Angel Food Lemon Cupcakes

Apparently cupcakes are my thing. So is making cupcakes for friends. Also my friends getting engaged left and right. That is so totally a thing. It’s a little crazy. Kind of mind blowing. My friends are growing up and being real people and I am putting that off as long as humanly possible. But I love it when they invite me to their weddings. So much that I bake them cupcakes in celebration of their upcoming new life with their new hubby. One thing to take from the old life to the new? Cupcakes obviously. Please take those wherever you go. Always.

When I first moved to DC I had a few friends but after moving from New York and leaving all my incredible friends there I felt lonely and out of place in this city. I embrace new adventures but they never tell you that the older you get, the harder it is to start over. Being 27 and jumping ship to a new city is very very different than being 22. One of my first friends, who wasn’t my boyfriend, was actually the sister of another one of my bf’s friends and is probably the cutest person alive. She is brilliant, a karaoke-master, and a baker like me. So, of course it was a match made in heaven. But not more than her and her-soon-to-be husband.

Have you all heard of this culty series: Game of Thrones? It’s kind of a big deal but it is a huge deal with Steve and his friends. When I first started reading them my boyfriend was on round number 3 and the conspiracy theory talks that go on between him and his nerdy circles left my head spinning and I came to the obvious conclusion: I need to read these books as fast as possible.

When the HBO TV show came out we had the brilliant idea to have a GOT premier party which turned out to be merely mead and lemon cakes. It’s all you really need right? These little cakes aren’t lemon cakes. But they are angel food cupcakes doused in lemon. One can not go wrong there. So in honor of Noa + Phil, these were made. And devoured.

 So what have we learned? I like cupcakes. Everyone and their goldfish is getting married. Be my friend and I will make you cupcakes if you get engaged. Or just if you like cake and frosting. It pretty much works both ways.

Angel Food Cupcakes

*makes 15 cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cake flour (sifted)
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar (sifted)
• 6 large egg whites (about 3/4 cup)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon lemon juice (from ½ lemon)
• finely grated lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

• Line 16 muffin cups with paper muffin cups. Pre-heat oven to 350° F.
• Sift the flour and powdered sugar together; set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat or whisk egg whites with the salt until frothy. Add the cream of tartar; continue beating to soft peaks. Add granulated sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form.
• With a spatula, fold in about 1/3 of the flour and powdered sugar mixture. Fold in another 1/3, then finish with remaining mixture. Gently fold in the lemon and vanilla.
• Fill muffin cups about 2/3 to 3/4 full. Bake for about 13 to 15 minutes.
• Cool for 5 minutes in pan on rack. Remove cupcakes to a rack to cool completely.
• Frost with Whoopie Pie Frosting and lemon zest.