Orange 'n' Cream Cupcakes

With summer officially here, I am definitely feeling nostalgic for the summer flavors I enjoyed as a kid. I'm sure most American kids can recall the wonderous taste of an orange creamsicle pop or Orange Julius drink. There's something delightfully tart, creamy, and sweet about it that embodies the taste of lazy summers.

Making that flavor into a cupcakes was a no brainer. This flavor has been one of my top sellers since I started offering it back in 2009. I was surprised to find that I had never blogged about it before, so figured it was about time I did. And speaking of blogging, I was very delighted to receive an email last week regarding my blog. Apparently, people are reading, and someone decided I qualified for the "Top 50 Cutest Cupcake Blogs." Thanks! You can find the complete list here. While I am very honored to make anyone's "top" list, I will say, if there is a top 50 list... exactly how many cupcake blogs are out there? Yikes. In any case, I definitely enjoy making new and different flavors, and am glad you enjoy reading the recipes I've come up with, so thanks for checking it out.

PastrySchools.net

Orange 'n' Cream Cupcakes
I use a yogurt cake base for this cupcake as it is extremely moist and delicious and has served me well for this recipe. Easily replace orange with lemon, grapefruit, ugli fruit, or any other citrus you want. Sadly, I found the base for this recipe so long ago, I don't even remember its source. Blogger fail.

• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons grated orange zest
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350˚.
Line cupcake tins. Makes approximately 18.

In small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, & salt.
In medium bowl, whisk together yogurt, sugar, eggs, zest, vanilla, and oil.
Gently blend the wet into the dry mix, until incorporated. Do not over mix.
Fill cupcake lines 3/4 way full and bake for 20 minutes. Cool.

Orange 'n' Cream Frosting

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1/4 butter, room temperature
• 1-1/2 c powdered sugar
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

In stand mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until incorporated. Gradually add in powdered sugar, scraping down sides of bowl to fully incorporate. Add zest and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Pipe half the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes. I make a swirled pattern on top, leaving space for another round of "orange" swirl. Add a little bit of food coloring to the remaining frosting, making it orange. Pipe the remaining frosting onto the cupcakes, completing the swirls.

4 Flavors

A simple way to add variety to your life, I made a batch of devil's food cupcakes and topped them with 4 different flavors of frosting. Only a little extra time for each frosting, but totally worth it to spice things up.

Flavors, clockwise, starting from front.

Flavor 1: Strawberry
Regular buttercream frosting, but with fresh strawberry puree instead of milk. I topped the cupcake with the frosting, then spotted it with a couple sesame seeds and mint leaves to make it look like a strawberry top. No food coloring was used, but it could be cute to make it a little richer in red color.

Flavor 2: Kahlua
Buttercream made with Kahlua instead of milk and topped with a sprinkling of cocoa powder.

Flavor 3: Grand Marnier
Buttercream made with Grand Marnier instead of milk. Should have added orange juice or rind to the frosting mix, because the Grand Marnier by itself wasn't quite cutting it. I did top it with candied orange rind pieces, but it didn't add enough flavor.

Flavor 4: Hazelnut
First I spread a little Nutella on the cupcake, then I put on a layer of Frangelico buttercream. Topped with a hazelnut.