I♥cuppycakes!

Happy Belated Angel Food {Cup}Cake Day!

Yesterday was National Angel Food Cake Day so I baked up some angel food “cup”cakes to celebrate! Don’t you love holidays dedicated to random foods? I do! But of course I’m a self-proclaimed Miss Procrastinator and posted a day late. Oops. My bad. But I couldn’t help it! The cupcakes were calling me and my tummy wasn’t willing to wait an hour+ for me to wash the dishes, take the pictures, upload the pictures, write the blog post before I can eat the dang cupcake ya know?

That’s the thing about blogging. I don’t have a crew of 20 people behind the scenes helping me. All the components of my blog come from me, myself and I. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining but procrastination is bound to happen. C’est la vie.

But better late than never right?

So let me tell you about the cupcake that made me procrastinate.

I’ve never made angel food cake from scratch. I usually buy those cute little pre-made shortcakes in the 3-pack at the grocery store whenever I want a strawberry shortcake. But I got it into my head to bake an angel food cake from scratch and went off searching the googleverse for a tried and true recipe. When I found a recipe for Lemon Angel Food Cake from Maria of Two Peas and a Pod, I knew I’d have to try it. Even though my fellow blogger and friend, Maria didn’t make her angel food cupcakes with any frosting, my personal opinion is that it’s not a cupcake without frosting. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! (No disrespect, Maria!) So obviously the next step was figuring out frosting options.

I don’t know about you but when I think of lemon, I automatically think strawberry. Lemon and strawberry are like Batman and Robin, Bonnie and Clyde, Abbott and Costello… they just go together. Then all the sudden it hit me! Strawberry = pink. Pink = breast cancer awareness. Bada bing! 2for! I’d dedicate this cupcake to my friend Jen of Beantown Baker‘s Power of Pink Challenge! You can read more information about it >> here. Support breast cancer awareness. Join the pink challenge fun today!

So there you have it. Cupcakes. It’s what’s for dinner (and breakfast and lunch)…

Lemon Angel Food Cupcakes with Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Recipe adapted from Cupcakes by Martha Stewart and Two Peas and a Pod

Print this recipe

Makes 12 cupcakes (I got 14 cupcakes)

INGREDIENTS

For lemon angel food cupcakes
3/4 cup superfine sugar, divided*
1/2 cup sifted cake flour
5 large egg whites, room temperature
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract (I used lemon emulsion instead)
zest of one lemon (I used about 1 tbsp)

For strawberry swiss meringue buttercream (SMBC)
1-1/2 cups (8 ounces) fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled (I used 8 big strawberries)
4 large egg whites
1-1/4 cups sugar
1-1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

* I used my coffee bean grinder and pulsed granulated sugar for about 10-15 seconds.

INSTRUCTIONS

To make cupcakes—
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners.

In a small bowl, sift together cake flour and 1/4 cup superfine sugar. Set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk, beat egg whites until foamy, then add in cream of tartar and salt. Gradually add in the remaining 1/2 cup of superfine sugar while the mixer is on high speed, beating the egg whites to soft peaks. Add in the vanilla and lemon zest. Fold in flour mixture in 2-3 additions. Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 full (almost to the top).

Bake for 16-18 minutes, until golden brown. The tops will spring back when lightly touched. Let cool completely before frosting.

To make strawberry SMBC—
Puree strawberries in a food processor and set aside.

Combine egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly by hand until the mixture is warm to the touch and sugar is dissolved (the mixture should feel smooth when rubbed between your fingers.) In a stand mixer fitted with whisk, mix on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form about 10 minutes.

Switch to medium-low speed and add butter a few tablespoons at a time. Mix well after each addition. After all the butter has been added scrape down the bowl and switch to paddle attachment. (I’m a lazy baker and just continued with my whisk attachment instead of switching to paddle.)

Continue beating on low speed until buttercream becomes smooth. Don’t worry if the buttercream starts to look curdled. Just keep beating until it comes together. (It’s like magic!) Add strawberry puree and beat until combined.

To assemble cupcakes—
Using a Magic Tip 7ST (or favorite big star tip) pipe the buttercream in a rosette on each cupcake.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A+
He raved about how light and fluffy the angel food cake was and really thought the creamy (not heavy) SMBC went well with the “cake”.

Wifey rating: A+
Ditto hubs. I love that there was a good strong lemon flavor from using the lemon emulsion (you could use a lemon extract too) and lemon zest that complimented the strawberry SMBC so well. I heart swiss meringue buttercream. Yum!

Other rating: A+
My little brother couldn’t get enough of this cupcake and asked if he could take 4 more back to his dorm to share. I wonder if he actually did “share” them though. HA!