My friend Annika got a new job and today was her last day at work. I am so happy for her and I wanted to help celebrate. Tonight, we’re going to dinner and, of course, I figured I’d make cupcakes to mark the occasion.
I remember seeing a recipe for Orange Slice Cupcakes while looking around Pinterest and she was exactly the reason why I pinned it. She loves this candy and I find incorporating candy into cupcakes to be fun and creative.
This recipe only makes a dozen cupcakes, so if you plan on doubling it, be prepared to buy a crap ton of orange slices. One batch of these bad boys requires 22 of them (10 in the cupcakes and 12 as toppers). I guess you could omit the topper, but I love the look of it.
Oh, and you’re going to make fun of me. I’m an admitted hater of food coloring, but to get the full effect, I had to add red and yellow food coloring to my frosting.
Soooooo.. I made an exception for you, Annika. You better appreciate it 😛
It was honestly an easy recipe to make too. I made these totally last minute; took less than an hour from start to finish.
The final product has a crunch to the top of the cake itself, thanks to the candy. The texture pairs well with this straightforward buttercream.
Orange Slice Cupcakes
Ingredients
1/2 c. Whole Milk
10 Orange Slices
1 1/2 c. AP Flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Kosher Salt
1/2 c. Unsalted Butter, softened
3/4 c. Baker’s Sugar
2 Large Eggs
1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners.
2) In a medium-sized saucepan over, combine the milk and orange slices, over medium heat. Stir it every once and a while
3) Once your milk is looking orange and starting to get a gelatin quality to it, remove it from heat and puree the crap out of it. I used an emulsion blender. Once it’s smooth, cool slightly
3) In the bowl of your standup mixer, with the paddle attachment affixed, cream together butter and sugar for 2 minutes
4) Mix in the eggs, one at a time.
5) In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt
6) Start adding the flour mixture, slowly, to your butter/sugar/egg mix. Mix until combined. DO NOT OVERMIX
7) Now, fold that weird orange slice/milk mixture in until combined.
8) Fill your cupcake liners 2/3 of the way. Bake for 20-22 minutes. Your cake tester should come out clean
9) Remove from muffin tin and cool completely on wire racks
Straightforward Orange Buttercream
Ingredients
1 c. Unsalted butter, softened
3 c. Powdered Sugar
1 tsp. Orange Extract
1-2 T. Whole Milk, if necessary…honestly I didn’t use this
1-2 Drops of Orange Food Gel (or a few drops of red and yellow (cuz they make orange, duh))
1) In the bowl of your standup mixer, cream the butter until it’s light and fluffy.
2) Slowly add the powdered sugar and mix for another minute
3) Add the orange extract and food coloring (oh, and the milk if you’re using it)
4) Mix until combined
5) Fill your piping bag with the orange stuff and pipe a big swirl on each cupcake. It makes enough for LOTS of frosting
6) Place an orange slice on top and you’re done!
There ya go!
Source: Baking Robot