Fluffy, moist and light orange cupcake recipe with sweet orange scent topped with fresh orange frosting. And the taste? 10527x better than gulping a tall glass of orange juice. No, I am serious!
It is raining oranges on my blog lately. And does this surprise you??? You are so aware of my love for bright and citrusy flavors by now. This orange cake is one of the most loved recipes on my blog. We are so alike when it comes to flavoring our cakes.
The orange cupcakes today are bursting with sweet and tangy orange flavors.So light and buttery; soft and springy. And the fresh orange frosting over them will make the fluffiest clouds in the sky a little jealous!
Ingredients for orange cupcake recipe
We will begin by sifting our usual dry ingredients. Creaming our room temperature butter and sugar, to yield soft, buttery and fluffy cupcakes.
To make our moist orange cupcakes even more fluffier and more moist than ever, we are using sour cream. It is known to lighten up the crumb of the cake considerably. You may substitute sour cream with yogurt. But I recommend sour cream for best results.
And I can’t stress this one enough. We will beat our egg whites separately (till soft peaks stage) to give that springy texture to our bake. You can’t afford to skip this step. We will fold egg whites in the batter, alternating them with our dry ingredients.
I baked 12 slightly larger cupcakes with this recipe. I liked them this way as they came out with super flat tops. You can bake 14-15 good sized cupcakes instead if you desire.
Texture of these fresh orange cupcakes
I will let this next picture speak for itself first!
And for this light and cotton soft texture, the major credit goes to our egg whites (whipped separately). Second close, in producing a soft and a moist orange cupcake is our sour cream.
You add them both as mentioned in the recipe and these cupcakes with orange frosting will be the talk of the town!
Oh and I almost forgot to sing the praises of my orange frosting. 😉 This is one light, fluffy and smooth orange buttercream frosting with citrus undertones you will love! I have used both orange zest and just enough orange juice in the frosting. This will intensify the flavor in our orange buttercream without liquefying it.
Sweet and orange-y, flavor packed and Perfectly pipeable. Uh uh! Get your fingers off of that mixing bowl.
Love my orange flavored cupcakes? Then you must try my super high rising muffins infused with orange flavor!
Orange cupcake recipe with orange frosting
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups (163g) All purpose flour
- 3/4 cups (155g) Granulated Sugar
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 2 large Egg whites (at Room temperature)
- 3/4 cups (57g) Sour cream (at Room temperature)
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 6 Tbsp (84 gms) Butter (unsalted, at Room temperature)
- 1/4 Cup Milk (full fat, at Room temperature)
- 1 Tbsp Water
- 3 Tbsp Orange juice
- 1 Tbsp Orange zest
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
Orange Buttercream Frosting
- 1 Cup (224g) unsalted butter (softened to room temp)
- 4 Cups (460g) powdered sugar
- 3-4 Tbsp Orange Juice
- 1/2 Tbsp Orange Zest (Finely grated)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C) and line your muffin pans with liners. You will need two pans if you are baking 14 cupcakes. Sift the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt) together and set aside.
- Add egg whites in a clean mixing bowl. Beat for about a minute until frothy using a handheld or stand mixture and the balloon whisk attachment. Add half of the sugar, pouring a tablespoon at a time and whisking till the whites reach soft peak stage.
- In a handheld or stand mixer (fitted with a paddle attachment) beat butter for about a minute. Add sugar and beat on high for about 3 minutes. The mixture will be light and creamy. Add half of the dry ingredients and pour in sour cream, milk, vanilla extract, water, orange juice and zest and mix well to combine.
- Now fold in half of the meringue using a spatula. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients and fold in the rest of meringue. Take care not to over mix the batter at this stage.
- Pour batter in the cupcake liners and bake for about 15-17 minutes. Or until they pass the toothpick test. Let the cupcakes cool completely at room temperature before frosting.
For Orange Buttercream Frosting-
- Beat the room temperature butter on high with a whisk attachment for about two minutes. Add a cup of sugar and beat well until creamy and combined. Add another cup of sugar and beat well.
