ORANGE CRUSH CUPCAKES

Frosting courtesy: my 4 year old daughter



My husband got to eat these at his workplace. When he came back from office , he asked me to make these. He even got me the recipe for the cupcakes and also offered to buy me the ingredients needed. The next day was Friday(my cake baking day!).The original recipe had  Orange crush soda in it ,hence the name of the cupcakes. I thought I would make the cupcakes, with whatever I had in hand. So I decided to use my Chiffon cake recipe for the cupcakes ,and use grated orange zest and orange juice to convert it into orange cupcakes. And the same ingredients in the buttercream icing to make my orange buttercream. Grated orange zest is packed with flavor and aroma. A little goes a long way.

RECIPE

1 cup cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1/4 cup oil ( any flavorless oil will do)

1/3 cup  fresh orange juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 large eggs, whites and yolks separated

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 Tbsp orange zest

Method

1. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl to combine; set aside.
2. Line an 8 inch pan with parchment paper at the bottom.
3. The day before making the cake freeze 4 oranges in a Ziploc bag. The day of making the cake , take out the frozen oranges and grate the outer layer of the orange until the white skin is seen.Stop when the the white skin is seen.
   
   
   
   
4. From the zested oranges ,squeeze out the orange juice. Measure out 1/3 cup orange juice from that. The remaining juice can be frozen for further use, if needed.
   
5. Pre-heat the oven to 325°F for 15 minutes  arranging a rack in the second from the bottom level. 
6. Separate the yolks and whites of 3 eggs.
7. Pour vanilla essence into the separated yolks and keep aside.
   
8. Take the separated egg whites into a bowl big enough, because it is in that bowl that the rest of the ingredients will be combined. 
   
   
   
   
   
9. Beat the egg white using a cake mixer on high speed  until frothy and the volume has increased  ,about a minute.
   
10. Now on maximum speed beat the egg whites and while beating ,gradually add the sugar ,maybe 2 Tbsp at a time .Put in all the sugar.The egg whites should be whipped till stiff peaks are formed.
    
11. Put in the egg yolks and essence all at once and beat on high speed for about 5  seconds.
    
12. Add the oil and again beat for 5 seconds.
    
13. Add the flour mixture all at once and beat on lowest speed for 5 seconds, then gradually increasing the speed to maximum .Beat until the flour is just incorporated .Then pour in the 1/3 cup orange juice and 2 tbsp. orange rind and beat on high speed for about 2 seconds or until just combined. Don't over mix.
    

13. Pour the batter into the prepared(lined with muffin baking cups) muffin pan.Fill each cup until 2/3 full.

14.Bake at 325-degree F, until the surface of the cake is golden brown and springs back when pressed and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 12 to 15 minutes.

15.Tranfer the cupcakes to an aluminium tray or keep it in the muffin pan covered with a kitchen towel.

16.Cool completely.

17.Now prepare the orange buttercream frosting. It is a variation of the basic buttercream frosting. The recipe is here .

18. Fill in the buttercream frosting into a piping bag with the preferred icing tip. I planned to do rosettes.(easiest and my favourite).

19. When you frost the cupcakes ,frost it just in the middle, leaving space around the frosting.


My daughter just wouldn't hand me the piping bag

20. Put small ,thin , triangular slices of orange along with the skin , at the center of the frosting.

 Orange crush cupcakes ready!!

NOTES

• The next time I made these , I grated frozen oranges along with the skin to get a packed 1/3 cup. It was easier than zesting and juicing the oranges separately. The method is shown here.
• If cake flour is not available, use substitute all purpose flour.