Can you bake a cake in an air fryer? Yes, and this is the easiest way we know. These air fryer cupcakes are one of the recipes from our YouTube channel: a box of cake mix, eggs, milk and oil, whisked until pale and airy, poured into paper cups and baked in the air fryer. They come out tall, golden and soft inside, with toasted sliced almonds on top.
The amounts are short and exact: 300 grams of cake mix, 6 eggs, 70 grams of milk and 70 grams of corn oil. The trick is in the whisking. The eggs, mix and milk are beaten fast until the batter turns milky white and grows a lot in volume. That air is what makes the cupcakes fluffy, so don’t cut that step short. The oil goes in last and is just stirred through.
Each paper cup is filled about 80% full, so the cake has room to rise. Then a few almond slices go on top, and the cups bake at a low 140 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes. A low heat matters in an air fryer, because the fan browns the tops fast.
This is a good first bake if you have never made cake in an air fryer, and a nice one to make with kids. No oven and no complicated steps, just one bowl and one basket.
What you need
- Cake mix, 300 grams (a plain sponge or vanilla mix).
- Eggs, 6.
- Milk, 70 grams.
- Corn oil, 70 grams.
- Sliced almonds, for the top.
- An electric mini chopper or a hand mixer, paper baking cups and an air fryer.
All the amounts above come straight from our video. It doesn’t say how many cupcakes the batter makes; in the footage the basket holds about seven tall paper cups.
Air Fryer Cupcakes with Cake Mix
Ingredients
Method
- Put 300 grams of cake mix into the bowl of an electric mini chopper (or a large bowl if you use a hand mixer).
- Add the 6 eggs.
- Pour in 70 grams of milk.
- Whisk quickly until the batter turns milky white and its volume increases a lot.
- Add 70 grams of corn oil and stir until it is evenly mixed in.
- Pour the batter into a mold or paper cups, filling each one about 80% full.
- Sprinkle sliced almonds on top and set the cups in the air fryer basket.
- Bake in the air fryer at 140 degrees (Celsius, about 285°F) for 30 minutes.
- Let them cool a little, then serve. They are soft, fluffy and sweet.
Video
Notes
Tips
- Whisk long enough. Keep going until the batter is pale, thick and clearly bigger. That is where the rise comes from.
- Add the oil last. Stir it in gently so you keep the air you just whisked in.
- Fill to 80%. Any fuller and the tops can spill over; any less and they come out short.
- Keep the heat low. 140°C lets the middle cook before the top gets too dark.
Questions people ask
Can I bake a cake in an air fryer?
Yes. An air fryer works like a small fan oven. Bake small cakes in paper cups or a small mold at a low temperature, like the 140°C for 30 minutes used here, so the inside cooks through before the top browns.
Is the 140 degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit?
Celsius. Our video says 140 degrees, and 140°F is far too low to bake a cake. That is about 285°F.
Do I need an electric chopper?
Our video uses an electric mini chopper to whisk the batter. A hand mixer does the same job. The point is to whisk fast until the batter turns pale and airy.
You might also like
- Air fryer oatmeal cake with blueberries, another cake from our channel.
- Air fryer apple batter cake with cheese, a quick apple bake from our channel.
- Quick and easy air fryer recipes, more ideas for your air fryer.
