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Saturday, April 30, 2011

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes


For my husband's birthday last month, Aubrey and I surprised him by visiting him at work with a dozen cupcakes to share with his office.  I wanted to do something different and I was inspired by a new drink that my sister and her husband introduced us to - a cocktail of orange Fanta and whipped vodka.  The cupcakes were a little more acceptable for the office, although I'm sure the vodka would have been appreciated!


The recipe is a combination of a few different sources - I adapted the recipe on I Heart Cuppycakes who adapted the recipe from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes and Dulcedo.  The cake is really moist and don't skip the orange zest because it adds so much flavor and I love seeing the little bits of zest in the cake.  The marshmallow cream is a great addition to these cupcakes, it really gives it the creamsicle flavor instead of just an orange cupcake. 

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from I Heart Cuppycakes
Cupcakes:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 T citrus olive oil
1 cup sugar
2 T vanilla
2 eggs
Zest of 1 orange
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pans with paper liners.  (This made 16 cupcakes for me.)

Combine butter, olive oil and sugar and mix on medium high speed about three minutes until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and eggs and mix about one more minute until well incorporated.  Stir in orange zest.  In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Separately combine heavy cream and orange juice.  Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by 1/2 of the cream mixture and repeat, finishing with the flour.  Mix until just incorporated after each addition. 

Scoop batter into prepared liners, filling about 2/3 of the way full.  Bake about twenty minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool in pans about five minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Marshmallow Cream Filling:
7 oz marshmallow fluff
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

Cut butter into small pieces and add to fluff in a mixing bowl.  Beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy.  Cut a small cone shape into the top of each cupcake and spoon marshmallow cream into wells allowing the cream to puddle on top of the cupcake slightly.  (Don't add too much, when you add the buttercream, it will cause the cream to move out toward the edges of the cupcakes.)

Orange Buttercream:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/8 - 1/4 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed
Zest of 1 orange
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar

Beat butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about three minutes.  Add orange juice, zest, and vanilla and mix until well combined.  Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing until incorporated to reach desired consistency.  Whip on medium high speed about two minutes until smooth and creamy.  Transfer to a piping bag fitted with desired tip and pipe onto cupcakes. 

53 comments:

  1. Yum! These looks so good. I love the orange incing on top of the white icing, it's really effective.

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  2. Thank you for this recipe! I have a creamsicle cake recipe, but it uses a boxed mix and jello mix. Its delicious, but I really prefer to not use mixes. I will definetly be giving this a try this summer :)

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  3. These look fantastic! I can't wait to make them this summer!

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  4. These look so good! I've been looking for a recipe for orange cream cupcakes for awhile now...I'm definitely making these!

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  5. Great looking cupcake and I'm sure even if there was no vodka that the folks at your husband's office loved receiving them.

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  6. Very delightful looking cupcakes, I want one!

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  7. Thanks for Sharing! just made these today for mothers day!! And of course I had to test one out before giving to guest, and man oooh man these are amazing!!!!

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  8. I love orange creamsicles! I bet these cupcakes are sooo yummy and I love your photos!

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  9. Thanks for sharing this amazing fun recipe!! I can't believe I actually pulled it off! I felt like a real baker! and that tasted like I bought them from a yummy bakery!sooo good!!

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  10. @Jamie Lea - glad they turned out for you! They are definitely on my favorites list.

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  11. These look great! Can't wait to try them! That cocktail sounds wonderful, would you share the 'recipe'? Thanks! ~Shannon :)

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  12. @Shannon - it's not much of a recipe... in a short glass, just add ice, mix one shot of whipped vodka, and fill with orange Fanta or other orange soda of your choice.

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  13. These look heavenly! Definatly adding to my recipe to-do list. All our recipes look yummy. You got a new follower here! Can't wait to see all you have in store.

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  14. I made these and the cake part came out great but my icing is weird..too sweet and doesn't look anything like yours :(

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  15. I can't wait to try these! They sound so yummy!!! Where do you get all your cupcake liners?

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  16. @Penni - Thanks - hope you like them. I get cupcake liners from a lot of places, I pick them up whenever I see cute ones but I buy a lot of them at Hobby Lobby/Michaels or online through the Cupcake Shoppe or Bake It Pretty.

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  17. @Vanessa - not sure what happened, I'm sorry they didn't turn out like you were hoping.

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  18. Hi!

    We just made these cupcakes last night and they were delicious! We found the photo of your cupcakes on Pinterest and were inspired to make them.

    We are blogging about all of the things we try/do by being inspired by Pinterest at: www.inspiredbypinterest.blogspot.com !

    Thanks for the recipe!

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  19. I love baking but do not do the fully from Scratch thing so I made this and adjusted as follows....

    Duncan Hines white cake mix with the following
    3 eggs, 1cup mayo and 1cup fresh OJ
    Turned out fabulous!

    Made Frosting as suggested

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  20. I've never heard of something so delicious! Thank you for posting! I must try these!

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  21. I tried these out tonight. The cake itself was absolutely perfect - moist and zingy. The marshmallow filling and the frosting, though, were so cloyingly sweet I couldn't eat more than one bite of a complete cupcake.

    I'll be saving the cake recipe for sure, at least!

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  22. I made this for my sis-in-law's baby shower. They were really yummy. I ended up using orange extract and adding a little more butter instead of the citrus olive oil (whatever that is.) So good.

