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.

Use cream of tartar – cream of tartar is an acid and stabilizes the egg whites. Without cream of tartar, your cake will collapse. Other acidic ingredients aren't quite as strong, so I wouldn't recommend substituting cream of tartar with anything. Sift some of the sugar and flour several times – four to be exact.

Sift the flour mixture three times. Sifting will help remove any lumps from the flour and aerate the mixture, which will help make your cake light and fluffy. It probably goes against most of your baking instincts, but use an ungreased pan when baking angel food cake, and leave the nonstick spray in your pantry.

If your tube pan has prongs around the rim for lifting, invert the pan onto them. Let the cake cool completely upside down, at least 2 hours. Don't worry – it won't fall out of the pan! To unmold, run a plastic/silicone knife around the edge of the pan, being careful not to separate the crust.

Angel food cake recipes are also unique because they contain beaten egg whites for leavening and because no fat is used in the batter. Without the fat, there's no tenderizing effect on the batter and the gluten develops more easily, which can result in a gummy mixture.

If a cake pan is too small, the batter may be too deep. It will rise and maybe dome, but if the center is still wet, it will collapse before the structure sets in the center. (It may also spill over the sides of the pan and onto the oven floor, or both!)

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.

What makes cupcakes moist and fluffy? ›

The secret to fluffy cupcakes is enough baking powder to really get that high rise and higher oven temperature to create a lot of lift and to set the dome of the cupcake. Too much liquid in your cupcakes or over-filling your liners can cause them to collapse.

In delicate sponge-type cakes (like chiffon or angel food cake) there are two moments for concern. First, when you're whipping the egg foam, and second, when you're incorporating the flour. An overmixed egg foam will be slack, wet, loose, and unable to hold peaks.

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. For a real treat, you can splurge and add the seeds from a whole vanilla bean or a dash of high-quality vanilla bean paste.

The reason angel food cake is made in a tube pan is because the pan needs to not be greased in order for it to rise. This means the cake will stick to the pan and needs to be released by pushing it through or using a butter knife or something similar.

Allowing it to cool upside down ensures it doesn't collapse. Many tube pans come with feet around the edges for this very purpose. However, inverting the center ring onto the neck of a bottle will also work.