Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes

 

{not my picture, click for source)

 Spring is here! Do you remember those Orange Creamsicle ice cream cups? My grandma always had those in the freezer and I had one pretty much every visit. The flavor still brings back great memories. So when I found a recipe for Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes from Dulcedo I knew I had to try them! I can definitely say it was a good choice :-) The cupcake itself has a nice orange flavor and the frosting tastes exactly like the classic Orange Creamsicle cups.         Cupcakes
Makes a little over 24 cupcakes
2-3 medium oranges
3 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon orange extract
2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt

Orange Frosting
1 cup butter, room temperature
6-8 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
1/4 cup orange juice (preferably fresh)

Marshmallow Fluff
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2/3 cup water
5 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla  To make the cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Peel oranges (removing any seeds and as much of the white pith as possible) and puree in a blender or food processor.  Measure out 1/2 cup of the liquidy pulp. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine orange pulp, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, orange extract, sugar, and vegetable oil.

With the mixer on low, gradually add in the flour mixture, beating until just incorporated.

Fill your liners 2/3 full and bake 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely before filling, frosting, or garnishing as desired.

To make the orange frosting:
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium-high speed until creamy. Add half of the sifted sugar, the vanilla, the orange extract, and the orange juice. Beat until combined. Gradually add the remaining sugar until the frosting reaches your desired consistency. I used a hand mixer for this frosting because I made the marshmallow fluff in my stand mixer.I added some orange food coloring just for fun :-)

To make the marshmallow fluff:
Heat 1 1/2 cups sugar, the corn syrup, and 2/3 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Wash down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals from forming. Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer reaches 235 degrees.
Watch the thermometer!  I burnt my first attempt :-(
Meanwhile, put egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Reduce speed to medium-low.   Add the hot syrup in a slow, steady stream down sides of bowl. Raise speed to medium-high; beat until stiff peaks begin to form. With the mixer still running, gradually add the vanilla and continue beating until the fluff is smooth and cool, about 7 minutes.
Frost. You can either fill the cupcake with one frosting and top with the other, or use both frosting in a swirl pattern. I tried piping both together. It was my first time using that method, so it didn't turn out perfect, but I think it's a cool effect. Dulcedo has a great how-to for piping two colors of frosting at once.

Orange Julius

It's spring break. It's getting warmer. My thoughts are turning to summer (45 days!!!). My mom used to always make awesome smoothies with fresh fruit in the summers. She has a Vitamix so she'd put whole fruits in there and everything just came out awesome. I have a very basic blender, but I've been trying out different smoothies. First up: the classic Orange Julius. Watch for Brazilian Lemonade in the next few days.

This recipe is even kid-approved :-) I can't say that about most of my recipes because I don't have kids yet. But this morning we had a little visitor (our primary student) who wanted to hang out. We played Wii and had some fun little snacks, including this Orange Julius. 




  6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1/4 cup powdered sugar 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
8-9 ice cubes

**You can also just use 1/2 cup powdered sugar instead of some of both. 1. Combine all ingredients except ice cubes in blender.
2. Blend for about 1-2 minutes, adding ice cubes one at a time.  ** I pretty much always follow this recipe, but this last time I accidentally dumped in too much vanilla. To compensate I poured in a little extra orange juice concentrate and some leftover whipping cream. So smooth and creamy :-)