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  23. This look amazing! I included them in a round up of cupcakes on my blog! You can check out the link...http://sittingatourkitchentable.blogspot.com/2011/07/me-likey-monday.html

    Have a great week!
    Amy

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  24. I just made these today and they are delicious! I will absolutely be making them again soon.

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  25. Is it really 2 TABLESPOONS of vanilla? That seems a lot to me? I just put them in the over and used 2 teaspoons of vanilla instead. I hope it still works!

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  26. Kerry it is 2 tablespoons and it is a lot but that's what hives the cupcakes the creamsicle Flavor. Not using as much shouldn't mess you up too much but it will cut back on some of the flavor, I'm not sure if they will be short on liquid ingredients enough to notice it. I hope they turn out for you.

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  27. Hello!
    I tried the frosting/marshmallow last night on a vanilla cupcake- IT IS SO YUMMY! Thanks for sharing your recipe!

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  28. Wow, these looks great! Thanks for sharing the recipe :)

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  29. I made these for a potluck at work and they were a big hit : ) Thank you for sharing the wonderful recipe!

    However I had problems with both the fluffy filling and the frosting setting up properly. I may have used too much butter? Planing to try again soon, hopefully with more success!

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  30. What a unique cupcake. They look and sound delicious. This is my first visit toyour blog, so I took some time to browse through your earlier posts. I'm so glad I did that. I really like the recipes you share with your readers. I enjoyed the time I spent here and I definitely be back. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

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  31. These look delicious! Will the frosting hold up overnight or should it be made the day of serving. I know marshmallow fluff can be a little finicky sometimes.

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  32. I have now made these AMAZING cupcakes twice, and fowarded your blog to others who wanted the recipe. I made orange cupcake wrappers on my Silhouette and tinted the orange icing to match the color exactly. Wish I could show a picture! Thank you for creating and sharing.

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  33. @Maryanna - The marshmallow fluff will be ok the next day but I do prefer it the same day.

    @Patty - sounds adorable. Glad you liked them!

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  34. So am I the only one interested in the cocktail (Orange Fanta and Vodka)...recipe???? The cupcakes look yummy.

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  35. @ccdean - it's not much of a recipe... in a short glass, just add ice, mix one shot of whipped vodka, and fill with orange Fanta or other orange soda of your choice. Enjoy!

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  36. Oooh, I'm pinning this to make for my Dad! He LOVES orange creamsicle flavored things! :)

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  37. WHAT is citrus olive oil? do you make it?> buy it ? never seen it before !

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  38. @Becca - I bought mine but I would think you could make it as well. I actually bought my bottle while on a trip in California, but I've also seen it at stores like Williams-Sonoma. You can also order it online.

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  39. Just made this recipe for my daughter's birthday!! Doubled the recipe and used 10" cake pans instead of cupcake pans. Added some shortening to the orange buttercream to cut back the sweetness. It was delicious!!! I carved out a shallow well on both the top and bottom layers for the marshmallow filling, then iced the cake with the buttercream. Everyone loved it!! I will most definitely make this again!

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    1. Great idea - I've never made it as a cake but I think it would make a great one. You could even top it with some candied orange peels and it would be really pretty.

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  40. I made over the weekend, but used the suggestion of premade cake mix shortcut and then made the filling and icing as directed. They were DELICIOUS!

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  41. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=161474073948860&set=a.161474020615532.35015.153396494756618&type=3&theater

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  42. I made these according to the recipe and they had a wonderful flavor (!), but were very dense. Are they supposed to be?

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  43. Made these a few weeks ago for my sister's graduation party. They were so AWESOME that I am mking them again (they are in the oven right now!) but this time I substituted keylimes for the oranges!

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  44. I just made these today and they are delicious. Mine didn't come out even close to that orange. Did you add food coloring??

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  45. Thanks for the delicious recipe. My sister and I just won a family cupcake war using your recipe :)

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  46. WTF is citrus olive oil? REALLY?

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  47. Hmm, my cupcakes were not like what I am finding in the comments here. My cupcakes were dense, grainy, unfavorable, and not at all sweet - this is just the cake itself. I decided not to waste the time or ingredients on the rest of it. If the cake itself was so bad, I wasn't going to continue, because if it takes the filling and icing to compensate for the cake then the cupcake is not a good cupcake. I followed the directions to a T and the ingredients I used were top notch. It could be the baker, but I have won several awards for my baking skill, but I won't rule anything out.

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  48. I actually enjoyed the cupcake part itself, because the icing was so sweet that it made up for the lack of sweetness in the cake. It was however fairly dense. My problem was that the marshmallow filling literally tasted like sweet butter. To anyone making this-- seriously cut down on the butter in this filling. Possibly do more than 7oz. Of marshmallow and less butter. It made me want to gag! I was also disappointed in the icing. It tasted okay but was so sweet! And nothing like the color in the picture. There had to have been some food coloring in that. It wasn't orange at all actually. Cream with the shavings is all.

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    1. I didn't want to....but I have to agree. SO sweet. It was like eating sugar on top of butter on top of a cupcake. Bummer, because this looked like such a great recipe!!!

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  49. OMG these might possibly be the BEST cupcakes I have EVER had!!! My mom would not stop praising me and my brother would not stop eating the batter. I didn't have a density problem, although I did add yogurt to the heavy cream. And if that doesn't work substitute 1/4 of granulated sugar for brown sugar. Just some tips I have picked up ;). Anyhow I found the frosting amazingly delicious but unnecessary because the filling was sweet enough. Also, I split the orange zest between the frosting and batter (which was super thick). AND, you HAVE to add food coloring for an orangey color.

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