Orange Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream. Delicious, light and airy orange flavored cupcake topped with smooth, creamy orange buttercream. These soft and tender cupcakes are ready to go into the oven in minutes. Perfect for any occasion.
I love cooking and baking with citrus. The bowls on my dining table are always full. Every trip to the supermarket or specialty produce store means bringing home the latest fresh offerings.
Orange pairs well with so many different ingredients. Dark chocolate, peaches, blueberries, mint to name a few. Of course it is an amazing flavor when it goes solo. My original plan for topping these orange cupcakes was to do a pistachio butter frosting, but in the end I decided to keep it simple and top with a flavor packed orange buttercream. Make each little cake be a beacon of orange.
Why You Should Make These Cupcakes
- bursting with flavor.
- cake flour + all-purpose flour makes for a tender cake.
- amazing for any reason you have to celebrate.
- kids love the sweet tangy orange cake + buttercream pairing.
- these cupcakes store extremely well.
How To Make These Orange Cupcakes
All-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder and fine sea salt are added to a small bowl. They are whisked to combine and set aside momentarily.
Butter is beaten on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Sugar is added and beaten on medium speed until light and fluffy. Vanilla, fresh orange juice, fresh orange zest goes into the mix. The cupcake batter is beaten on low just long enough to incorporate.
One whole egg is added and beaten on low long enough to incorporate. Lightly beaten egg whites are added and beaten on low long enough to incorporate.
Half of our reserved flour mix is folded in. The whole milk is stirred in, and the remaining half of our reserved flour mix is folded in. I prefer to do this by hand, but its fine to do it with the machine.
No real tricks here. The only tip, as always is to not over mix the ingredients once you begin to add the dry to the wet. Less mixing means the final product will be less chewy.
The cupcake batter is divided among 12 paper lined muffin tin cups. The cupcakes are baked 22 minutes, or until firm, lightly golden along the edges and top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Once baked the cupcakes are cooled completely before frosting.
Unsalted butter is beaten on medium in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer for 5 minutes. Powdered sugar is added to the butter and beaten on medium for 5 minutes. Fresh orange juice or frozen orange concentrate and a drop of orange food coloring are added to the frosting for flavor and color.
I used a closed star tip to pipe stars in several layers up the cupcake.
Other Cupcake Recipes You Might Enjoy
A few of our other cupcake recipes include caramel apple cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, and vanilla bean cupcakes.
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Orange Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream
Equipment
- 1 (12-cup) muffin pan
Ingredients
Orange Cupcakes:
- 110 grams all-purpose flour (3/4 cup)
- 100 grams cake flour (3/4 cup)
- 8 grams baking powder (1-1/2 teaspoons)
- 1 gram fine sea salt (1/4 teaspoon)
- 113 grams unsalted butter (1 stick OR 4 ounces), room temperature
- 180 grams granulated sugar (7/8 cup)
- 50 grams egg (1 large)
- 60 grams egg white (2 large)
- 5 grams fresh orange juice (1 teaspoon)
- 6 grams fresh orange zest (1 tablespoon)
- 1 drop orange food coloring gel (optional)
- 150 grams whole milk (5/8 cup)
Orange Buttercream:
- 113 grams unsalted butter (1 stick OR 1/2 cup)
- 250 grams powdered sugar (2 cups)
- 15 grams fresh orange juice (1 tablespoon)
- 1 drop orange food coloring gel (optional)
Instructions
Orange Cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- Add all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, and fine sea salt to small bowl. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Add unsalted butter to stand mixer. Using paddle attachment, beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Add granulated sugar to stand mixer. Cream butter and sugar for 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl, if necessary.
- Add egg to sugar mixture. Beat on medium until incorporated, about 30 seconds.
- Add fresh orange juice, fresh orange zest, and orange food coloring gel (optional). Beat just long enough to incorporate.
- Add half the flour mixture and beat on low until incorporated. Add the milk and beat on low until incorporated. Add remaining flour mixture and beat on low until incorporated. Avoid over mixing.
- Divide the cupcake batter evenly between the cupcake liners.
- Bake in preheated oven for 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Remove muffin pan from oven and cool several minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely before frosting.
Orange Buttercream:
- Add unsalted butter to stand mixer. Beat on medium for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 the powdered sugar and beat on low for 30 seconds to incorporate. Add the remaining powdered sugar and beat on low for 30 seconds. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 5 minutes.
- Add the fresh orange juice and beat on medium for 1 minute.
- Apply frosting in your favorite style. (I used a closed star piping tip and piped three layers of small stars)
