Orange Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Orange Frosting are an amazing take on white cupcakes. The orange flavor is subtle in the cupcake and a bit bolder in the frosting.
I love white cake. There is something pure, delicate and simple about it. Yet somehow, white cake means special occasions – birthdays, weddings, baby showers. These orange cupcakes are really just white cupcakes with a delicate orange twist.
The big orange flavor comes from the cream cheese orange frosting. They are perfect any time of year, but especially appropriate in the winter when citrus is at its best, or in the spring, when the fruity flavor just shouts that warmer weather is here to stay a while.
White cake is a little tricky to get moist and delicate and still keep it that glorious, pure white color. I experimented with a lot of combinations and recipes and the one I finally settled on is adapted from The First Year Blog.
The only change I made was to add orange extract to give my cupcakes a hint of subtle orange flavor. I then adjusted the other liquid (milk) to keep the total amount of liquids the same.
Her recipe says it will make 12 cupcakes. I actually got 14 from mine. When piping a good bit of frosting on top you don’t want a tall, domed cupcake so I only filled my cupcake liners 2/3 full. If you don’t plan to pipe your frosting on fairly high you can fill the liners 3/4 full and make only 12.
Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
What a fun and mouthwatering frosting! Around here we love, love, love anything with cream cheese in it. You can easily tell by the dishes we create using it. Our Mini Chocolate Chip Cheesecakes are a fine example as is our Smoked Fish Dip (Beach Bar Style). But, frosting with cream cheese is really the crowning glory of cream cheese recipes – the icing on the cake!
I made this frosting the night before I put it on the cupcakes. It refrigerated overnight and then I had to let it come to room temperature or it wouldn’t have piped or spread easily.
The time those ingredients spent together just made for a fabulous frosting. The orange flavor really pops! If you don’t have time for that it’s still going to be a a wonderful frosting, but if you do, why not give it a whirl?
If you love unique frosting flavors you’ll also want to check out our Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Frosting. It goes great on fall treats like cupcakes, cookies and sheetcakes.
Several Ways to Frost Your Cupcakes
You can certainly frost your cupcakes the simple, old fashioned way and just spread the icing on with a knife or small spatula.
If you want that “piped” on look, but don’t have piping bags or tips you can always add the frosting to a baggie and cut off one corner. I’ve used that method plenty of times for filling deviled eggs (like our extra special Bacon Jalapeno Deviled Eggs), frosting cupcakes or decorating anything with whipped cream.
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I used a Wilton 1M decorating tip for making these cupcakes. A 12 inch decorating bag was just right for holding this amount of frosting and you can order both, as well as any number of other decorating tips by clicking these links:
- A Selection of Decorating Tips can be ordered here
- decorating bags can be ordered here
- closure clips for decorating bags
For another look and an equally delicious cupcake be sure to check out our Blueberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.
Garnish Ideas for Orange Cupcakes
Now here’s where the fun comes in. The possibilities are of course, endless. I didn’t have orange sprinkles, but that would be really festive. What I did have was pearly non-pareils and they were so pretty.
I also used small orange curls and tiny little wedges of orange (you would only want to do that right before serving – no longer than an hour before). And, you can never go wrong with a little mint leaf. Oh, and sanding sugar. It gives your orange cupcakes a little sparkle. Here’s a whole list of ideas:
- orange curls
- orange sprinkles
- sanding sugar
- orange slices (little wedges)
- mint leaves
- mini edible orange butterflies (these are awesome!)
If you love mini cupcakes (and who doesn’t?) you’ll want to make These. Carrot Cake Cupcake Mini’s are perfect when you want to offer something sweet that’s just a couple of bites.
This recipe made our top 10 of annual favorites. Click over here to see them all.
Orange Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Orange Cupcakes
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar + 2 Tablespoons
- 2 egg whites
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup milk – 1 teaspoon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon orange extract
- 1 cup plain flour + 2 Tablespoons
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/4 cup butter room temperature
- 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1 teaspoon orange extract
- 1-2 teaspoons orange zest
- 3 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Orange Cupcakes
- Beat sugar and butter together with electric mixer for 2 minutes..
- Add egg whites one at a time, beating on low speed for about 30 seconds after each.
- Add sour cream, milk, vanilla and extracts and beat on low speed for about 1 minute.
- In separate bowl combine dry ingredients.
- Add to wet ingredients gradually, and beat lightly after each addition.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes and then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake additional 8-10 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly touched in center.
- After 5 minutes remove cupcakes from pan and allow to cool completely on wire rack before frosting.
Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
- Blend butter and cream cheese until fluffy.
- Stir in extract, zest and and sugar and stir until smooth.
Notes
Have fun making these cupcakes, and don’t forget to sign up here for our weekly updates.
More Recipe Sources We Recommend:
Meal Plan Monday
Weekend Potluck
A few other recipes you’ll want to check out:
Foolproof Brownies 
Blueberry Cream Cheese Crumb Cake 
Strawberry Shortcake mini’s 
Boston Cream Pie 
Traditional Ambrosia 
Apple Cider Coffee Cake
Love the sound of orange Cream cheese frosting! Sounds very refreshing and perfect for this season.
Thanks, Diana. It’s pretty yummy!
Any kind of orange dessert is good with me! I would want to lick that frosting out of the bowl!
Haha Danielle! You would have to fight my husband for the frosting bowl.
The bowl was gone but I did get to lick the beaters.
I’m with you on the simple. Some of the best things are simple. This cupcake looks absolutely delicious.
Thank you so much, Ben!
These look fantastic!
Thank you, Rebecca!
These look amazing! And thanks for the tips on piping on the icing. I’m not really a baker but I think I can manage it with a plastic baggie!
Thanks, Hayley! The baggie trick is so easy!
These are amazing and so fun to decorate. They taste better than any store bought mix and I would highly recommend these to anyone who would like some cupcakes with and orange twist. My family loves them!
Brooke, We’e so glad you loved the cupcakes. They were fun to decorate. We could have tried lots more ideas ourselves. Cupcakes are just the best!
My son wanted orange cupcakes for his birthday so I chose this recipe to make. They are delicious!! They have a nice texture and butteriness to them that FAR surpasses any cake mix. Unfortunately, my first double batch had to be thrown out because my orange extract was funky. So to avoid another trip to the grocery store for orange extract, I remade them with a couple substitutions (based on what I had on hand) — I used 2 tsp orange zest instead of (1 tsp) orange extract, and orange juice instead of the milk. Additionally, I reduced the sugar to 1/2 C as I felt it could be reduced (knowing the icing would add a lot of sweetness). I made them a couple days ahead of time and froze them. They froze really well (without the icing). Once thawed, they were still nice and moist. I loved the tip with the two icing bags. I quickly learned not to overfill the bags ’cause once the two bags are combined together, it can become a lot to fit into one bag, with one tip. I ended up with icing oozing out the top.
Oops. Just realized it was another website that had the tip about the double icing bags when using two different colour icings. Sorry for any confusion there! 🙂
Haha…. I wondered what that tip was and was going to go back and check. If you used two colors of icing I’d love to see a photo of your cupcakes. They sound beautiful!
So glad they turned out for you, Jackie (even with that extra trip to the store 🙂 We always enjoy hearing how others made adaptations to our recipes. That’s how we all learn and improve. And yes, on the freezing. I’ve frozen those cupcakes too with great success.
Can I substitute orange juice for milk? Really want to boost the orange flavor since I’m frosting them with dark chocolate.
I think you would be okay with that. Another idea would be to add a spoonful of orange zest to the batter.
Hi, I would like to makr a larger batch of cupcakes. Should I simply use a multiple of the amounts given in the recipe?
These cupcakes are ridiculously delicious! My family inhaled them (Well I helped). The ultimate recipe. I will keep forever.
Thanks so much, Judith! So glad you and your family loved them!It always so nice when someone comes back to let us know they tried one of our recipes!
These cupcakes are amazing. But should I use salted or unsalted butter for the frosting?
Clorinda, Either would work just fine. If you use unsalted you may want to add just a pinch of salt, but I don’t think you’ll be able to tell a difference. Whichever you use, it’s going to be delicious.
I followed the recipe exactly as is, they are soooo good!! My daughters loved the cupcakes,, they are very picky and said they were soft and delicious.
That’s awesome! Thanks for letting us know, Maribel.
I absolutely love this refreshing flavor combination, I’ll be making up a batch this weekend!
Hope you enjoy them, Sue!
So bright and citrusy! Love how the orange flavor was perfectly balanced with the sweetness of the cupcake
Thank you, Haley!
Wow! Theses look and sounds super delicious and easy to make! Can’t wait to make them.
Thanks, Sonia! We hope you love them.
Absolutely awesome recipe, such a pantry staple ingredients. Cant wait to try.
Hope you enjoy Sujatha!
What a delicious recipe! These are so perfect for summer and the whole family enjoyed them!
So happy to hear you loved them. Thanks,Kim!