Angel Food Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup cake flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 6 egg whites, at room temperature
• 2 1/2 Tbsp warm water
• 1/2 tsp vanilla, coconut, almond or orange extract, I used coconut
• 3/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 6 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• Fresh strawberries, blueberries or raspberries

Directions

1. Set the oven to 350 degrees. Add the sugar to a food processor and pulse until it becomes very fine, about 2 minutes; if there’s no food processor handy, caster sugar can step in.
2. Sift the cake flour, the salt, and half of the sugar into a mixing bowl.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites with the water, your chosen extract, and the cream of tartar until the mixture is blended, about 2 minutes. Pick up a hand mixer next. Beat on medium speed, adding the remaining sugar little by little, and stop when the whites hold medium peaks.
4. Dust the surface of the whites with a light layer of the flour mixture through a sifter. With a spatula, fold that layer in gently, then repeat the dusting and folding until all of the flour mixture has been worked into the batter. This will probably take 12 batches.
5. Spoon the batter into paper lined muffin cups, taking each cup nearly to the top. Bake for 18 – 20 minutes, until the cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Cool the cupcakes completely, then spread Cream Cheese Whipped Cream over them just before serving and finish with fresh fruit.
7. For the Cream Cheese Whipped Cream Topping, beat the heavy cream in a mixing bowl until soft peaks form. In another mixing bowl, whip the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add the cream cheese and powdered sugar to the whipped cream, then beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Store in the refrigerator.
8. When separating the eggs, work with 1 egg in a bowl at a time, then pour each clean white into the mixing bowl before moving on. That way, if a yolk breaks into the white and cannot be removed, only 1 egg has to be tossed. Even 1 drop of yolk in the cake mixture can keep the whites from whipping into stiff peaks.