Orange Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting


After my heart breaking moment of losing Tastespotting I am back and ready to blog. I found a new version of Tastespotting called Food Gawker thanks to HoneyB. And the format looks very similar, although I still miss my Tastespotting I hope that Food Gawker can fill the void. So I am making a few recipes today so that I can do my part to help fill the void. I am still trying out combinations and ideas for the twin's birthday party. So here is another trial and I'm sure everyone is tired of me making cupcakes but I promise once I have the menu for the party nailed down I'll stop with the cupcakes for a while. But these just screamed summer to me. According to P these are pretty good and the frosting has a nice strawberry flavor. I can tell you that the cake is really nice but alas I am allergic to strawberries so you will just have to take P's word on the frosting. The cake is nice and light and the orange flavor has a nice bite to it. Its really light and refreshing and the strawberry flavor on the cream cheese frosting compliments it really well. If you have a summer BBQ to go to I think these would be great! I also entered these in the Strawberry Moon Festival. Head on over to check out what everyone did.

Orange Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake Ingredients -
3 1/4 cups of cake flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups of sugar
Zest of 2 Oranges
3 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups of heavy cream


Frosting Ingredients -
12 oz of cream cheese, softened
4 oz of unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons of heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cup of Strawberry Sauce - See below for instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In the bowl of a mixer beat the butter until creamy. Slowly add in the sugar and mix at high speed until light. Reduce the speed to low and add in the eggs and egg yolks one at a time. Make sure to mix well after each addition and scrape down the sides as needed. Add in the vanilla extract and stir to combine. Add in the flour mixture in 3 additions alternating with the heavy cream. With the last addition of the flour mix until it is just incorporated. Fill each liner about 3/4 of the way. Bake for 14-17 minutes or until the cakes have puffed up and they are lightly golden. Cool on a rack in the pans for 10 minutes then remove from the pans and let completely cool on the racks.

For the Strawberry Sauce

14 oz of Fresh Strawberries, quartered
Juice of one Orange

Put the strawberries and orange juice in a small sauce pan and cook over medium heat. Smash the fruit with a wooden spoon that you don't care about staining. Cook until the fruit has released most of its juice. Pour the strawberries into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture into a sieve and work the mixture through the sieve until only the seeds and pulp remain. You might have to scrape the bottom of the sieve so that you can push more through as towards the end its gets thicker. I pour my strained mixture into a squeeze bottle but a pitcher or measuring cup will do just fine.

For the frosting -
Cream together the cream cheese and the butter until they are light and fluffy. Then add in the heavy cream and vanilla extract and stir to combine. Sift in the powdered sugar in 3 additions making sure to mix well after each addition. Add in about 1/2 cup of strawberry sauce and mix to combine. Set this aside to chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. Then place about a tablespoon of frosting on each cupcake smooth a nice layer all over the cake.

Cupcakes are adapted from Tish Boyle's The Cake Book, Basic Golden Cake.
Frosting is adapted from Carole Bloom's The Essential Baker, Cream Cheese Frosting.

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