phillie foodnatic: Creamcicle Cupcakes

One of my besties, Jessica, decided it was time to have a girls night, we had gone way too long without one. Out at happy hour (a couple of drinks in) we set the date and to our surprise, remembered it! Probably because we instantly put it into our phones and contacted Jen to make sure she was able to attend that day, too. Our date was set and then the wheels started turning...what am I going to make?! We were going to do our typical wine and pizza night (classy, right?!) so, the only thing we were missing was dessert! I wanted to try something new and came up with this recipe. It was a complete gamble but, it turned out really well!

The cupcake is a vanilla and orange icing swirl with orange cake. I took some help from the store by using boxed cake and spicing it up a bit! They were a HUGE hit! I made mini cupcakes because I like the idea of having two and not feeling too guilty :) Plus, you can spread the love more. Mike had boys over for poker night when I was icing them so, they had a few, I took some to work, some to girls night and the rest to my mom. That's a lot of love being shared!

What you need:

Cake

1 box of yellow cake mix
1 c orange juice
1/4 c veggie oil (or what the instructions on the box says)
3 eggs (or what the instructions on the box says
1 tsp orange extract

Icing

8 tbs butter (one stick)
4-4 1/2 c powder sugar
1 tsp orange extract
1 tsp orange zest
2 tbs orange juice
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbs milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. To get the orange flavor into the classic yellow cake you replace the water with orange juice. Follow the rest of the directions as they instruct on you particular cake mix. Add the oil to the cake powder...

Orange juice...

eggs and the orange extract.

and mix until smooth.

Use a spatula and scrap down the sides to get loose any dry ingredients that are being stubborn.

Pour into paper lined cupcake pans either, small or regular size. I use a measuring cup to pour into the small cups, it helps cut down on the mess (I need all the help I can get!).

Bake as directed per the box, turning once during the cooking process. When a toothpick comes out clean, they are done!

Let the cupcakes cool completely before icing. The icing is a two part step and I got caught up in some moments and forgot to take pictures. I'm sorry for the steps I missed! What you do is make an orange icing and a vanilla icing and you swirl them together using a pastry bag.

To make the orange flavor place 4 tbs of room temperature butter in the mixing bowl and beat until creamed.

add in the orange juice...

the orange extract and the orange zest. Whip until blended.

With the blender on low, slowly add 2 1/4 c and mix until completely mixed in.

If the icing is too thick, add more orange juice. If the icing is too thin, add more sugar. Make it the consistency you like.

For the orange flavor, I added food coloring to make it an orange color.

Now that that is all done, we get to do it all over again! Clean out your mixing bowl, put the delicious orange icing in a bowl and set aside. For the vanilla icing, cream the other 4 tbs of the butter add in vanilla extract and the milk. Mix completely and add 2 1/4 c powdered sugar to the mix.

Using a pastry bag, put the orange on one side and the vanilla on the other side. Don't try to make it perfect, it all gets swirled together anyway. When the cupcakes are cooled, pipe the icing on top. I used a star tip, start around the outside and worked my way to the center.

This picture doesn't do it justice but, the color swirl on top looks really cute and really tasty! I couldn't help myself...

When I took them to work, they disappeared. Jenny Butler ate 5 in one day! But, if anyone can afford eating that many it is her, she has zero body fat, crossfitter to the core. She also skipped lunch so she could eat more. Those are the things that make you feel good! Then it was time for girl's night!