Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes

I've had this recipe saved on my Pinterest for maybe 3 years now. I figured it was about time to try it out. Earlier this week I made some pink lemonade cupcakes for a work wedding party and was asked to bring some cupcakes to my department meeting tomorrow. With it being warm and 8.5 days away from summer vacation, another summer flavor was called for.

And who doesn't love a cold, sweet orange creamsicle on a hot day?

This pregnant baker sure does!

This is another doctored box recipe. I had debated going with totally from scratch, but I'm glad that I had this recipe because I got home later than expected tonight and got a late start. The box is changed up by replacing some of the water with orange juice and by adding a box of orange gelatin mix. The recipe below calls for swapping out 1/4 cup of water for orange juice, but I swapped out 1/2 a cup. I wanted the cupcakes to have the real orange flavor with the frosting having the "cream"sicle flavor. I actually have some orange cream flavoring oil, so it amped it up a bit.

When making the frosting, I added the vanilla extract before the powdered sugar. I also added 1 tablespoon of milk to soften it up a little bit. Then, I removed just over a cup of it for the filling and topping. After that, I added 2 tablespoons of orange juice, 1 teaspoon of orange zest, and a 1/2 teaspoon of the orange cream flavoring oil. Once that was combined, I played around with my gel food colors to get a bright, sort of neon-ish orange that does not show up in my photos. It's a solid bright orange and my pictures show it as a peachy pink. BOOOO! I used a mix of red, yellow, and peach colors.

These are light and fluffy, and the cream cheese adds a slight tartness that the creamsicle flavor needs. It was hard to only eat one sample one and to save the rest for tomorrow. The recipe below is my version of the cupcakes. For the original, follow the link.

Also, if you're curious about these flavor oils I use, they are candy flavoring oils that only need to be used in VERY small amounts for baking. I've never used more than half a teaspoon in a recipe I don't think. I order mine from Amazon, and I use LorAnn brand.

Enjoy!

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes
slightly adapted from The Cake Blog

For the cake:
1 box white cake mix
Eggs and oil as needed on the box
Orange juice *swap out half of the amount of water needed on the box for OJ
1 (3 oz.) package orange gelatin mix
1 teaspoon orange zest

For the frosting:
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk
5 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons or orange juice
2 teaspoons orange zest
1/2 teaspoon orange or orange cream flavor oil (if using)
orange food coloring

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line two cupcakes tins with liners.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the dry cake mix and orange gelatin.
3. Add the eggs, oil, water and orange juice, and orange zest as called for on the box. Beat for 2 minutes until mixed and fluffy.
4. Fill liners 2/3 full and bake for 18-20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan then move to wire racks to cool completely.
5. One cooled, cut out the center of each cupcake to make a little cone.
6. For the frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese.
7. Add the vanilla and add powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Mix until combined. Add the milk to soften it up just a bit. Remove just over 1 cup of white frosting and set aside in a separate bowl.
8. To the remaining frosting, add the orange juice, orange zest, and flavor oil. Beat to combine.
9. Add a couple of drops of food coloring and beat. Add more if you want a darker orange.
10. Using the white frosting, pipe some into the center of each cupcake. Save maybe a 1/3 cup for topping.
11. Using the orange frosting, pipe onto cupcakes however you'd like.
12. With the remaining white frosting pipe a little star, flower, or circle on top in the center to look like the inside of a creamsicle.