Inspirational Angel Food!

As promised, here is this week's Romance subgenre cupcake recipe. First up was Inspirational Romance!

I went with angel food cake for these because most Inspirational Romance in the U.S. has its base in Christianity rather than Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. Having never made angel food cake from scratch before, I was happy to find this recipe, which has a 5-star review from over 400 people. Since I was making mini cupcakes, I halved the recipe so I wouldn't end up with a kitchen full of cupcakes. This turned out to be wise, because I ended up with 48 minis as it was. This recipe is pretty simple and straightforward. The hardest part for me was folding in the powdered sugar/flour mixture, but that's because I've yet to become adept at folding things into recipes at all. Still, despite my occasional stirring-like folding, my batter remained light and fluffy, so I couldn't have been doing too bad a job, right?

Something happened with the first batch of cupcakes that I totally didn't understand. Namely, they didn't rise in any way and ended up oddly lumpy on top, although still light and fluffy overall like angel food is supposed to be. (They're the ones on the right, in case you couldn't tell.) The second batch, though, came out the way cake should, thankfully.

Then I was left with the question of how to top them. Every time I've had angel food cake in the past, it's been a slice from a Bundt, and the only toppings I've ever had on it are fruit and whipped cream. But a cupcake can't be frosting-less! Enter Strawberry Whipped Cream Frosting, thanks to www.joyofbaking.com! As long as you have a food processor/blender and a mixer of some kind, it's easy.

Step #1: Make strawberry puree.

Place 20 oz. of unsweetened frozen strawberries in a large bowl and thaw. (This may take a few hours.) Once thawed, put the strawberries and their juice in the bowl of a food processor or blender and process the berries until they are pureed. Pour the puree into a 2-cup measuring cup; you should have about 1 1/4 cups of puree (I had 2 cups). Add 1/4 cup of sugar to start and stir until the sugar dissolves. Taste and add more sugar if needed. You can also add a little lemon juice to taste. (It may sound odd, but it really brings out the strawberry flavor!)

Step #2: Prep whipped cream.
Ingredients:
1 cup heavy whipping cream (35-45% butterfat content)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons granulated white sugar (I used 2)

In a large mixing bowl, place all the ingredients and stir to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and place the bowl and a wire whisk in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.

Step #3:
Make strawberry whipped cream!
Once combined ingredients and whisk have been refrigerated for 30-60 minutes, beat the mixture until soft peaks form. Add sweetened strawberry puree (or strawberry jam if you don't feel like making the puree) a little at a time and beat just until stiff peaks form. Taste and fold in more sugar or puree, if required. (One recipe I found said to use 3 tablespoons of puree, another said to use 1/2 cup. I used 5 tablespoons and it was plenty, but you could always add more if you want a stronger flavor.)

All packed up and ready to go!

The final product was pretty good. More than good, actually. My husband - who has never liked angel food cake before - couldn't stop eating them once they were frosted.

I even found this amazing baking supply/cake decorating store earlier in the week that sells, among other things, cake boxes with cupcake-holding inserts. It made it much easier to pack things up for my husband to take to his co-workers.

So, all in all, a good start to my latest baking endeavor. Catch you next week!