Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes are moist and fluffy and loaded up with orange and vanilla!
I’m obsessed with my orange sponge cake recipe because it is so easy to make!
Loaded with orange flavor from the chunks of whole oranges I use in the batter!
Baked into the most perfect cupcakes and then stuffed with orange marmalade and orange vanilla buttercream
Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes get the classic swirl topped icing in orange and white!
Crunchy orange cake crumbs for the finishing touch because I had some orange cake leftover from a recent cake project
But you can always sacrifice one cupcake if you wanted to get that crunchy garnish!
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Notes For Success:
Cake flour can be tricky for people who have complained their cakes come out “raw & tasteless”
This has not been my experience but if you prefer to use exclusively all purpose flour instead, take out 2 Tablespoons from the total amount of both flours
As I mentioned this is a “food processor cake” method and I am using a 14 cup capacity food processor which is more than enough to blend this recipe
However if you do not have a food processor you can puree the oranges in a blender and then mix the rest of the recipe all together by hand.
Small oranges like clementines work the best for this recipe since the skin is very thin.
If using another orange that has a thicker skin I would recommend to cut away a portion of that white pith from the inside which is what gives oranges their bitter taste
This batter bakes perfectly into cake layers too! The recipe listed below will make 3-6″ cake layers
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO TUTORIAL FOR HOW TO MAKE ORANGE CREAMSICLE CUPCAKES
Yield: 12 cupcakes
Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes
Prep Time
45 minutes
Cook Time
25 minutes
Total Time
1 hour 10 minutes
Ingredients
For the Orange Cake Batter
- Plant Milk ¾ cup (188ml) * I use soy milk
- 2-3 small clementine oranges= total weight of orange with skin on is 5oz
- **total volume measure of pureed orange with the skin on is a scant ½ cup
- Vanilla Extract 2 teaspoons (10ml)
- All Purpose Flour 1½ + 1/3 cup (230g)
- Egg Replacer * I am using Bob’s Red Mill 1½ teaspoons
- Granulated Sugar ¾ cups (150g)
- Baking Powder 3 teaspoons
- Salt ¾ teaspoon
- Vegetable Oil 9 Tablespoons (135ml)
For the Buttercream Icing:
- Vegan Butter 1½ Cups (3 sticks) (336g)
- Confectioners Sugar 3 cups (360g)
- Orange Extract 1 teaspoons *optional, you may sub in vanilla instead
- Butter Extract ½ teaspoon *optional
- Salt ¼ teaspoon
- Orange Zest from 1 large navel orange (approximately 2 teaspoons)
- Orange Color *optional as needed
- Orange Marmalade ½ cup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- First wash the skins of the oranges very well with warm water
- Next pull of the hard stem of the orange (if there are any) and check the oranges inside for seeds by slicing them in half and remove seeds if there are any.
- The skins stay on the orange, so leave that intact.
- Place all of the cake ingredients including the oranges into a food processor and processor until smooth batter (about 30 seconds)
- Scoop the batter into the paper lined cupcake tins
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for about 20minutes or when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Next prepare the orange buttercream icing: Whip the vegan butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy on medium to high speed for about 3 minutes.
- Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure it is evenly mixed and add the salt and orange zest and the extracts
- Turn the mixer speed down to low and add the sifted confectioners sugar
- Mix on low speed until all is incorporated , then scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and mix on high speed for another 3 minutes.
- Divide the icing into 2 parts and color one part orange
- Once the cupcakes are cooled hollow out the centers and put about ½ Tablespoon of orange marmalade into each one then fill with some of the orange buttercream
- Watch the YouTube video tutorial for how to fill your pastry bag to make the swirl effect and pipe the remaining buttercream on each cupcake
Notes
Store at room temperature for up to 3 days, for longer storage refrigerate for up to 1 week
