Chiffon Cupcakes

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2008

Show: Good EatsEpisode: Honey, I Shrunk the Cake

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (32)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(32)

Cook Time:
30 min
Level:
Easy
Yield:
about 24 cupcakes

Times:

Prep: 30 min
Inactive Prep: --
Cook: 30 min
Total:: 1 hr 0 min

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Ingredients

5 1/4 ounces cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
5 large eggs, separated
6 ounces sugar, divided
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Place paper liners into 2 (12-cup) muffin tins and set aside. If you prefer, set 12 ovenproof coffee mugs on a half sheet pan and set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Place the egg yolks and 5 ounces of the sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk on high for 2 minutes or until the mixture becomes pale yellow and 'ribbons' when lifted. Add the water, vegetable oil and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add the dry ingredients and whisk just to combine. Transfer the batter to a mixing bowl while you whisk the egg whites.

Place the egg whites and cream of tartar into a clean bowl and whisk on high using the whisk attachment, until it becomes foamy. Decrease the speed to low and gradually add the remaining ounce of sugar. Increase speed to high and continue whisking until stiff peaks form, approximately 2 minutes.

Transfer 1/3 of the egg whites to the batter and whisk until well combined. Add the remaining egg whites and fold in gently. Transfer batter into prepared muffin tins or coffee mugs, evenly dividing the batter between the cups. Place both muffin tins on the middle rack of the oven or, if using mugs, place all of them on a half sheet pan and set on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean or the cupcakes reach an internal temperature of 205 to 210 degrees F. Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Chiffon Cupcakes
Caitie Katy, TX 10-23-2009
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Great for those people with milk allergies.
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I love these cupcakes! I've started making them last year for my French II class. (My teacher is allergic to milk in all... forms, including butter.) I was so excited to finally be able to make something for the entire class that she could have as well! I usually use a lemon frosting (without milk, and yes from a can because I can't find an actually recipe without milk or butter), and everyone seems to think that pairing works the best for these cupcakes. You're the best, AB!Read more
recipe Chiffon Cupcakes
S Riverside, CA 10-22-2009
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Light and Yummy
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I love these cupcakes - very light and fluffy, more like angel food cake rather than your typical cake. I made the recipe as... is and did not think they were too salty, although that sounds like a lot of salt for a cake recipe. But like most of AB's desserts, they are not very sweet - You definitely need frosting to make it appealing to kids. I ran out of space in my muffin tins so I baked the extra batter in ramekins (thanks to another reviewer's suggestion) and that worked just fine. Resulted in cupcakes slightly larger than the regular cupcake - nothing wrong with that!Read more
recipe Chiffon Cupcakes
Becky Canton, GA 09-19-2009
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Great Cupcakes
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Made these for a child's birthday party. They were a big hit. I baked them in a muffin tin so they were small and... delicious. Read more
recipe Chiffon Cupcakes
Ron Indianapolis, IN 09-10-2009
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Not in love with them
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

I liked the lightness of these cupcakes but I think they could be a little sweeter and have more flavor. They are rather... tasteless and I think some additional extract of your choice could help them. I also thought that the appearance of the un-frosted cupcakes was a little unsavory, kind of dry and cracked looking (reminded me of cornbread muffins in appearance). On a good not, I frosted them with chocolate though and so far my kids love them.Read more
recipe Chiffon Cupcakes
Josselyn Haverford, PA 08-30-2009
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Just what I wanted!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

These are like angel food, very light, but even better in my opinion, very spongy but not too sweet. I followed the recipe... ingredients exactly, including using weight, not volume measurements. and they turned out wonderful! I was afraid I might have over beaten the egg whites or the better but everything turned out great:) For those who thought it was too salty I wonder if you used table salt instead of kosher...If you don't have kosher salt on hand I would reduce the salt, maybe a rounded 1/2 tsp instead of 1 tsp. The only thing I changed was the time. 18 minuted was perfect in my 325 oven.Read more
recipe Chiffon Cupcakes
heidy r.p.v, CA 08-12-2009
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Soft , moist and light!!!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I used all purpose flour, but I added only 5 ounces of flour... I thought it needed a little more water so added 2... Tablespoons more and I didn't used the cream of tart... They came out perfect!!! I toped them with cream cheese frosting.... Next time I'll make lemon coconut!!!! Yumm!!!!!!!! TIP: Do not over beat the egg yolks mix after you add the flour!!! Just mix it with a spatula...Read more