The Astronomer recently made a lovely batch of lemon bars that resulted in seven egg whites chilling in the fridge. In the past, I’ve whipped up Pavlovas, coconut macaroons, and meringue cookies to avoid wasting perfectly good whites. This time around, I wanted something different—something substantial and with a bit more oomph.
“Does anyone have an amazing dessert recipe that calls for 7 egg whites? Don’t wanna make meringues or macaroons,” I tweeted early this morning. The ideas came back fast and furious. “A sour cherry financier,” suggested @nandita. “Chocolate mousse or lemon souffle,” offered up @EatingLA. “Lemon meringue pie,” said @Savour. “Make angel food cupcakes!” enthused @TheRunawaySpoon.
The vote for angel food cupcakes excited me the most because I initially wanted to make an angel food cake but couldn’t due to my lack of a proper tube pan. Making cupcakes meant that I could have my cake and eat it too!
I paired whipped cream with these light and airy citrus cupcakes because a traditional butter cream would’ve weighed down the delicate package. And just in case you’ve got a lot of whites lying around, this recipe easily doubles.
For cupcakes
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
- 1/2 cup sifted cake flour
- 5 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- Zest from two oranges, plus additional for garnishing
For frosting
- 1/2 cup heavy cream, chilled
- 1 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Make cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan (skip this step if using liners). In a small bowl, sift together the cake flour and 1/4 cup sugar.
In a large bowl, beat the room-temperature egg whites until foamy, then add in the cream of tartar and salt. Gradually add in the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar while the mixer is on high speed, beating the egg whites to soft peaks.
Fold in the flour mixture, adding it in two or three additions. Fold in the orange zest when all other ingredients have been incorporated.
Divide the batter evenly into the prepared muffin tins, filling them to the top.
Bake for 16-18 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and the cakes spring back when lightly touched. Cool on a wire rack.
Make frosting
Combine the cream, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Whip using a stand mixer or hand-held mixer until just shy of stiff. Lift up the beaters and nice peaks should form, clinging onto the beaters nicely. Dollop atop cooled cupcakes and garnish with orange zest.
Makes 12 cupcakes.
Cupcake recipe adapted from Baking Bites and whipped cream frosting recipe adapted from Viet World Kitchen.
mmm they look so light and fluffy and yummy!
looks delicious! beautiful photos!
Sounds delicious, Cathy! I can almost smell them through the screen, redolent of citrusy orange and aromatic vanilla. Yum!
Good use of your new mixer! I’m jealous.
Yeah, good use of your new mixer. Looks like someone opened and is using one of their wedding gifts early.
I have no cake flour, can I substitute with something else or can I sift AP flour together with baking powder ?
Thanks for your help
Those are just adorable! I’m going to make these beautiful cupcakes today. Wow, only 1/2 cup flour these are lower fat, love it!
Somehow I lost the whisk attachment for my mixer, which I haven’t missed until now… Those angelfood cupcakes sound delicious.
such pretty looking cupcakes! it’ll look prettier in my belly
this looks so freaking good.Im a big fan of cupcakes!
Those cupcakes look amazing! i love the idea of angel food cupcakes, just brilliant! I want to make these this weekend. They are perfect for all the citrus at the farmers markets.
You don’t see orange cupcakes too often. But I love how this is calling to me right now. I’m ready for dessert or an early afternoon snack. ;-D
Oh, I always forget about angel food cake! Your cupcakes look brilliant – I love how they puffed up beautifully!
Nice! I should’ve thought to adopt angel food cake to cupcake tins too, it’s such a light cake, almost guiltfree to eat… though knowing me I’d probably snarf the whole dozen in one go.
Love the fluff and orange. Never made angel food cake before. Looks fun.
I love this this. Looks so light and fresh – great for spring and summer. Thanks for the idea!
Fusion - According to America’s Test Kitchen: “In a pinch, you can replace 1 cup of cake flour with 7/8 cup all purpose flour and 2 tablespoons cornstarch.”
I see that new mixer! Well done in putting in good use, and ummm, I want to be there next time you make another batch!
Sigh. Oh how I wish there was such a thing as an angel food cake muffin.
This recipe is the best. It is great to find this especially now that cupcakes are really nice to have as alternative to cakes.