April Baking: Orange Cupcakes

I had planned something completely different to bake for April... but it didn't work out. I'm going to try it again next month... but first I want to share with you what I successfully baked in April for my 2011 To-Do List....

Orange Cupcakes

I made these for Easter Sunday... because they looked pretty, and were really Spring-y, and I thought they'd go over well at a family party.  The kick, as I'm sure you can see, is that the orange cupcake batter is baked inside of orange peels! It was really fun to make - and opens up endless possibilities for baking (Lemonade Lavender cakes, anyone?)

I found the original recipe through Pinterest... and it's actually from a French website. So have your Google translator handy if you want to check out the original post.

So, here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

• ½ cup butter
• ¾ cup sugar
• Zest of 2 oranges
• 2 eggs
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ½ teaspoon orange essence (optional)
• 1 ½ cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• ¼ cup milk
• ¼ cup orange juice

• 6 oranges, halved cored (12 skins)

Icing

• 1 package cream cheese (Philadelphia type)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ½ to 2 cups powdered sugar (or more to taste)
• Orange peel, flake colored sugar, etc..(Optional)

For the cupcakes: In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar and orange zest until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add vanilla, orange essence and eggs if used one at a time, beating one minute after each addition. Add dry ingredients to liquid ingredients in three stages, alternating with milk and orange juice and taking care of starting and ending with dry ingredients. Divide everything equally in the 12 orange peels and put in recessed cavities of a muffin pan. Bake on center rack at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

For icing: Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes. Add orange juice concentrate and vanilla and beat well again. Add the sugar a little at a time until desired consistency. Frost the cupcakes with a spatula or pastry bag and decorate with orange peel, flake colored sugar, candy or other, to taste.

This is what our plate ended up looking like. We died the icing a little
orange, and added some yellow sprinkles on top for smiles :)

Here's what the "professional" cupcakes looked like:

(they're a little prettier than mine)