Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes

When my husband found out that I was making Orange Creamsicle cupcakes this week he was not happy. He doesn't like creamsicles - at all! In fact he hates them. I'm not really a fan of them either but I was convinced that I would like these. Not only do I like them, but my hubby even said, "These are pretty good!"




I was going for a pretty mild orange flavor and color, but if you use the variations in the recipe you can make them as "orangey" as you would like. To get the very pale orange tint, I used 2 drops of red food coloring and 5 drops of yellow. You could always add as much as you want to make them really vibrant, or you can leave it out all together.



For the icing I just used a vanilla buttercream and topped it with a few strips of orange zest. Another option would be to inject the buttercream or even a whipped cream. I don't even think they would need a topping with something in the center!



I really hope that you enjoy these! Let me know if you think they are yummy or if you have any suggestions! Make sure you check out Cupcake Tuesday and It's A Blog Party this week!


Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes
(makes approx. 20 regular cupcakes)

2/3 cups butter, softened
1 ¾ cups sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 – 2 teaspoons grated orange zest, depending on desired flavor
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups orange juice
Yellow and red food coloring if desired

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins and set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla and orange zest. Add the flour mixture, a third at a time, alternating with the orange juice until all is added and batter is well blended. Add yellow and red food coloring, if desired, until color choice is reached. Mix well. Beat on high speed for 30 seconds.

Fill cupcake liners ¾ full. Bake for 17-21 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 3 minutes before removing to rack to cool completely.


Vanilla Buttercream

½ cup vegetable shortening
½ teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 cups powdered sugar
½ cup milk

In a large bowl, mix together shortening, salt, vanilla, and 2 cups of the powdered sugar. Add in remaining sugar, 2 cups at a time and alternate with milk. Add more milk to thin and more sugar to thicken the icing, if needed. Beat on high speed for 10 minutes until light and fluffy.