Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes


Last weekend I found the most adorable cupcake liners! The sweet little, fluted orange cups caught my eye immediately.

So I'm standing there in the baking store, holding paper liners and slipping quickly into the food blogger trance of doom... must... make... orange creamsicle cupcakes.

Oh yes.

So I baked them last weekend and they lasted roughly 5 minutes. I admit to eating way more than reasonable. It was a total slip in my generally reserved approach to baked goodies. Now I have to go work out to make up for the extra calories. By my calculations I need to spend roughly a month on the treadmill to break even.



So, for these cupcakes I used an orange bakery emulsion. Generally, this isn't something you can find at your local grocery store, but you can order them online and find them in specialty baking shops. You use them like extracts, but unlike the alcohol based extracts, the flavor they impart will not bake out.

They are absolutely wonderful, I reach for my emulsions far more often than I do my extracts. They make an almond emulsion that makes my pound cake bliss...

...

Darn that trance!


Anyway, before I ramble further on about individual ingredients, let's get to the cupcakes.




Not So Humble Orange Creamsicle Cake
yields 24 standard cup cakes, a 9x13" cake or 2 8" rounds
3 large egg whites, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon orange gel coloring
1 1/2 teaspoon orange emulsion
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
200 grams all purpose flour
200 grams granulated sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (58 grams) canola oil
1/4 cup (57 grams) (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (115 grams) sour cream

Preheat your oven to 350°F with a rack placed in the lower third of the oven.

Prep your pans with cupcakes liners (or if baking a cake, use parchment and nonstick spray).

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder and set aside.

In a second bowl gently mix the egg whites, orange gel coloring, orange emulsion and vanilla. You don't want to over beat the eggs, just make the mixture uniform.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the butter and oil with the paddle attachment for about a minute on medium speed. The mixture won't be completely smooth, so don't worry about little bits of butter suspended in oil.

Add the sour cream and mix to combine. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until the ingredients are moistened and crumbly. Add half of the egg mixture to the flour and beat on low for 20 seconds until moistened and then beat on medium high speed for 40 seconds. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, then add the remaining egg mixture and beat on medium high speed for 40 seconds.

Divide the batter into your cupcakes (or pans if using), filling each cup halfway.

Bake for 20-25 minutes for standard cupcakes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

If you're baking the 9x13" or the 8" rounds, allow 5-10 more minutes. Also
this is very moist, delicate cake, so be careful when checking on the cakes. I usually don't pull my cakes out on the oven rack, as too much jostling of the pan before the center has set could cause the cake to fall. I just stick my hand into the oven and touch the center of the cake. If it springs back, it is done and you can pull the cake out carefully.

Frosting is flexible. For the layer cake I made today I used a regular vanilla butter cream. On the cupcakes I used a white chocolate cream cheese frosting. Feel free to use your favorite creamy vanilla frosting, I can't think of a single type that wouldn't pair well with this cake.



If you want the frosting shown above, no worries I'll post it.

Rose's White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
adapted from Rose's Heavenly Cakes
yields 2 cups frosting, you'll need to double this if you're planning on loading on the frosting or doing a layer cake.
6 ounces white chocolate
8 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 tablespoon sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt the white chocolate, either in the microwave or over a double boiler. Set aside until no longer warm to the touch.

In your food processor, beat the cream cheese, butter and sour cream until smooth. Scrape down the sides and add the cooled white chocolate. Blend until the chocolate until incorporated and then pulse in the vanilla.

For a firmer frosting place in the refrigerator for roughly 30 minutes, until it reaches the desired consistency.


Oh and if you like the mini cupcake liners too, I'm so sorry but I wasn't able to find them online. I did find the standard-sized version of the cupcake liner here though: Pastel Fluted Baking Cups

@ Mr. Humble: So, how about a nice four layer orange cream cake for dinner? Or are you going to insist on 'real food' again?



You know, there is a pound of butter in that photo, seems pretty 'real' to me.

33 comments:

  1. lol a trance. been there way too many times. now I must have these cupcake liners. where did you find them?

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  2. lol.... my mother used to eat sticks of butter, so she'd agree...

    they look and sound heavenly.

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  3. I'm going to make these tonight! And you can get them online here:

    http://www.etsy.com/shop/CupcakeSocial

    Maybe you can buy the set and do pineapple and lime too! Tropical, I love your blog!

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  4. I would eat your cake for dinner.

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  5. Ah - real food vs. dessert for supper. I'd love to just be irresponsible today too! (Though anything I'd be able to whip up before supper would not be as fabulous as your orange cake!)

