Orange Crush Cakes!

SO I made these mini delights for a cupcake swap held by some amazing ladies here on Fort Meade a couple weeks ago. There were so many delicious treats, my favorite (other than mine, teehee...) was the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut  ones .. oh.my.goodness. I need that recipe! ;) This recipe, however, comes from my favorite food companion site to my favorite food blog Tastykitchen.com and you can find it here.

But these little beauties are perfect for the summer time ... fresh and citrus-y, fun for the kids to help make and eat, and a little unique!

Now, I've discovered something about my house and butter cream frosting. My house is too warm to effectively make the fluffy goodness that is butter cream icing. SO the texture was a little off for mine, until I stuck them in the fridge. SO keep that in mind, having a cool kitchen makes for better butter cream. I've learned my lesson.

Orange Crush Cakes 

For the Cupcakes: 
1 cup Salted Butter, softened
1-¼ cup Sugar
5 whole Large Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 whole Oranges, Zested
3 cups Flour
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
½ cups Milk

For the Frosting: 

1 cup Butter, Softened
5 cups Powdered Sugar
½ cups Orange Crush Soda
1 teaspoon Orange Flavored Extract

5 drops Red food coloring

5 drops Yellow food coloring

Step 1.
To make cupcakes, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Step 2. 

Beat butter and sugar until fluffy.

Step 3. 

 Add eggs, vanilla and zest of 2 oranges. 

Step 4. 

Add flour, baking powder and salt. 

Step 5. 

Add in milk.

Step 6. 

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full  and bake for about 20 minutes. (This recipe will make approx 2 dozen regular sized cupcakes, or close to 100 mini cupcakes, which is what I made.)

Step 7.

Cool completely on a wire rack.

While these treasures are baking beautifully, whip up the frosting and stick it in the fridge! 

Step 1.

Beat butter until fluffy. 

Step 2.

Slowly add in the powdered sugar, orange Crush and orange extract. Beat for several minutes, until fluffy and well incorporated. 

Step 3.

Mix in food coloring

Frost the cupcakes when cooled and hand these little babies out! ;) 

You'll notice I've included less pictures in this post. Fundamentally, cake batters look the same. We're looking for a consistency similar to pancake batter, maybe just a touch thinner. <3