#79: Halloween Orange Juice Cupcakes

In September, I started a cupcake adventure. If you haven't read about it yet, you can do so here. ***

Halloween?! Yes, I know it's April now. I didn't choose the names for the cupcakes I make...I'm just working my way through the book. Never mind the timing, or the title for that matter, if it bothers you that much. :) Besides, the finished product doesn't look Halloweeny at all. So there.

First, of course, I creamed together butter and sugar.

01butsug

If you EVER need to zest something, get yourself a microplane zester. It will change your life (at least in the kitchen). Promise.

02microplane

I zested the living daylights out of this orange, being careful not to shave down into the bitter pith.

03zest

Then, I squeezed the juice from the zested orange,

04oj

added some lemon juice,

05lj

and then added some water to make 2/3 cup.

06wet

I gathered together my dry ingredients, including the orange zest.

07dry

Dry and wet ingredients were alternated into the mixer with the butter/sugar combo to make the batter.

08alternate

The zest was folded in,

09addzest

and red food coloring was added to make the batter a deeper orange color.

10batterdye

Now, if these aren't the most fun papers...makes me feel like singing and dancing around in the summer sunshine! (oh, wait, it's only April.)

11papers

The final batter reminded me so much of the orange sherbet push-up-pops from my childhood.

12creamsicle

And the color was so pretty after the cupcakes baked, too.

13baked

Next, orange juice and powdered sugar formed the basis of the "icing", which you'll soon see isn't much like a frosting at all.

14syrup

In fact, after it boiled, it was more like a jelly.

15cooked

Few things make a cupcake cuter than a jellied fruit slice.

17orange

Each cupcake had a corresponding slice and they waited to be merged using the jelly topping.

16slices

Again, to deepen the orange color, food dye was added.

18syrupdye

THAT'S more like it!

19orangesyrup

A dollop here, a dollop there, here a dollop, there a dollop, everywhere a dollop dollop.

20dollop

Ta Da! Looks like a tropical drink of some sort!

21single

So many neon orange cupcakes...

22set

and they just looked so cute, I couldn't stop myself from posing with one of them.

23cutie

Nor could my husband avoid jumping in the shot after I peeled the paper in preparation for the "bite shot". Ha!

24hubs

25bite

The jelly topping definitely made for a different experience, but if you like orange-flavored foods or jelly-filled donuts, you'd probably dig these.

Boo! (had to get some sort of Halloween reference in there!) :)

#102: Cupcake Kabobs

Ziggy Zaggy Keepsake Book

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