Orange Cream Cupcakes

I really like the combination of fresh orange and sweet vanilla cream.  In fact, there is a popular ice cream treat that combines these two, as well as a popular drink.  I decided to try my hand at making a cup cake version of this.

I used the key lime cupcake recipe from Bon Appetit, but instead of using lime juice and zest, I used the zest and juice of an orange.

Beat 1 stick of butter until fluffy.

Beat in 1 cup of white sugar until combined, then beat in 2 eggs one at a time.

Next beat in 2 1/2 Tbsp of orange juice and 1 tsp of orange zest.

It will look a bit curdled, but that's ok.

Next we're going to alternate mixing in 1 3/4 cup of flour and 1 tsp each of baking powder and soda, with 3/4 cup of buttermilk.  You should get three additions of the dry with 2 of the wet.

Once this is combined, mix in 10 drops of yellow food coloring with 3 drops of red.

Makes it look like sherbet.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

Take out and let cool.

Now for the "cream" in this equation.  I made a cream cheese frosting (clearly my favorite type) with lots of vanilla!

Once these cakes are cooled, you can ice them how you like.

And for a nice touch, I used orange zest to top each cupcake.

Enjoy!