Angel food cupcakes are the lightest, most tender cupcakes I’ve ever tasted! Frosted with pillows of whipped cream, they’re like a softer, more delicate version of classic vanilla cupcakes that practically melt in your mouth. The perfect dessert for any spring occasion!
These are the softest angel food cupcakes decorated with whipped cream frosting and fresh fruit. With a few simple tweaks to my original angel food cake recipe, these delicate cupcakes turned out, well, pretty heavenly!
I’ll show you how to whip the egg whites and sift the ingredients to make the smoothest batter. Instead of leavening, this angel food recipe uses cream of tartar to stabilize the batter and give the sponge rise and fluffiness. One bite of these, and you’ll want to bake them for all your spring and summer gatherings.
About These Heavenly Angel Food Cupcakes
I made a few changes to my original angel food cake recipe to make it suitable for cupcakes:
- Less sugar. The first thing I did was reduce the amount of sugar. It helped the batter rise better for this cupcake version.
- Cake flour. I also used half cake flour and half all-purpose flour for this recipe. While I preferred all-purpose flour for the full-sized cake, it didn’t work as well for the cupcakes.
- Whipped frosting. Fluffy homemade whipped cream is my favorite topping for these cupcakes. The frosting needs only 3 ingredients, and the light, airy, creamy texture pairs so well with the angel food.
Angel Food vs. Devil’s Food
Angel food cake is the opposite of a devil’s food cake. The latter is deeply dark and chocolatey, while angel food cupcakes are airy vanilla sponge made from egg whites, similar to white cupcakes. If you’ve never baked angel food before, cupcakes are a great place to start. There are no layers of cake and frosting like in a traditional white layer cake.
Ingredient Notes
You’re only a few ingredients away from soft and fluffy angel food cupcakes. Scroll down to the recipe card for the printable recipe with exact measurements.
- Sugar – These cupcakes use less sugar than the cake version to give the crumb more lift.
- Cake Flour – Cake flour is lower in protein and finer ground than all-purpose flour. I use both in this recipe, for a delicate cake texture that’s still a bit sturdy.
- Egg Whites – Make sure none of the egg yolks creep into your whites. I suggest separating the whites in a separate bowl, then adding them to the rest so that if any yolk accidentally makes it into one white, you don’t ruin all of them.
- Cream of Tartar – Similar to its job in meringue recipes, cream of tartar stabilizes the whipped egg whites that you’ll add to the angel food cupcake batter.
- Vanilla Extract – Please avoid imitation vanilla in this recipe.
Cake Flour vs. All-Purpose
As mentioned, cake flour is a finer-milled, low-protein flour compared to all-purpose. It’s often used in white cake and angel food recipes to contribute to the cakes’ signature airy, tender crumb. If you only have all-purpose, it does work in the recipe. The cupcakes just won’t have quite the same melt-in-your-mouth texture.
How to Make Angel Food Cupcakes
Here are a few helpful tips for preparing and baking the fluffiest angel food cupcakes.
Sifting the Flour for the Cupcake Batter
In angel food cake recipes, the crumb is very fine. Sifting is a key step in the recipe that breaks up any lumps in the dry ingredients. I recommend you do this at least 5 times through a fine-mesh sieve. This ensures that the flour, sugar, and salt are well-combined but not densely packed. I even sift the ingredients again as I add them to the whipped egg whites to make the batter. This way, the finished angel food cupcakes are soft and fluffy.
Whipping the Egg Whites
Whip the egg whites for the cupcake batter in a grease-free bowl, ideally stainless steel. I usually wipe down my bowl and tools with white vinegar or lemon juice to ensure they’re squeaky clean.
Whipping the egg whites is what gives these cupcakes their delicate texture. If you don’t properly whip the egg whites or if they deflate as you add the dry ingredients, the cupcakes won’t rise properly. So, take care to ensure they reach soft peaks.
Baking the Cupcakes
It’s important to slowly and gently fold the dry ingredients into the whipped egg whites so you don’t deflate the meringue. These angel food cupcakes bake at a slightly lower temperature, 325ºF instead of the common 350ºF, so they don’t bake too fast or brown too quickly in the oven.
Divide the batter between the cupcake liners in a cupcake pan. They can be pretty full, but I wouldn’t go over ¾ full to avoid overflow.
Bake the cupcakes in a 325ºF oven for 18-23 minutes, until they’re lightly browned. Cool the cupcakes completely.
How to Decorate Angel Food Cake Cupcakes
To make the simple whipped cream frosting for these cupcakes, whip cold heavy cream with powdered sugar and vanilla until it’s smooth and billowy. The whipped cream should form a medium peak when you lift the whisk. Be careful not to over-whip or under-whip the frosting.
Spread or pipe the whipped cream on top of the cupcakes, following my guide on how to frost cupcakes if needed.
Optional Toppings
- Fresh strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries.
- Sprinkles
- Chocolate curls
- Toasted coconut
- Caramel sauce
Storing and Serving Angel Food Cupcakes
I highly recommend leaving off the whipped cream if you’re not serving your cupcakes right away. Store the baked, cooled cupcakes in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days. Prepare a fresh batch of frosting and frost the cupcakes before serving.
More Cupcakes Recipes You’ll Love
Angel Food Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 16–18 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Angel food cupcakes are soft, delicate vanilla cupcakes made with whipped egg whites and frosted with pillows of homemade whipped cream. The perfect light, sweet dessert for spring and summer!