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  6. Um...WHAT? orange creamsicle cupcakes? Why have I never thought of those? They sound amazing and are so beautiful too!! I must bookmark immediately!

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  7. Gorgeous! I love those liners as well!!

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  8. So pretty! I love citrus flavored everything! :)

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  9. They look amazing! I have seen liners like that before and resisted, but never thought about making the connection between colour and flavour. I feel I have missed a trick.

    I know that recipe is going to be amazing btw - I am a rcent convert to whites only baking. (Relax - I am talking about eggs!)

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  10. I absolutely love your photos! I just want to reach into my lap top and grab a bite!

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  11. Great photos, I can taste them just looking at their creamy orange goodness, I think I just gained 5 pounds from mentally eating them too!

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  12. such a pretty post & your styling is wonderful

    emulsions...interesting!
    your cupcakes...perfection!
    that layer cake...mighty tempting!
    treadmill...a definite!

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  13. Wait . . . Mr. Humble says YOU are insisting on real food? Did you realize that he has come over to your side on this baking thing? He just gave you permission to not cook anything but sweets! Well, the little Humble might need a few nutrients to grow up tall and strong. But the two of you can just live on cake!

    These look fantastic. Methinks a little trip to Sur La Table is in order this weekend...

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  14. Oh no, that was directed AT Mr. Humble.

    Just taunting my husband, as per usual.

    He has been teasing me lately for not having any normal food ready when he gets home from work.

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  15. Those look too good. I'm making me a batch tomorrow. Maybe add that filling you put together for the erzatz "Hostess" cupcakes.

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  16. Those look like little exotic flowers!! The cake would look like a giant exotic flower... Mmmhmm, I'm already imagining a giant cake covered in little cupcakes..... :)

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  17. Wow, these look great. Could you use orange zest instead of the emulsion? I have the tiniest kitchen in the world and I don't have room for things like bottles of emulsion!!

    Also, do you know of a reliable ingredients weight converter? Being in the UK, we don't use cups to measure ingredients, so I'm not sure what this converts to in either weight or volume. Thanks!

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  18. Ms Humble, is there really only 6 grams of white chocolate in the icing?

    Looks utterly divine. I've been reading your blogs for the past week and as I have tomorrow off, I'm going to head to my nearest kitchenware shop and go nuts on the cookie cutters and icing bags... etc... Your presentation has already inspired me to make a pavlova with rosewater cream and fresh raspberries. Yum!

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  19. Look! There's a cake stand...one down, 7 more to go :) And cake for dinner sounds pretty "real food" to me.

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  20. Helen,

    I would substitute orange extract for the orange emulsion. You could use zest, but it alone will not replicate the flavor.

    I will update the recipe and add additional weight info for the liquid ingredients in grams.

    Katie,

    Yes, only 6 ounc...grams?! Oops! That should be ounces. Thanks, I need to change that.

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  21. My mouth is watering. I wonder if chocolate Special K will distract me... I'm guessing not.

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  22. Creamsicle cupcakes? Sign me up! Great job on the layer cake; it's gorgeous and perfectly frosted :)

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  23. Um, yes, please! I'll take the entire cake and cupcakes!! Wow.

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  24. Thanks! Think I'm going to have a go at these at the weekend, and might just make some of your wonderful looking Arancini too!

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  25. I am cohosting a bridal shower in May featuring cupcakes as the main dessert and incorporating them into the table centerpieces. I'm gonna hang out here for a while and hope for more cupcake ideas!

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  26. What beautiful photos! I bet these cupcakes are so refreshing and delicious! That frosting on top looks amazing, I think I could eat an entire bowl of that stuff :)

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  27. What a dreamy cupcake! The pics are so beautiful I love that the cupcakes are sitting atop an orange! I can't wait to try this recipe, thanks for sharing it!

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  28. Made this as a layer cake tonight. Sandwiched it between two french vanilla with a hint of orange cakes, iced with cream cheese frosting, and a layer of fresh strawberries between each cake. I know Ms. Humble abhors strawberries, but it turned out fab.

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  29. But that is real food!
    I eat cake for dinner.
    Nothing wrong with that hun.

    <3

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  30. I made these cupcakes this past weekend and love, love, love them!! I can't believe how much they taste like an orange creamsicle. Thanks for sharing :)

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  31. i've seen these cupcake liners at bakeitpretty.com before, i think they still have them too!

    this looks divine, i have to have them. Going hunting for orange emulsion at my local baking supply store tomorrow!!

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