by Carrie Sellman
Jump to Recipe·★★★★★5 from 1 review
The season of entertaining is upon us. I’ve partnered up with Sauza® Tequila to bring you a new cupcake recipe and some inspiring ideas for a fabulous Holiday Girls’ Night!
The holiday season is well underway. This is the craziest, busiest and most wonderful time of the year! Whether you’re an entertaining newbie or a seasoned pro, the role of hostess can be a stressful assignment. But entertaining doesn’t have to be hard. You just need a plan to make it all happen! So grab your girlfriends and celebrate the season with a fabulous girls’ night in. We’re keeping it elegant and effortless with light angel food cupcakes and a glass of Sparkling Margarita. It’s a refreshing change to the same old, same old holiday party. Let’s start with the cupcakes and move on from there! Priorities, right? Planning the cake always comes first!
Angel food cake is one of my all time favorites. It’s light and sweet and totally unexpected around the holidays. So I thought cupcake sized portions would be a great addition to a girls’ night in. It’s a refreshing change to the heavy desserts we often enjoy during the month of December. And definitely pairs nicely with a bubbly glass of wild berry Sparkling Margarita.
The greatest thing about these cupcakes? They look impressive but they could not be easier to make. We’re taking a classic angel food cake recipe and adding a small touch of lemon zest to brighten the flavors. Then topping with a sweetened whipped cream and fresh raspberries, creating a little airy delight. The only thing hard about these cupcakes… is eating just one.
Snow Angel Cupcakes – light angel food cupcakes with lemon zest topped with whipped cream and fresh raspberries.
- Author: Carrie Sellman
- Yield: 24+ cupcakes
- Category: ✽ ✽ ✽
Ingredients
For the Angel Food Cupcakes
- 2 cups granulated sugar, divided
- 1 ⅓ cups sifted cake flour
- 12 egg whites, at room temperature
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar
- zest of one organic lemon
When Ready To Serve
- 16 ounces heavy whipping cream, very cold
- 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
- Fresh Raspberries
- Confectioners’ Sugar
Instructions
Make the Cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a food processor, pulse sugar until it is superfine. Roughly two minutes on low.
- Combine ½ cup sugar with cake flour and sift together four times. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer filled with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites, salt and cream of tarter until medium firm peaks.
- Sprinkle remaining 1 ½cups sugar over egg whites with mixer running. Mix until thick and shiny.
- Add lemon zest. Mix several additional minutes until very thick. Remove bowl from stand mixer. Scrape down whisk attachment, removing all egg whites and zest.
- Sprinkle ¼ of flour mixture into bowl and gently fold into egg whites using a clean rubber spatula. Repeat until all flour has been added.
- Spoon batter into a muffin tin lined with cupcake wrappers. Fill each wrapper almost to the very top. Smooth top.
- Bake 17 – 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes and then remove from muffin tin to cool completely.
When Ready To Serve:
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk chilled heavy cream and 4 tablespoons sugar until you have soft peaks.
- When ready to serve, spoon a dollop of whipped cream on top of each cupcake. Top with a fresh raspberry and a sprinkle of confectioners sugar, if desired.
Notes
- To make whipped cream topping in advance, use mousse powder, gelatin, cream cheese or another stabilizer to prevent the cream from deflating.
Now that we have the cupcakes covered, let’s talk about the rest of our Holiday Girls’ Night In! I love the idea of offering a selection of mini desserts and cookies for guests to nibble while sipping a glass of Sparkling Margarita. Small bites like cookies and cake pops let the girls sample a little bit of everything without the heaviness of a big dessert. Here’s a few ideas to get you started.
- When decorating, go for a simple color palette of red and white. This updated twist on the traditional holiday colors has such a fresh look.
- Linzer cookies are a classic treat that work nicely with our color scheme. Two almond flavored cookies are sandwiched together with a layer of jam. Get the recipe to make them HERE.
- Cake pops get festive with a hint of peppermint and a striped stick. Make your own or cheat and order some HERE.
- Serve upSauza® Sparkling Margarita with festive garnishes like cranberries, raspberries or rosemary.
- Of course, we’ll include our Snow Angel Cupcakes!
- Pull out your extra cake stands and top withornaments for a quick and easy centerpiece. Done!
If you’re ready to get the party started, you can find more Girls’ Night inspiration on my Pinterest board HERE.
Cupcake recipe and photography by Carrie Sellman for The Cake Blog.
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