Angel Food Cupcakes - 2 Ways with 1 Box of Mix!

I'm back! I have been MIA for so long due to a wrist sprain (of course when that finally healed work/life got busy!) but my wrist is more or less better and I'm so excited to share this fabulous recipe with you. It's actually a recipe x 2 and is perfect for spring and summer gatherings!

I do not profess to be a baker. Baking is science and while I dig science, I'm more of a mad scientist. This year I decided to make Champagne Cupcakes for the Oscars which was risky for sure. The recipes I found online were all 100% from scratch so I started to think how I could reconceptualize this idea. What is light like champagne? Angel Food! Do they make it in mix form? Yes! What else do you mix in? Water. Perfect! Champagne is my usual substitution for water anyway!

Instead of full sized cupcakes, I decided to make minis which had I used the entire box would have made about 70 - too many for the Oscars. Instead I made half the box and therefore used 1/2 the water/champagne. For the frosting, I found a great recipe for a Champagne Buttercream on The Curvy Carrot however I tried to make from memory (and with butter that wasn't quite room temperature) so my frosting didn't look quite right but it tasted GREAT. This is my common problem in baking - taste 10, looks 5. Plus I threw in some additional champagne so that might have also been part of the problem. Enough of the prologue, let's get to the recipe!


Champagne Cupcakes (Makes approximately 70 mini cupcakes if you use the entire box)

1 box Angel Food cake mix
1 1/4 cup champagne (or other sparkling wine)

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Line your muffin pan with liners. Angel food cake is a little sticky so I would not recommend using silicone baking cups without liners.

2. Using an electric mixer, beat the mixture for 30 seconds at a low speed to moisten and then 1 minute at medium. DO NOT OVERBEAT. This will make it too airy.

3. Add batter to liners, filling about 3/4 full. DO NOT OVERFILL. They will be misshapen and stick to the pan. Bang the pan on the counter to remove air bubbles. Very important or you will have giant holes in your cupcakes.

4. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes. Each oven is different so I suggest checking them at 10 minutes and determining how much longer by the look. When done, they will be golden brown and the cracks will be dry.

5. Cool on a wire rack.

Champagne Buttercream

3 & 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons champagne, at room temperature (I used a bit more for flavor)

1. With an electric mixer, beat together sugar and butter. Mix on low until well blended, and then on medium for another two minutes.

2. Add vanilla and champagne, beating on medium for another minute.

3. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes using your favorite pastry tip or just by filling a plastic bag and cutting of the corner to create your own pastry bag.

Before you look at the final product, remember that I did NOT follow these directions as I should have. Learn from my mistakes and have prettier cupcakes!

Angel Food Cupcakes with Blueberries

For the second Angel Food cupcake preparation, it is more in the presentation than changing the recipe. Angel Food and berries are a natural and classic combo however I wanted to serve them together without a frosting. Transporting frosted cupcakes is always a challenge so I came up with this simple yet attractive way as an alternative.

Angel Food mini cupcakes
Blueberries (or any other fruit you prefer)
Powdered sugar
toothpicks

1. Using a sifter or mesh strainer, dust the cupcakes with powdered sugar.

2. Thread three blueberries on to each toothpick and then place the free end of the toothpick into the cupcake.

I love this idea for summer as you can use whatever fruit is in season. For 4th of July you can alternate blueberries and strawberries or raspberries. It is perfect for picnics as you can assemble on site and they are temperature stable. Plus they are actually a pretty healthy dessert - Angel Food cake is fat free!

And the Oscar for Best Oscar Party Goes To...

Me! Of course you shouldn't be surprised since I am the one handing out the award. So as you probably guessed, this is the recap of my annual Oscar party - 9th annual to be exact. Unfortunately there are not a lot of photos as we were all too busy eating and drinking to be bothered with picture taking!

Invitations

As per usual, I used Evite for my invitations for ease of use, friendliness to the environment, and cost. I like the survey tool and that invitees can post on the "wall" of the invite. This event was a potluck so it allowed guests to see what others were bringing to the event. The other site I recommend is Paperless Post however this is not a free site and does not feature the same survey tools as Evite. If those aspects are not an issue for you and the look of a more traditional invitation is preferred, this site is for you.

Cuisine

As I mentioned, this event is almost always a potluck with everyone bringing an appetizer and bottle of bubbly to share. This year we had a lovely array of tasty treats to enjoy! Some of the items included hot wings, gourmet cheese plate, spinach & artichoke dip, hummus, veggies, baked havarti, arancini (Italian rice balls), and several miniature sweets. One of the most memorable items were the special Oscar themed cookies Audra brought to share. There were cookies for each Best Picture nominee as well as an Oscar. If you want to purchase similar cookies cutters, the slate can be found at CopperGifts.com and the statue at CheapCookieCutters.com (Note: There used to be better statue cutters out there but the Academy forced the sites to take them down. If you're crafty, you can always make your own pattern from an image online.)

