Wednesday 31 January 2007

Triple Orange Cupcakes

It is really nice to have a friend who shares the common interests with you.

A few weeks ago, I went with my friend to shop for baking supplies. I really don't think it is a common thing that friends will do together right? shopping together at baking supply stores?? Most of my friends hardly even cook! Besides sharing notes and tips, we could even share ingredients! We bought these very cute looking orange candies from one of the stores, without having any idea what we are going to do with them. Since Chinese New Year is approaching, I thought I could make something to fit the festive mood.

After browsing through several cookbooks, I came out with the idea of making these triple orange cupcakes. The cakes are made with orange juice and zest, glazed with a thin layer of orange icing and finally topped with the orange candies. I followed the ingredients based on a vanilla cupcake from the cookbook, "Gorgeous Cakes" by Annie Bell. I added in orange juice and zest to the recipe to give the orange flavour. I didn't follow the steps stated in the recipe, instead I used the usual creaming method that I would for cakes and muffins. The cupcakes turn out to be very nice...the texture is just right...soft, crumbly, just like a butter cake. The boys had a good time licking up the icing and candies!

Ingredients:
(makes 8 cupcakes)

110g butter, softened at room temperature
110g caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
110g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoon orange juice

Icing: 50g icing sugar, 1 ~ 2 tablespoon orange juice
Orange candies

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degC.
  2. Place butter, sugar and orange zest in a mixing bowl. Whisk with an electric mixer till mixture becomes white and fluffy.
  3. Add in eggs gradually and whisk until well combined after each addition.
  4. Sift flour and baking powder, add to the butter mixture and stir with a spatula gently. Add in the orange juice and stir till just incorporated.
  5. Spoon batter into cupcake liners and bake for 17 to 20 mins. Remove and leave to cool.
  6. To make the icing, sift the icing sugar and blend with the orange juice. (Blend in the orange juice a little at a time to achieve the desired consistency). Smooth a heaped teaspoon of icing on each cake, but don't worry about completely covering. Top with candied oranges. Leave to set for about 1 hour.

15 comments:

Anne said...

They are so pretty! Cute little orange candies :)

Anonymous said...

Hi HomeBaker,

The cupcakes are a lovely bunch...

Do we need to leave the cupcakes with the icing to set in the fridge?

Thanks & Regards,
Madeline

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Madeline, thanks! It is not necessary to leave the cupcakes in the fridge to set.

Anonymous said...

Hi Homebaker,

Thank u for this recipe.

I used this recipe for my son's year-end party. The cupcakes were well-received by the kids. Instead of the candied orange, I decorated with Rainbow nonpareils sprinkles.

Regards
Madeline

Stef said...

The orange candies look so cute on these cupcakes!

Anonymous said...

Those cupcakes look so pretty. I love your simple decoration.

Anonymous said...

What is
Finely grated zest of 1 orange ?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Tasmin, orange zest, which is same as lemon zest is the orange outer skin of an orange. You can read about it here: http://whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/LemonZest.htm

Anonymous said...

Er can i replaced it with other thing? I dont have a grater..

Anonymous said...

Urms maybe i know where did you purchase your orange candie?

Anonymous said...

I check some video on youtube and i seen they use buttercream for all piping so i was wondering if i could use whipped topping for the piping as buttercream is too sweet

Anonymous said...

HIIE!! I just tried out the cupcakes but it seems i put too much mixture in some cupcake and some i put too little.Well it turn out find and here are some pictures

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw0iNAX00zA

I followed the recipe for the cupcake but i didnt use the icing i used some non dairy whip topping instead

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Tasmin, I bought the candies two years ago from supermart...but I have not seen it lately. You can always use non-dairy whipping cream to top the cupcakes.

Anonymous said...

Urms hi! Sorry for the misunderstanding i posted the wrong links for my photos >< http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t33/angelirku/IMG_0496.jpg

That's the correct 1 .
I have some question here too.
Can i cut down the amount of sugar?Because i want to make some for my grandmother but my mom say she shouldnt take too much sweet stuffs...and i think the cake is kinda sweet as well..so can i cut down the amount of sugar if can...how much should i cut down by?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Tasmin, I am sorry I do not know how much sugar you can reduce. Maybe you can look for other recipes that use less sugar? It is best to follow any baking recipes closely as baking is a Science, the amount of ingredients will affect the outcome of the bakes...not just on the sweetnesss, it may affect the texture, etc.