Orange Cupcakes

Name: Orange Cupcakes
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 14 min
Ingredients: 1 ½ sticks (170g) unsalted butter (softened (holds it shape but dents when pressed)); 2 cups (400g) sugar; 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract ( (4g)); 4 eggs, room temperature ((If in a hurry, place eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.)); 3 cups cake flour ((342g) (We use Swan's Down)); 2 teaspoons baking powder ((8g)); ½ teaspoon baking soda ((3g)); ½ teaspoon salt ((3g)); 1 tablespoon orange extract ((8g)); zest of two oranges; 1 cup Sour Cream (( 242g) (Full fat is best)); ⅓ cup juice from approx. one medium sized orange; ¼ cup vegetable oil ((54g) We use Canola Oil); Orange Coloring Gel (optional); 2 sticks (1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, let it sit out until slightly softened.); 2 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened ((full fat)); 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 teaspoon orange extract ((Adjust to your liking)); ½ teaspoon salt ((2g) ); 6 cups powdered sugar ((690g) (Adjust up or down to your liking)); Orange Coloring Gel (optional We used a very small amount for tinting.)

Last Updated On: January 17, 2025 | Published: January 16, 2025 by Melissa Diamond | 2 Comments

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These moist and flavorful Orange Cupcakes are simple to make and have wonderful orange flavor! If you love orange desserts, save this recipe!

Table of Contents

How to Make Orange Cupcakes

You can find the full, printable recipe at the bottom of this post. Here is a quick look at our steps!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, add paper cupcake liners to cupcake pan(s)
In a medium bowl, whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt for 30 seconds. Set aside
In another bowl, add the ⅓ cup orange juice, orange zest, vegetable oil, sour cream, vanilla extract and orange extract Set aside.
In the bowl of your mixer, add the softened butter and mix at medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and continue to mix on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes until lightened in color and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each until the yellow of the yolk has blended.
With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and wet/orange juice mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients (3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of liquid). **If adding a touch of orange coloring gel, you can do this at any time.
Mix just until incorporated. Be careful not to over-mix.

Scoop about ¼ cup bake batter into each cupcake liner (in the cupcake pans)
Bake at 350 degrees for 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just few crumbs attached. We like to remove cupcakes immediately from the pans to prevent over-baking. Baking times can vary depending on pan & oven- check at 14 minutes to be on the safe side, but it may take a few minutes more.

Makes 30-32 cupcakes (approximately ¼ cup of batter per cupcake)

Frosting the Cupcakes

Today we decided to frost our cupcakes with a delicious orange cream cheese frosting! This is such a simple and flavorful recipe with softened butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and orange extract. We used just a bit of orange coloring gel also.

Just as with most cream cheese frostings, this frosting is a bit on the softer side. If it becomes a bit too soft for decorating, just pop the piping bag or frosting bowl into to refrigerator for about 5-10 minutes to thicken.

Decorate the cupcakes however you like! You can apply the frosting with a spatula, but piping it through a disposable piping bag (or even a ziplock bag with the corner snipped away) will give you the most control.

Piping shells and stars onto the orange cupcakes with orange cream cheese frosting.

We decorated our cupcakes with simple piped shells and rosettes using a star tip 21, and added small wedges of orange here and there! Make sure to check out our tutorial for star tip piping as well as cupcake decorating basics for more ideas.

Orange Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting on a cake platter.

Recipe FAQs

Sour cream is a great recipe in cakes (as with our Lemon Sour Cream Cake, Scratch Strawberry Cupcakes, and Pink Champagne Cupcakes) as it adds richness without thinning the cake batter. It's acidity also makes for a more tender cake as it softens the strands of gluten in the cake batter.

We often use cake flour in our recipes as it contains less protein than all purpose flour. This makes for a softer, more tender cake as it results in less gluten formation in the cake batter.

Yes! Just as with the majority our cakes and cupcakes, (from butter pecan cupcakes to red velvet cupcakes, lemon velvet cake and more), these cupcakes can easily be frozen. They will stay fresh for up to three months!

After baking and cooling the orange cupcakes, line them up in rows on a sheet cake board or tray. Wrap in a sheet or two of plastic wrap and then wrap tightly in foil. Pop them in the freezer.

To thaw, move the cupcakes (still wrapped) to the kitchen counter. After about 20 minutes or so, loosen or remove the wrapping until ready to frost.

Yes, because of the orange cream cheese frosting, these cupcakes need to be refrigerated in an airtight container, under a cake dome, or sealed bakery box. However, for the very best flavor and texture, remove from the refrigerator a couple of hours before serving. This will allow time for the cupcakes to warm and soften.

2 Comments

MsGF says:

January 17, 2025 at 3:54 am

They look fantastic! I love orange :-) Very pretty too!

Reply
1. Melissa Diamond says:
  
  January 17, 2025 at 10:28 am
  
  Thank you Teri! :0)
  
  Reply