Orange-Vanilla Cupcakes

I wanted to bake for H and the men at the garage where he works on his car, but I have recently made them a lot of chocolate desserts, so I needed something new. When I saw this recipe on Shawna’s Blog, adapted from Joy of Baking, I knew this was the recipe I wanted to make. I did use the zest of an orange instead of lemon. The cupcakes came out with a nice  hint of orange and were super moist. They are very good especially when topped with cream cheese frosting.

Also, Shawna added orange extract instead of zest to give a deeper orange flavor. I didnt have any, but it will deepen the orange flavor. Good idea!

ENJOY!

Ingredients:
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
Zest of 1 large lemon (optional – I used orange)
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp. Baking powder
¼ tsp. Salt
¼ cup milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and lightly butter or line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

For the Cupcakes: Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 18-20 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with icing. If you want flat topped cupcakes then slice off the dome of each cupcake, with a sharp knife, before frosting.

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