Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

"This delectable cupcake recipe comes from Fran Gage."
 
Download
photo by Redsie photo by Redsie
photo by Redsie
Ready In:
35mins
Ingredients:
15
Yields:
12 cupcakes
Advertisement

ingredients

Advertisement

directions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
  • Line 12 standard muffin cups with paper liners.
  • In a small bowl, stir the cocoa powder into the hot water until it dissolves; set aside.
  • Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into a bowl.
  • Using the finest rasps of a hand held grater, grate the zest from the orange into the bowl. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and granulated sugar until well combined.
  • Whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla, then the dissolved cocoa.
  • Whisk in the melted butter, then the dry ingredients.
  • Using a tablespoon, divide the batter among the muffin cups filling each about half full.
  • Bake until the cupcakes are puffed and a skewer inserted into the center of one comes out clean 15-20 minutes.
  • Let cool completely on a wire rack.
  • Remove the cupcakes from the pan.
  • To make the frosting, melt the chocolate in a double-boiler or in the microwave and let cool to room temperature.
  • Meanwhile, using a stand mixer, beat the butter and confectioners' sugar with the paddle on medium speed until creamy and smooth, about 3 minutes.
  • Beat in the melted chocolate until combined.
  • Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star tip with the frosting and pipe a spiral on top of each cupcake.
  • Refrigerate the cupcakes until 30 minutes before serving to set the frosting.

Questions & Replies

  1. Do we have to use butter milk
     
Advertisement

Reviews

  1. these were delicious i used hot orange juice as suggested and they were perfect
     
  2. These were delicious. I didn't use the frosting though. I made the frosting from Recipe #42665 Orange Chocolate Marble Cake with Orange Buttercream Frosting. I also changed this just a tad. I didn't think there would enough orange flavor with just the zest so in place of the hot water I used orange juice. I didn't change the amount just replaced it.
     
  3. Did not make the frosting as they were delicious without!! Thanks ev!! :)
     
  4. Great cupcakes Ev! I did not make the frosting with this recipe I used recipe#89207, also I increased the baking powder and baking soda both to 1 teaspoon each, thanks for sharing Ev!...Kitten :)
     
  5. Another great cupcake. These are very tender, moist, great chocolate flavor and the orange rind is just right--lovely scent and a strong but not overpowering orange flavor. And they freezxe beautifully--even frosted.
     
Advertisement

Tweaks

  1. I chose these, to be honest, not to make as cupcakes, but as a sort of muffin-alternative for breakfast. By that I mean I didn't frost them, reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup and ate them for breakfast rather than dessert. They were still delicious, but I can't imagine how great they would be frosted. Extremely moist and tender, these little guys are just chocolatey enough to still taste orangey and just orangey enough to still taste chocolatey. I did, I admit, use hot orange juice instead of hot water to dissolve the cocoa in, because I had a skinned orange and figured it would up the orange taste a bit. These are perfect, though, Evelyn... some of the nicest textured cake that has ever crossed my plate! Oh- I made two more changes to help justify these as breakfast food. I substitued the AP flour with whole wheat pastry flour (I used 1 cup because whole wheat flour is more absorbant, so using equal amounts would make the baked good dry). I also used half butter half canola oil. So they're healthy, right!? Anyhow, thanks for posting- I would highly recommend these if you are looking for an excellent cupcake!!
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<style>body { background: url("http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3639/3512121819_f2f1aaf050.jpg?v=0"); background-repeat: repeat-y; }</style> OK, here goes. I live in Athens, Greece. I moved out here many, many years ago from Ottawa, Canada - so I am blessed in having two wonderful heritages! I suffer from compulsive obsessive behaviour with regard to food and my psychiatrist thought it would be a good idea to find a 'society' where many have the same problem and try to find a cure. So far, I've copied a couple of thousand recipes from this site and my psychiatrist has thrown the towel in and refuses to answer the phone when I call. What did I do wrong? Got 3 kids that keep me on the go - 10 and under at this point (2008) - I may not get round to updating this for a few years, so you'll have to do your own maths. I teach English full-time and Greek Cookery part-time. I would like to make the cooking part of it full-time and the English Grammar part of it part-time. That's all for now.
 
View Full Profile
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Find More Recipes