Name: Blood Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes #SpringSweetsWeek
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 2 1/2 c. flour; 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 c. 1 stick butter, softened; 1 c. sugar; 2 eggs; 2 blood oranges (zested and juiced); 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste; 1 c. milk; 1 c. 2 sticks butter, soften; 4 c. powdered sugar; 2-3 Tablespoons milk; 2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste; 1 blood orange (juiced); sprinkles

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Lightly flavored blood orange and vanilla cupcakes topped off with a swirl of orange and vanilla buttercream frosting make a pretty and delicious Blood Orange Creamsicle Cupcake.

This post is sponsored in conjunction with #SpringSweetsWeek. I received product samples from sponsor companies to help in the creation of the #SpringSweetsWeek recipes. All opinions are mine alone.

I look forward to citrus season every year. While we can get citrus all year long it’s definitely best between December and March. I look forward to getting Meyer lemons, Blood oranges, and grapefruit in the cold winter months.

Blood oranges are perhaps one of my favorite winter citrus fruits. Not only do I love the gorgeous deep red color of the orange but I enjoy the hints of sweetness and raspberries in the orange as well. While I like eating them for a snack I also really enjoy baking with them.

I originally saw a recipe for Orange Creamisicle Cupcakes and thought it sounded so good. Whenever I think of a creamsicle it makes me think of the orange and white popsicles that I used to eat as a kid.

I had just received a produce shipment from Melissa’s Produce and it had both Cara Cara oranges and blood oranges in it. Since I absolutely adore blood oranges in baking I decided to give the creamsicle a bit of a twist and made Blood Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes.

Ingredients:

flour
baking powder
salt
butter
sugar (I used Dixie Crystals)
eggs
blood oranges
Vanilla Bean paste (I used Taylor & Colledge)
milk
powdered sugar (I used Dixie Crystals)
sprinkles

To Make the Cupcakes: Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl combine the butter, sugar, eggs, orange zest, orange juice, and vanilla bean paste and mix well. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture along with the milk and mix until just combined.

To Bake the Cupcakes: Fill the muffin tins 3/4 of the way full and bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

To Make the Frosting: Combine the butter, powdered sugar, and milk in a bowl. Mix with a mixer until smooth. Divide the frosting into two bowls. Flavor one with the fresh blood orange juice and the other with vanilla bean paste.

To Decorate the Cupcakes: Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes in a swirl pattern. Top with sprinkles.

The cupcakes themselves have both blood orange zest and juice in them so it gives the actual cupcake a nice orange flavor. I then added in plenty of Taylor & Colledge vanilla bean paste to give it to vanilla cream flavor.

Once the cupcakes were cooled I started on the frosting. This is where I got a little creative. I made one buttercream base with butter, Dixie Crystals powdered sugar, and a bit of milk and then divided it in half. I flavored the first half with the vanilla bean paste.

The other half I use fresh blood orange juice to flavor. That also gave the frosting its color. Since blood oranges are red inside the frosting had a pink color to it instead of the orange that you might expect.

I put both colors into a piping bag which produced an awesome pink and white swirl on top of my cupcakes. I was going to leave them as they were but I had these really pretty Crown Jewels sprinkles from Sweets & Treats that just worked with these cupcakes. They are pale pink, white, and gold and looked amazing.

What is a blood orange?

A blood orange is an orange that has a deep crimson colored flesh. It is an orange that has notes of raspberry in it. They are sweet and less acidic than regular oranges. Their juice is a deep pink color.

Can I use regular oranges instead of blood oranges?

You can. It will give the cupcake and the frosting a slightly different flavor but will work just as well. The frosting will be a different color as the blood orange frosting has a pinkish color and the regular orange frosting will be mostly white with a pale orange color. Feel free to add a drop or two of orange food coloring to the orange frosting if you use regular oranges.

How do I zest an orange?

Citrus zest is the colored outside portion of the peel. Because of the natural oils in it the peel and zest hold a ton of citrus flavor in them.

When zesting an orange make sure you only zest the orange colored peel and not the white part underneath the skin because the white part is very bitter. There is an actual zester you can buy at the store to zest citrus fruit. To use it you hold the handle in one hand and place the other edge on a hard surface then quickly move the orange back and forth over the holes in the zester to produce the zest.

If you don’t have a zester you can use a vegetable peeler in a pinch. Carefully peel long strips of the peel from the orange. Then take a sharp chef’s knife and chop into tiny pieces. This isn’t ideal but it will work. You can also use a box grater. Turn it to the side with the super tiny holes and run the orange back and forth over it. You may need to scrape the zest from the inside of the box grater.

I couldn’t wait to taste the cupcakes but they looked so pretty I was almost afraid to bit into them! I gave them a try and it was perfection.

The cake is lightly flavored with vanilla and orange. It had a nice crumb to it and held up well to the frosting. Then the frosting was so good. It was sweet and vanilla on half and tart and orange on the other. The whole thing tasted like a good Creamsicle.

These cupcakes not only taste great they are gorgeous too. I could totally see them being served at a baby or bridal shower or just for a fun birthday party.

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