every angel food cake has to be cooled upside down in the pan. Why? Until the cake is completely cooled, its spongy structure hasn't set. Flipping it upside down makes sure it doesn't collapse during that process.

If you over beat the egg whites to stiff peaks, this will result in a gummy, chewy texture in the cake. Once your egg whites have reached soft peaks, turn your mixer off, remove the bowl from the stand. You'll then sift the dry ingredients into the egg whites in FOUR additions, folding gently between each addition.

Bake in preheated 300°F oven for about 1 ¼ hours, until spongy to the touch and toothpick comes out clean. Cool upside-down. Immediately invert cake onto the feet of the pan (or over the neck of a bottle) and cool completely, about 2 hours. Cooling it upside-down ensures it doesn't collapse during cooling.

Don't Over-mix, Don't Under-mix

Not too much, not too little. Make sure you're mixing the cupcake batter together *just until* the wet and dry are combined.

Flour is the main ingredient of the batter and provides the base for the cupcake. Butter or oil provides flavor, tenderizes the batter and helps provide volume.

How do you keep cupcakes moist and fluffy? ›

"Baking fluffy, moist cupcakes is all about creating air bubbles in your batter that expand in the oven," she says. "If you overmix your batter, you collapse those bubbles and end up with a brick-like cake." Always mix at a low speed to avoid this, stopping just as all ingredients blend.

Overmixing is exactly what it sounds like: the process by which a dough or batter gets mixed too much, typically yielding dense, tough, or deflated baked goods. Overmixed doughs and batters may have an unappealing look or feel, which remain just as unappealing when they're baked.

Vanilla and almond extracts: A combination of vanilla extract and almond extract gives angel food cake its signature flavor that's delicate and almost marshmallow-like.

Every angel food cake has to be cooled upside down in the pan. Why? Until the cake is completely cooled, its spongy structure hasn't set. Flipping it upside down makes sure it doesn't collapse during that process.

Remember - your batter will not be as stiff as a meringue. Do not grease the angel food cake tube pan (one in which the center tube is higher than the walls of pan and the bottom is removable.) You want the batter to cling to the side while it is rising. A greased pan will not allow the batter to rise.

A small bit of moisture or egg yolk mixed in with the egg whites, a particularly humid day, or repeatedly opening your oven can also cause the cake to not rise. Over-mixing the batter once you've added the flour is another likely culprit, mix until just combined.