- Now add the orange zest, a tbsp of juice and another cup of sugar and whisk to incorporate well.
- Add in the last batch of sugar and the remaining amount of orange juice as required for the right consistency. Continue to beat well till the buttercream gets a smooth, silky and pipeable .
- Pipe on the cooled cupcakes and decorate with raspberries and a mint sprig or as you please.
Notes
- You may replace sour cream with greek yogurt if you wish. But this affects the soft texture of this cupcakes to some extent. Greek yogurt makes them a little dense.
- I recommend using freshly squeezed orange juice for that real orange flavor in these cupcakes.
- If you wish to bake a slightly large cupcakes then bake this recipe in 12 cupcake liners.
- You can make your cupcakes a day in advance. Store them at room temp, covering tightly. Same way cream cheese frosting can be made a day or 2 in advance. Store it in the refrigerator.
- Any leftovers will keep for a day at room temperature.
- For longer storage, I prefer to keep them in the refrigerator (for 3-4 days).
- Unfrosted cupcakes can be frozen for about 2 months. Thaw completely before frosting.
Nutrition
This orange cupcake recipe is adapted from lovelifeandsugar.com with some changes in the process.
I did try the cupcakes yesterday it was just awesome. Loved by everyone in the family.
Next time will try the frosting too.
Thank you for the lovely recipe. 🙂
Gday from New Zealand! This orange buttercream is amazing! I used it on my husband’s birthday cake which was chocolate cake! So dreamy paired together! Thanks for the recipe!
From Jessica
So Happy to know you liked it Jessica!
That looks really good! I love anything citrus!
I could eat this icing all by itself. It sounds so delicious, especially when you pair it with the orange cake.
Um…. Yes please! I’d make these right now if I knew that I wasn’t the only one who would eat them. Picky kids and husband.
Thank you so much for sharing those awesome strategies. I will definitely try that. I want to taste that Orange cupcakes.
You’re so right about the egg whites tho! It really makes the cake fluffy and airy! This recipe sounds delish!
xoxo
Annie
I no longer buy cake mix as making cupcakes is so easy. I need to try this recipe.
These look so good, I can’t wait to make them. I usually stick with the traditional vanilla frosting so my husband will be so surprised when I make them. Thank you for sharing.
The orange in desserts is really a mustache-licking ingredient! Yummy how wonderful!
Orange on ORANGE! GIVE IT TO ME baby!! 🙂
Hi Neha,another great recipe. Can I substitute greek yoghurt or cream for the sour cream? Thank you in advance Kathy
Thanks Kathy! You sure can substitute greek yogurt in this recipe. But sour cream yields the fluffiest cupcakes. Hope you enjoy this recipe.
Easy and wonderful recipe. My cupcakes turned out so moist and the frosting was so good, sturdy and smooth!
Yayyy! Great to know Nathalia.
These look delicious Neha. Orange is such a delicious flavour to incorporate in baking. I can’t recall having it an orange cupcake before though, so this is something I must try. BTW your frosting looks absolutely amazing!
So true Neil! Orange imparts a great deal of moisture and pack a ton of flavor in these cupcakes. Oh and yes! Frosting is the best part. You will absolutely love it!
Neha, like you, I’m all about the citrus right now! These orange cupcakes look and sound divine! Thanks for the recipe!
These taste divine too. 😉 Thanks for stopping by Laura!
Dear Neha, frosting is so beautiful ! I have to practice much, much more to make it that perfect ! Thank you and enjoy the week end !
So kind of you! Happy weekend to you as well!
That looks so good, Neha. I love your sweets and this is perfect for spring!
So true. These are indeed bright and cheerful. Thanks for stopping by!
YUMMMMM!!! I can taste it from looking at your pictures! Have a great weekend!
Pleased to hear that. 🙂
Have never had an orange flavored cupcake , it must taste great! Nice photographs!
They taste delicious. You need to try these out. 🙂
Sure Neha, I am definitely saving this one!
wow that frosting looks so perfect!
Thanks Angie!