Beyond all of the great food provided by my guests, I offered a Individual Mini Pizza station and a Shot Glass Ice Cream Sundae bar.

Individual Mini Pizzas

This recipe is modified from the Personal Pizzas recipe in the Better Homes and Gardens New Junior Cookbook (1979 Edition). I will list the recipe as written and note my changes in parenthesis.

Shortening (Did not use)

All-Purpose Flour

1 Package Refrigerated Biscuits - Qty 10

1 8 Oz Can/Jar Pizza Sauce (Also offered pesto)

1 4 Oz Package Shredded Mozzarella Cheese - 1 Cup (Offered Quattro Formaggi & Fat Free Feta in lieu of mozzarella)

Suggested toppings: Sliced Pepperoni, Sliced Hot Dogs, Chopped Green Pepper, Pickle Relish, & Sliced Olives (Offered Corn Salsa, Turkey Bacon, Cilantro, Sweet Balsamic Onions, Chives, & Pepperoncicis as toppings however you can use whatever you have on hand and think your guests would enjoy.)

1. Pre-heat oven to 425. Grease 1 or 2 baking sheets with shortening. (Used foil and no grease on baking sheet.)

2. Sprinkle cutting board with flour. Pull biscuits apart. Put 1 biscuit on the floured board. Use rolling pin to roll out biscuit till it is a circle 4 inches across. Put on baking sheet. Repeat with the remainder of the biscuits.(In order to make smaller pizzas, each biscuit was cut in half and rolled out to approximately 2 inch circles. Be sure to roll the biscuits as thin as possible as they tend to puff up while baking.)

IMPORTANT NOTE: From here on is the recipe as written in case you wish to follow it exactly. Rather than pre-top the pizzas, I par-baked them and allowed my guests to top them and finish the baking process in a toaster oven during the event. One issue that I had was that they didn't remain as flat as I would have liked. When making them per the instructions, that was never an issue due to the toppings weighing them down. An alternative you may wish to try is to use a Pie Weight Chain during the par-baking. The pizza "crusts" were par-baked for approximately 5-7 minutes. After guests created their own pizza masterpieces, they were baked in the toaster oven for another approximately 8 minutes.

3. Spoon about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the pizza sauce onto each biscuit. Spread evenly over the biscuits. Sprinkle each with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of cheese.

4. Let each person put favorite toppings on 1 or 2 pizzas.

5. Put pizzas in oven and bake until the crust is brown. This will take 10 to 15 minutes.

6. To serve, use a pancake turner (does anyone still call it that?) to put hot pizzas on plates.

Makes 10 (or 20) pizzas.

Shot Glass Ice Cream Sundae Bar

Your Favorite Ice Cream(s) (I used Dreyers Slow Churned No Sugar Added Vanilla.)

Your Favorite Toppings (I used Hershey's Chocolate Syrup Lite, Hershey's Classic Caramel Sundae Syrup, Fat Free Reddi Wip, Lingonberry Jam, Kahlua, and Chopped Peanuts.

1. Using a melon baller, scoop ice cream into shot glass.

2. Add toppings.

3. Repeat to try different flavor combos!

Libations

The Oscars are not complete without lots of bubbly! Thankfully with everyone bringing at least one bottle, we had plenty for everyone to enjoy. Unfortunately none of us are bringing in the big bucks so it was all Cristal and Dom. We enjoyed a variety of international sparkling wines with a few options to dress up your bubbles if desired. Choices included frozen berries, lingonberry drink concentrate and elderflower drink concentrate. The lingonberry and elderflower drink concentrates were both purchased from IKEA though the lingonberry can also be found through Amazon. The elderflower is a bit more difficult however St. Germain elderflower liquor is an excellent though more expensive substitute. When using the concentrates, I recommend cutting them on a 1-1 ratio with water. The pure concentrates do not seem to mix as well with champagne.

Costumes

This was not a costume party exactly but it was a pajama party. The Oscars are such a long show that enjoying it in comfy clothes just makes the night more enjoyable. Plus it is a nice foil to how the stars are dressing at the actual Oscars.

Decor

My apartment is small so I don't decorate for this party. If you are hosting your own Oscar party in future years, there are many sites with decor ideas. Or let me know what type of Oscar party you are throwing and I can give you some suggestions.

Games

What's an Oscar party without an Oscar pool? We stopped putting money on it and now it's just for bragging rights. We also played the third annual Thrillist Oscar Bingo. While this year's bingo cards were not as "accurate" as previous years, it was still a fun way to pass the time between boring speeches.

You know it was a good party when there is Kahula running down the front of your liquor cabinet and everyone is moaning about how much they ate. With next year being the 10th annual event, I am going to have to raise my game!

PS - What do you think of the new background for the site? I'm trying a new look out and would love your feedback!