Orange Cupcakes Recipes

Having gone through various other fruit, I decided to have a go at oranges as the base for my cupcakes. Tart Spanish oranges are in season right now and these are excellent to bake with.

The result are these delicious summery cupcakes that are ready to be prepared right now.

Orange Cupcakes

Serves: 12

Ingredients:

2 large, unwaxed, oranges
100g (3 1/2 oz) butter, softened
125g (4 oz) caster sugar
2 eggs
150g (5 oz) self-raising flour

For the Topping:

75g (3 oz) butter, softened
150g (5 oz) icing sugar
3 tbsp orange juice
4 tbsp bitter orange marmalade (eg Dundee marmalade)

Method:

Finely-grate the orange zest and squeeze them to extract the juice. Cream together the sugar, butter and orange zest in a bowl until light and fluffy then work in the orange juice. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly to combine after each addition.

Sift over the flour and stir to mix gently. Line the wells of a 12-hole muffin tin with orange paper cupcake cases. Spoon the batter into these, filling them no more than 2/3 full. Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180ºC (350ºF, Gas Mark 4) and bake for about 20 minutes, or until well risen and firm to the touch. Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the icing (frosting) cream together the butter, icing sugar and orange juice until smooth and firm. Spread this icing over the tops of the cupcakes then spoon 1 tsp of the orange marmalade on top of each cake. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill for at least 60 minutes before serving.

For more classic cupcakes, see the Celtnet Cupcake, Fairy Cake and Butterfly cake recipes pages.