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 3/4 cup (155g) sugar, divided
- 4 tbsp (32g) cake flour
- 4 tbsp (32g) all-purpose flour
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup egg whites, room temperature (about 5–6 large egg whites)*
- 1 tbsp warm water
- 3/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
For the Whipped Cream Frosting
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, cold
- 3/4 cup (86g) powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Fresh fruit, optional
Instructions
For the Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 325°F and prepare a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
- Combine half of the sugar (6 tbsp | 78g), flour and salt and sift them together through a fine mesh sieve 5 times. Set aside.
- Combine the egg whites, warm water, cream of tartar and vanilla extract and whip with a mixer on low speed until they get foamy.
- Increase speed to medium and continue whipping, adding remaining sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Wait 5-10 seconds between each addition to give time for the sugar to incorporate.
- Increase to medium-high speed and whip until it reaches soft peaks.
- Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the flour mixture into the egg whites a couple tablespoons at a time. Sift the flour mixture again as you add it to the egg whites. Repeat until all the flour mixture has been added. It’s important to add the flour mixture slowly to not deflate the egg whites.
- Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners and fill 3/4 full – they should be pretty full. They rise better when more full.
- Bake the cupcakes until lightly browned, about 18-23 minutes.
- Remove cupcakes from the oven, then allow to cool completely on a wire rack. The cupcakes do fall a bit as they cool.
For the Frosting
- Whip together your cream, sugar and vanilla on medium-high speed. This pace will make it easier to avoid over-whipping or under-whipping the frosting.
- Stop whipping as soon as the mixture becomes smooth and billowy. If you let the ingredients whip for too long, your frosting will curdle or take on a grainy texture. You want it to have a medium peak that forms when you lift up the whisk.
- Pipe or spread the frosting onto the cupcakes and top with your desired decoration.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 112
- Sugar: 14.5 g
- Sodium: 38.2 mg
- Fat: 3.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 17.6 g
- Protein: 1.8 g
- Cholesterol: 12 mg
Thank you for posting this. I used your recipe to make my amazing wife these angel food cupcakes. So, I cook a lot, but I am not a baker. These came out good even though I flubbed some of the directions — like incorporating sugar into the egg whites a tablespoon at a time. I went by weight instead of amount. I’m not exactly sure what happened, but 3 tablespoons of flour weighed 37 g. The sugar didn’t quite match up either. Like I said, I went with weight. The cooking time ended up being something like 35 minutes. All ovens are different. They turned out great. Wifie loved them. That’s all that matters :). Now I just have to learn what soft peaks really means, and I maybe should have whipped the frosting more.
Seriously, thank you for sharing. Angel food cake is my wife’s favorite and (yay!) I made angel food cupcakes for her for her birthday.
I’m so glad she enjoyed them!
what if you don’t have any cupcake liners? can I just put them in the tin without one?
You could try it. They may just be hard to remove.
I am making this tomorrow but wondering if anyone has made it with a coconut whipped cream instead, and if so, any tips?
Coconut whipped cream on top should be delicious. I’d just add coconut extract to the whipped cream. Enjoy!
Oops, I meant NOT use, (not “buy use”
Not saying these are ideal substitutions but for anyone wondering, I didn’t have cake flour so I only used regular flour, and I don’t have a sifter so I didn’t do that step, and I also didn’t have icing sugar for the whipped cream so I used regular sugar. Everything was still perfect and delicious! I’ll definitely be more prepared for the next time I want to make these. Surprisingly easy
Thank you for sharing! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
How many cupcakes does this recipe make??
16-18 cupcakes
When do I incorporate the Sugar and salt combination that I first sifted 5 times?
Number 6 in the instructions.
Can you use egg whites from a carton?
I haven’t ever tried it to be able to say for sure. I would think it would be OK though.
Thank you! One more question – is it normal for these to shrink overnight? Mine were great when I made them, but by morning they shriveled and pulled away from the wrappers.
No I wouldn’t say that’s normal. Very strange. They may shrink a touch as they cool but they shouldn’t continue to. Not sure why that would happen.
So so gooooood! never thought I could make angle food cake… Never tried. But with pregnancy comes cravings at random hours and this recipe was quick and simple and so so delicious
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed it!
Very nice recipe! I made this exactly as described but used boxed (pasteurized) egg whites rather than the whites of fresh eggs. The cupcakes turned out flawlessly.
When cooling the cupcakes, I placed them on the wire rack, but on their sides. That is supposed to help them not deflate as much, similar to how they recommend you cool angel food baked in bundt pan upside down.
Wonderful! So glad they turned out well!
I was wondering if halving the recipe would ruin it and if you had any tips, but this sounds great!
I haven’t tried it but I would not think that it would ruin it.
Wondering if these can be frozen and icing applied later?
I haven’t tried it but I think it’d be fine.
Really good. Do these need to be refrigerated if using the next day?
Without the frosting, you should be fine to leave them out (but covered to keep them fresh). With the frosting, you’ll need to refrigerate them.
Could you dye the batter and frosting or do you think that would mess with the recipe? I’m wanting to try to make purple cupcakes with purple icing but wanting angel food cake. Thank you! 🙂
I made these for Fourth of July, they were a big hit! I will be making them again before the summer is over, they are absolutely delicious!
Wonderful! So glad to hear that!